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> The play’s the thing for teaching and learning
The play’s the thing for teaching and learning
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July 10, 2002
It’s show time at SFU’s Learning and Instructional Development Centre.
At the International E-learning conference held at SFU at the end of June, the centre raised the curtain on the Teaching and Learning (TL) Players, a small troupe of actors who use drama—and sometimes humour—to explore controversial issues that arise in the university community.
TL Players is directed by Jesai Jayhmes, a European-trained actor who began teaching at SFU’s School for Contemporary Arts in 1995. Three years later, Jayhmes introduced a voice workshop for instructors through the former centre for university teaching (now under the LIDC umbrella). Jayhmes says the popular voice and effective speaking techniques course "helps instructors understand that it’s their passion for their subject that engages students, not the information itself.
"The TL Players aims to bring out that passion dramatically. There has been so much emphasis on high-tech in the classroom; we deliver the high-touch element. We’re looking through the cracks in the ivory tower to show the emotion, the passion and the human drama of academic life—all the stuff that’s not addressed in the course structure."
The company of five actors—all SFU alumni—will perform by invitation at conferences, seminars, and workshops to stimulate discussion about teaching and learning challenges. Their current repertoire includes a scene that highlights the difference between lecturing and facilitating a discussion; a scene that explores diversity and gender issues; and a scene that focuses on effective teaching with technology. But Jayhmes says that with enough notice, "we’d be happy to write scenes around any issue surrounding university life."
In addition to their live work, TL Players are preparing a series of video episodes for release on the LIDC web site early this fall. "The idea is anyone with an interest in improving their teaching skills will be able to watch an episode and then follow it up with a bulletin board chat about what they’ve just seen," says Jayhmes.
He says the services of TL Players are available to everyone at SFU—and will happily be extended to any educational conference or institution—on a cost-recovery basis. "There’s no one else in the country taking this approach. If someone out there feels that a dramatic re-enactment of their particular teaching or learning issue would help to generate discussion in a safe, non-confrontational way, we’re the place to come."
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CONTACT
Jesai Jayhmes, 604.926.1887, jjayhmes@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl/Julie Ovenell-Carter, Media & PR, 604..291.4323
At the International E-learning conference held at SFU at the end of June, the centre raised the curtain on the Teaching and Learning (TL) Players, a small troupe of actors who use drama—and sometimes humour—to explore controversial issues that arise in the university community.
TL Players is directed by Jesai Jayhmes, a European-trained actor who began teaching at SFU’s School for Contemporary Arts in 1995. Three years later, Jayhmes introduced a voice workshop for instructors through the former centre for university teaching (now under the LIDC umbrella). Jayhmes says the popular voice and effective speaking techniques course "helps instructors understand that it’s their passion for their subject that engages students, not the information itself.
"The TL Players aims to bring out that passion dramatically. There has been so much emphasis on high-tech in the classroom; we deliver the high-touch element. We’re looking through the cracks in the ivory tower to show the emotion, the passion and the human drama of academic life—all the stuff that’s not addressed in the course structure."
The company of five actors—all SFU alumni—will perform by invitation at conferences, seminars, and workshops to stimulate discussion about teaching and learning challenges. Their current repertoire includes a scene that highlights the difference between lecturing and facilitating a discussion; a scene that explores diversity and gender issues; and a scene that focuses on effective teaching with technology. But Jayhmes says that with enough notice, "we’d be happy to write scenes around any issue surrounding university life."
In addition to their live work, TL Players are preparing a series of video episodes for release on the LIDC web site early this fall. "The idea is anyone with an interest in improving their teaching skills will be able to watch an episode and then follow it up with a bulletin board chat about what they’ve just seen," says Jayhmes.
He says the services of TL Players are available to everyone at SFU—and will happily be extended to any educational conference or institution—on a cost-recovery basis. "There’s no one else in the country taking this approach. If someone out there feels that a dramatic re-enactment of their particular teaching or learning issue would help to generate discussion in a safe, non-confrontational way, we’re the place to come."
-30 -
CONTACT
Jesai Jayhmes, 604.926.1887, jjayhmes@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl/Julie Ovenell-Carter, Media & PR, 604..291.4323