Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2018 - 58

Rock and Roll Project
using the light lab at State
University of New York at
Fredonia. Photo courtesy
of Fredonia Department of
Theatre and Dance.

clearly communicate what skills will be
learned. Also, be clear about how the
assignment will be graded with grading
rubrics to show the assessment process.
Price found that today's student
prefers a Relaxed environment and
more one-on-one time with the instructor. Breaking up lectures with projects
can help create this relaxed atmosphere
while still giving structure to the class.
The key is guiding the conversation and
keeping it on track. One-on-one time can
easily be achieved through production
work assignments as faculty assistants
on-and off-campus.
Production work also helps with the
final R, Rapport: Modern students are
used to close relationships with adults
and are looking for teachers who take
an interest in them as a whole person.
Often, faculty members are addressed
by their first names, and many students
have our cell phone numbers, for example. But the key here is to set up and
explain boundaries to the students. If
you use social media, decide, then, how
much access to grant to students. Make
it clear what constitutes official communication. Explain why asking you for

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THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

WINTER 2018

an extension on a project on Facebook
might not be appropriate. The key is consistency: What you do for one student
must be done for all.

Emphasizing Fundamentals

The most fundamental skills you can
teach students have nothing to do with
lighting. However, they can be addressed
in every classroom or shop on a daily
basis. The industry is not required to
understand the nuance between degrees
and certificate programs, but they do
have minimum expectations for entrylevel employees. The most important of
these minimum requirements are problem-solving, enthusiasm, and professionalism.
Creative Problem Solving. Problemsolving is the single-most important skill
educators can develop in theatrical technicians and one of the most difficult to
teach. The primary and secondary education system does not encourage learning through trial and error, and despite
learning the scientific method, students
are reticent to hypothesize; they want
directions to achieve a right answer on

the first attempt. We must teach students
to embrace the search and not shut
down after failure. If educators make
problem-solving fun and low stakes at
the beginning, then the desire for harder,
more complex problems will follow. Jake
Brinkman, the production electrician for
the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival
says that when he hires his staff electricians, the majority of the questions he
asks are about troubleshooting. He has
noticed lately that his recently graduated
electricians "can plug in a light, but if it
doesn't work they check the lamp and
usually get lost right after that."
Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is another expectation for student technicians. A student leaving a program should be the
kind of technician everyone wants to
hire. In our experience, many employers
will hire someone slightly less qualified
over a "rock star" if they are pleasant,
kind, interested in learning new things,
and hungry for the experience. Technicians should show up early, stay late, and
ask questions, at the minimum. Employers are much more likely to overlook a
lack of technical knowledge if candidates

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2018