Running head: CASE STUDY #2

Case Study #2
Hector Solis-Ortiz
Loyola University Chicago
January 27, 2015

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Introduction
The beginning to any college course starts and ends with the syllabus. It is
through this avenue that students get a sense of what the course will consist of and what
they should expect to take away once they have completed their time in the classroom.
The hope is that syllabus is successful and is able to create significant learning
experiences for all students. In order to understand the full scope of what goes into a
syllabus and it is beneficial to look at existing syllabi to see what the common trends are
and where they differ. I wanted to take a look at syllabi that focused around theatrical
arts in higher education to delve deeper in what should be integrated when assembling a
successful acting syllabus.
Descriptive Analysis
Purse-Wiedenhoefts (2014) syllabus her Fundamentals of Acting course at the
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh was very straightforward. This syllabus clearly laid
out a set of course goals and objectives as to what students could hope to learn from their
time in the classroom. Purse-Wiednehoeft (2014) mentions a set of five course objectives
that delve deeper into understanding the acting process through practice and theory based
approaches. The instructor believes that successful acting comes through working with
others and honing on those skills through ensemble work, but makes it a point to
highlight that students are expected to learn how to critically analyze the art form of
acting through both written and verbal expression. In the syllabus it is stressed that these
objectives cannot be done without developing trust in other ensemble members during
activities, receiving and accepting feedback and taking risks through trial and error
(Purse-Wiednehoeft, 2014). I saw this objective as a great way to incorporate student

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interaction and a way to let them know that the only way to get better at the course is to
practice and explore with fellow classmates.
The syllabus has three set course goals: to gain knowledge, hone theatrical skills
and foster creativity (Purse-Wiedenhoeft, 2014). The knowledge goal speaks to how a
student is able to grasp the intricacies of the acting process and applying that into
practice. The skills piece is pertinent in developing physical and vocals skills...on how
to interpret a character through analysis of the structure of the text and the given
circumstance of the play (Purse-Widenhoeft, 2014). The final goal is to allow students
to be creative in making choices that inform the craft and working with others in an
ensemble. All of these goals are implemented through a series of assignments that span
from play analysis papers in which students are required to attend productions put on by
the theater department and apply acting theory in their analysis. The other assignments
include performing a monologue and working in group scenes with fellow classmates.
Diaz-Cruzs (n.d.) syllabus she created for her Acting 1 class at University of San
Diego was vastly different and lacked in detail. The course goals and objectives were
lumped into in one brief paragraph she stated, students will gain basic skills in acting,
analyzing, improvisation, visualization, breathing and relaxation...recognizing the
dynamic field of theater is a useful tool for communicating in any arena (Diaz-Cruz,
n.d.). There are a lot of broad terms that are expressed, but throughout the syllabus it is
not really explained in full detail what these basic skills look like or how they will be
achieved.
The instructor made a point to highlight that acting can serve as a great asset for
communicating in a students particular field of study no matter what that might be. The

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class has a large emphasis on written understanding of the course while incorporating inclass text versus acting throughout the term. Students will need to complete a series of
three play reviews, five reading quizzes, and a final reflection paper. Though there is a
large emphasis on comprehending the material through written evaluation students have
to perform a monologue, a two-person & three-person scene, and lip-sync their favorite
song (Diaz-Cruz, n.d.). When it comes to calculating the grades there are higher marks
allotted for the writing assignments rather than the actual performances.
Al-Shammas (n.d) syllabus he constructed for his Fundamentals of Acting course
at Texas A&M was very descriptive in his approach on how to facilitate the class. This
course only has four learning outcomes that read more as task list of what is going to be
covered, but are not student centered. These outcomes include: understanding the
Stanislavski method of acting, working with other individuals within structured scene
work, being able to accept constructive feedback, and be able to conduct a personal vocal
and physical warm-up to prepare for scenes (Al-Shamm, n.d.). These learning outcomes
are supposed to inform the assignments that include: writing in an acting journal, writing
two play reviews, students have to prepare two monologues, present a character analysis
based off another classmate, and lip sync a song. This syllabus does not require students
to read from a text rather most of the interaction comes from playing with one another
and listening to stories to gain a firm grasp as to how to interpret emotion in each
assignment. Though there are a few structured writing assignments the rest are meant to
serve as reflective practices in order to establish a sense of self as an actor and as a
person. This syllabus was rich in description into catching a glimpse as to what the
actual class would look like unlike the next syllabus.

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Geros (n.d.) syllabus for his Acting 1: Presence in the moment class at George
Mason University provides little objectives for the class content. The course objectives
were to have the students be familiar with acting theories while providing a space for
group activities in which they will improve their recall to learning and performing lines
for theatrical scene work. There is language in the syllabus stating basic requirements
for actors and it lists a set of ten requirements, but nowhere in the syllabus does it
describe a student even though this course is intended as a general education requirement
for all students not just theater majors (Gero, n.d.). This syllabus is light in course
objectives or providing tangible ways in which students gain these skills. Students will
need to write four theater reviews. At least one of these shows has to be based off a
departmental production and the other one has to be a professional production done
within the city of Washington. Students need to engage in eight acting in class exercises,
and students will need to prepare an audition monologue. This syllabus was very
straightforward, but lacked thought as to how students would learn or engage with the
classroom throughout the run of the course. .
Smiths (n.d) syllabus for her Voice for the Actor 1 course at the University of
Maryland takes a philosophical approach to her course objectives. The hope of this
course is that students are able to find their internal voices as performers and delve into
character development throughout their time in the course through a series of acting
exercises. There is constant referencing to training and honing your voice, but in the
syllabus there is not a clear indication of what that means or what it entails and so it is a
bit confusing. The structure of the course is broken down into three main categories:
journal writing, personal monologues, and poetry. Students need to do some reflective

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practices in their journals three times a week and notice any physical/emotional attributes
they have for the day and start seeing themselves as characters. When it comes to the
other two categories there is little detail as to what those assignments look like and the
descriptions are vague. Students need to create a 60 minute monologue, but have no basis
as to how to go about in doing so. Other than that there are no concrete ideas of how a
student would engage in the classroom. From reading this syllabus it seems as though
most of the learning will happen within the classroom week by week and wont follow
the structure of the syllabus.
Comparative Analysis
There has been a wide gamut of similarities and differences within all of the
syllabi on how these acting courses were constructed. The similarities within the syllabi
outweighed the differences in my opinion. Nilson (2010) mentions that learning
outcomes should be aspirational in nature and be student centered, they are promises,
and you should make it clear that students have to to do their part to make this promise
come. So you might state that verbally in the syllabus (p. 18). Across the the different
syllabi there was a lack of understanding of what learning outcomes should be or look
like. For example, the only syllabus that was detailed and provided tangible examples of
how to go about in fulfilling these outcomes was Purse-Weidnehoefts (2014) syllabus in
that she was able to list tangible ways that her course objectives would be measured and
evaluated through specific assignments. The other four syllabi were very much
convoluted in that the outcomes were so broad and non-specific that students would not
be able to firmly grasp what they are expected to get out of the course.

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Another similarity is the fact that the vocabulary that was used was vague. For
example, throughout all of the syllabi there is constant mention that students will gain
acting skills that will help inform scene work. These skills are not specified in the
syllabus and it seems as though this is something that would be developed within the
classroom, but lacks detail in the written syllabus.
There are stark differences in how each class is structured through actual
assessment assignments. Fink (2013) states, teachers whose only feedback and
assessment procedures are, for example, two midterms and a final exemplify the
perspective of audit-ive assessment...primary purpose of educative assessment is to help
students learn (p. 93). Even though all of these courses are acting based some of these
instructors have more of an emphasis on written reflection to assess understanding of
acting theory by attending a departmental theatrical productions. Every class does have
performance based assessment that ranges from performing monologues to two person
scenes, but out of the five syllabi Al-Shammas (n.d) syllabus had a higher emphasis on
performance and reflection. This was a great example of how to apply an educative
assessment in that this approach allows students to gain a deeper understanding of how
this class can help in their public speaking skills in any avenue. That being said there
were courses that were focused on an audit-ive approach in that the instructors just
want to test their knowledge of the art.
Conclusion
Throughout this exercise I have come to realize that constructing a course
syllabus is an intricate art form. As an instructor you have to make sure that ones own
learning outcomes are in fact in line with the assignments that are put into place. Fink

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(2013) mentions that in order to have a successful course experience one has to
implement learning activities in which one gives information of the course while
providing experiences in which students connect the subject to their life and allow space
for reflection. I found this idea to be quite captivating and to help inform how to go
about in constructing a syllabus and a great way to implement a holistic view of learning.
In reality, not every course is going to be transformational for every student
because when constructing a syllabus for a large group of students it can be difficult to
cater to everyones personal needs, but as an instructor you do have the power to
influence culture in the course. Wagner (2012) mentions that in order to produce
innovation in a classroom there has to be three set requirements present which include:
expertise, creative thinking skills and motivation. Not every student will exceed in this
course, but as instructor you can shape their experience to be innovative and do well by
understanding a students background and expanding on those experiences. Also, being
mindful of how one can take the learning outcomes and develop assessment tools that
will stimulate and motivate students to care about the subject matter is important and
valuable reminder.

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9
References

Al-Shamma, J. (n.d.). THE 213-Fundamentals of Acting. Retrieved from

http://www.tamuc.edu/academics/cvsyllabi/syllabi/201280/81587.pdf
Diaz-Cruz, E. (n.d.). Evelyn Diaz Cruz - Syllabus Acting I. Retrieved from
http://home.sandiego.edu/~diazcruz/acting-1.html
Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to
designing college courses (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Gero, E. (n.d.). Acting 1: Presence In The Moment. Retrieved from
http://theater.gmu.edu/faculty/syllabi/fall_2014/THR_210_001_GERO.pdf
Nilson, L. B. (2010). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college
instructors. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Purse-Wiedenhoeft, J. (2014, February 4). Thr 205 Fundamentals of Acting Theatre.
Retrieved from http://www.uwosh.edu/theatre/syllabi/thr-205-fundamentals-of
acting
Smith, A. (n.d.). THET 310: Voice for the Actor 1. Retrieved from
http://tdps.umd.edu/sites/default/files/files/Syllabus/2013%20%202014/THET310
%20-%20Smith.pdf
Wagner, T., & Compton, R. A. (2012). Creating innovators: The making of young people
who will change the world. New York: Scribner.