All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely students

by Tracey Hackett

Two Tennessee Tech instructors gave their students a learning experience that transcends both traditional teaching methods and classroom boundaries. The diverse group of 25 freshmen simultaneously enrolled in Andrew Smith’s writing and Mark Creter’s introduction to theater courses have found that the professors’ integrated ‘learning community’ approach to the material means they’re learning more than just rote terms and concepts.

They applied their knowledge to the realworld experience of writing and producing an original play, titled Single Bell, Single Belle, which tells the story of a girl who breaks-up with her high school boyfriend on Christmas Day after she realized that the two were growing apart.

And during the course, they learned more than they ever thought possible about organizational skills, teamwork, friendship, relationship building and leadership, according to the students.

“This experience has been different from our other classes because we’ve been able to get to know our classmates and our professors on a much more personal level,” said Cortney Kleindienst of Shelbyville, Tenn., one of the students in the learning community.

Simone O’Dell of Crossville, Tenn., the student who wrote, directed and acted in the play, said the course was physically, mentally and emotionally challenging, yet was one of the best experiences she’s ever had.

“I never dreamed that I’d have the opportunity when I came to college to experience something like this,” she said.

TTU’s College of Arts and Sciences has been participating for some time in the learning community concept — assigning the same set of freshmen simultaneously to two classes in an effort to build teamwork and unity. But Creter’s and Smith’s courses this semester are the first to actually integrate curricula.

“Traditional classroom settings compartmentalize learning, but life is not compartmentalized. Life is interdisciplinary, and that’s really how we developed our philosophy for these courses,” said Smith.

Creter agreed. “One of the advantages of this learning community partnership is that it gives us the ability to expand out of the boundaries of a classroom, and in doing so, it becomes obvious how learning impacts life and vice versa.”

The combined course addressed complex, real-world problems applicable to the students’ age group, requiring the students to think critically about how individuals and society address these problems and to communicate their own thoughts and ideas effectively through various stages, including original prose and dramatic performance.

The culmination of the courses was the public performance of Single Bell, Single Belle.

Faculty members Andrew Smith (foreground) and Mark Creter have integrated their writing and introduction to theater courses to create an integrated learning community. The result of this combination was an original play, Single Bell, Single Belle, which was performed at the Backdoor Playhouse last fall.

“I’m impressed by how Mark and Andy bring their respective disciplines to life through this mutually reinforcing approach to teaching, and I’m certain that the students have gained important skills in writing, teamwork and critical self-expression, along with the kind of confidence that may be gained through guided public performance,” said Kurt Eisen, associate dean of TTU’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Real-world problem solving through active learning, such as what Creter’s and Smith’s students did in their learning communities courses, is a priority of TTU, as expressed through its Quality Enhancement Plan.

The university’s QEP provided funding to help Creter and Smith implement their integrated learning community concept. The two instructors won a QEP Award for Excellence in Innovative Instruction, which recognizes professors whose courses employ real-world problem solving and active learning strategies.

“English composition and introduction to theater really lent themselves to such a productive collapsing of disciplinary boundaries, but introductory writing courses could also be effectively paired with numerous other disciplines — especially in the humanities and social sciences — and theme-based courses with real-world applications could be designed by collaborating instructors,” Smith said.

(Summer 2009)