5,745 research outputs found

    Active Learning on Center Stage: Theater as a Tool for Medical Education

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    Introduction: Knowledge and skill development related to communication must incorporate both affective and behavioral components, which are often difficult to deliver in a learning activity. Using theater techniques and principles can provide medical educators with tools to teach communication concepts. Methods: This 75-minute faculty development workshop presents a variety of techniques from theater and adapts them for use in medical education. Using examples related to diversity and inclusion, this session addresses general educational and theater principles, role-play, sociodrama, applied improvisation, and practical aspects of involving theater partners. The session materials include a PowerPoint presentation with facilitator notes, interactive activities to demonstrate each modality, and an evaluation. The sessions can be extended to longer formats as needed. Results: Forty-five participants at Learn Serve Lead 2016: The AAMC Annual Meeting attended the 75-minute session. We emailed 32 participants 5 months after the conference, and eight responded. Participants reported that their confidence level in using theater techniques as a tool for medical education increased from low-to-medium confidence presession to high confidence postsession. All survey respondents who were actively teaching said they had made changes to their teaching based on the workshop. All commented that they appreciated the active learning in the session. Many indicated they would appreciate video or other follow-up resources. Discussion: Principles and techniques from theater are effective tools to convey difficult-to-teach concepts related to communication. This workshop presents tools to implement activities in teaching these difficult concepts

    Improvisation and Leadership Development: Understanding Improvisational Theater Arts as Leadership Skills

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    Leadership development is immersed in a philosophical struggle. Past efforts at developing leaders have missed a set of skills important to the role of today’s leaders. Since Frederick Taylor invented the practice of scientific management, the study of management and leadership has largely focused on traits, practices, and behaviors that conform to this model such as planning, analysis, control, and monitoring. Missing in this focus, however, are less transactional leadership skills like intuition, improvisation, and creativity. As a result, organizations have begun drawing on improvisational theater skills as one answer to fill this leadership development gap. This case study focuses on a single cohort group attending an introductory level of training at an improvisational theater. Based on observations and interviews, the relevance of the content is analyzed and compared to selected leadership theories and the pedagogy is evaluated for underlying philosophies and critical curriculum design components. By observing the student experience with this learning, the applicability of improv theater arts to personal and professional lives outside of the theater context is also explored. Further research should focus on the efficacy of improvisational theater skills in a professional setting and on additional comparisons between the skills taught in an improv curriculum and leadership theories

    Evaluating Improvisation As A Technique For Training Pre-service Teachers For Inclusive Classrooms

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    Improvisation is a construct that uses a set of minimal heuristic guidelines to create a highly flexible scaffold that fosters extemporaneous communication. Scholars from diverse domains: such as psychology, business, negotiation, and education have suggested its use as a method for preparing professionals to manage complexity and think on their feet. A review of the literature revealed that while there is substantial theoretical scholarship on using improvisation in diverse domains, little research has verified these assertions. This dissertation evaluated whether improvisation, a specific type of dramatic technique, was effective for training pre-service teachers in specific characteristics of teacher-child classroom interaction, communication and affective skills development. It measured the strength and direction of any potential changes such training might effect on pre-service teacher’s self-efficacy for teaching and for implementing the communication skills common to improvisation and teaching while interacting with student in an inclusive classroom setting. A review of the literature on teacher self-efficacy and improvisation clarified and defined key terms, and illustrated relevant studies. This study utilized a mixed-method research design based on instructional design and development research. Matched pairs ttests were used to analyze the self-efficacy and training skills survey data and pre-service teacher reflections and interview transcripts were used to triangulate the qualitative data. Results of the t-tests showed a significant difference in participants’ self-efficacy for teaching measured before and after the improvisation training. A significant difference in means was also measured in participants’ aptitude for improvisation strategies and for self-efficacy for their implementation pre-/post- training. Qualitative results from pre-service teacher class iv artifacts and interviews showed participants reported beneficial personal outcomes as well as confirmed using skills from the training while interacting with students. Many of the qualitative themes parallel individual question items on the teacher self-efficacy TSES scale as well as the improvisation self-efficacy scale CSAI. The self-reported changes in affective behavior such as increased self-confidence and ability to foster positive interaction with students are illustrative of changes in teacher agency. Self-reports of being able to better understand student perspectives demonstrate a change in participant ability to empathize with students. Participants who worked with both typically developing students as well as with students with disabilities reported utilizing improvisation strategies such as Yes, and…, mirroring emotions and body language, vocal prosody and establishing a narrative relationship to put the students at ease, establish a positive learning environment, encourage student contributions and foster teachable moments. The improvisation strategies showed specific benefit for participants working with nonverbal students or who had commutation difficulties, by providing the pre-service teachers with strategies for using body language, emotional mirroring, vocal prosody and acceptance to foster interaction and communication with the student. Results from this investigation appear to substantiate the benefit of using improvisation training as part of a pre-service teacher methods course for preparing teachers for inclusive elementary classrooms. Replication of the study is encouraged with teachers of differing populations to confirm and extend results

    Teaching advocacy communication to pediatric residents: the efficacy of applied improvisational theater (AIT) as an instructional tool

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    In today’s communication landscape, the public often turn to the Internet and social media instead of their physician for health information. To remain relevant and respected amidst the wealth of health information available online, physicians need to offer something the Internet cannot fully emulate: empathetic imagination and an ability to instantaneously tailor messages to reach and teach worried and often confused audiences effectively. We developed an instructional communication module for pediatric residents that used applied improvisational theater to help residents develop complex and dynamic communication skills. The module included opportunities to develop empathy, practice audience analysis, distill messages to key points, and apply these skills in media and community contexts. Attendees completed surveys regarding their perceptions of curricular structure, efficacy, and utility. Preliminary results indicate gains in communication confidence and skills. This type of instructional communication and training module encourages healthcare practitioners to position themselves as trusted experts and partners in helping clients make meaning of health information, thus empowering a new generation of pediatricians to bridge communication gaps created by new technologies and increased access to multiple information sources

    Effects of improvisation techniques in leadership development

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    Studies show that improvisation in leadership decision making is on the rise, and it transpires in organizations 75-90% of the time, yet very little research has explored this skillset. No other leadership skillset that is applied two thirds of the time has ever been so underdeveloped. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a pilot workshop applying a Holistic Improvisational Leadership Model as developed by the researcher and based on the latest improvisation research. The study employed a mixed methods design to gather qualitative and quantitative data for a descriptive evaluation of the pilot training workshop. Nonproportional quota sampling and triangulation were used to maximize cross verification and validity of the data. This study explored the skills leaders acquired and applied during, immediately after, 1 month after the workshop, and in 3 months. The study was pilot-tested on 6 different groups and a total of 67 leaders from various regions, industries and organizations. Primary findings revealed that participants gained the highest benefits in working with others and their ability to lead. Executive and educational leaders gained the awareness that 79% of their decisions at work were made spontaneously as opposed to 71% for all leaders. 100% of executives and senior leaders indicated acquiring more effective listening skills. Moreover, the concept of competent risks and celebrating failure appeared to have the most transformational impact on the participants\u27 sense of self, willingness to take risks, and acquire new skills. The workshop seemed to bring participants\u27 stress level down to an optimal level and enhance mindfulness. Ultimately, it was concluded the study\u27s workshop was most effective as a continuous 3.5 hours. Learning to improvise experientially includes a process of unlearning old routines of decision making and re-learning more effective skills. Hence, the researcher recommends follow-up learning sessions to complete the cycle of learning. Utilizing grounded theory, the findings from the study led to the revision of Tabaee\u27s Holistic Improvisational Leadership Model. The researcher recommends following the model by teaching the competencies not only to leaders but to all employees for achieving OPTIMAL strategy and performance for the organization

    Learning by Playing: A Curriculum Utilizing Improvisational Theater to Develop Prosocial Behavior Skills and Self-efficacy in Young Adolescents

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    Prosocial behavior requires competency in social-emotional skills including interpersonal skills, conflict resolution, and emotional regulation. During the developmental stage of early adolescence, youth are learning these skills and are more likely to engage in prosocial behavior if they feel efficacious in them. However, most social-emotional learning programs focus on conceptual knowledge in these areas without providing sufficient opportunities for practice, which does not allow students to develop sufficient procedural knowledge and self-efficacy. Improvisational theater offers a solution to this problem; used in concert with social-emotional lessons, it provides practice scenarios and procedural learning opportunities. This project consists of a curriculum built on these principles intended for use in a Montessori middle school environment. Its structure aligns with both Montessori secondary best practices and the fluid nature of interpersonal skills, allowing the teacher to adapt the curriculum to the needs of the class. It contains notes on implementation, lesson plans, and supplemental documents. In the discussion, students describe the perceived benefits of the program, including improved self-efficacy and a sense of community. Future directions include peer review, curriculum expansion, and research on efficacy

    ON IMPROVISATION, LEARNING, AND LITERACY

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    Previously, improvisation has served as a term for describing a quality of the action taking place in classrooms between teachers and students. This project begins to theorize a way of understanding embodied literacies and scenes of learning through a lens of improvisation that enhances the description and better equips researchers to analyze this quality. This project synthesizes numerous research threads and theories from theater (Halpern, 1994, 2005; Johnstone, 1992; Spolin, 1999), anthropology (Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, & Cain, 2003), psychology (Sawyer, 2011b; Vygotsky, 1978), and literary theory (Bakhtin, 1981) in an effort to provide a theory of improvisation that could be deployed in future qualitative studies or serve as a way for literacy teachers to think about their classrooms. A theory of improvisation enables qualitative researchers in the field of education to acquire a more thorough understanding of the way literacies are an improvised process in scenes of learning. This project is necessary because no such theory yet exists. As part of theorizing literacy and improvisation, I draw upon scenes from my own teaching and from theatrical improvisation. I analyze these moments to illustrate various theoretical premises such as instances of "yes, and-ing" that carry a scene of learning forward. This theory building and analysis amount to a first iteration of improv theory

    Methods of 'learning leadership': Taught and Experiential

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    I\u27ve Got Your Back: Utilizing Improv as a Tool to Enhance Workplace Relationships

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    As the average American adult spends more time at work than anywhere else, the workplace, and the relationships built therein, plays a key role in overall well-being. With this in mind, many organizations dedicate significant time and resources to improve employee well-being, often in the form of fun, social events. In recent years, improvisational comedy, or improv, has emerged as a popular teambuilding activity due to its foundations in play, spontaneity, and trust. However, improv is more than just fun and laughs. Beyond merely being an energizing teambuilding event, I argue that improv has the ability to generate positive social connections and strengthen workplace relationships by improving communication, collaboration, and interpersonal understanding. Within this paper, I provide a historical overview of improvisation in the theater and applied settings, connecting modern-day improv to organizational well-being via the lens of positive psychology. I then theorize that improv enhances positive, workplace relationships by linking the improv principles of being present, co-creation, and heightening offers to constructs of interpersonal mindfulness, perspective taking, and active constructive responding. This paper culminates with recommendations to culturally embed improv into regular work activities and suggestions for further research. An appendix provides easily implementable, short improv exercises that can be used by anyone to develop positive workplace relationships

    Medical Education Empowered by Theater (MEET)

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    The medical education community acknowledges the importance of including the humanities in general, and the liberal arts in particular, in the education of health professionals. Among the liberal arts, theater is especially helpful for educators wanting to bring experiences that are both real and challenging to the learning encounter in an interactive, engaging, and reflective way. In this Perspective, the authors share what they have learned after working together with a company of actors for 8 years (2012-2019) in different obligatory and elective curricular activities. Influenced by Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed and the ideas of Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed, Medical Education Empowered by Theater (MEET) embraces social accountability and applies the concept of sensible cognition to empower medical students as the protagonists of their learning and professional development to become agents of change - both in patients' lives and in health care systems. The MEET theoretical framework builds on the concepts of liberation, emancipatory education, critical pedagogy, and participatory theater to offer medical students and teachers an opportunity to problematize, criticize, and hopefully reform the hierarchical and often oppressive structures of medical education and practice. MEET sessions include activating previous knowledge and experiences, warm-up exercises, different improvisational exercises, debriefing, and synthesis. Vital to the praxis of MEET is applying theater-teaching traditions to develop capacities important in medicine: presence, empathy, improvisation, communication (verbal and nonverbal), and scenic intelligence (i.e., the capacity to self-assess one's performance while performing). The authors believe that theater offers a venue to integrate both the personal and professional development of students into a process of reflection and action, targeting the transformation of the medical culture toward social justice.</p
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