Title: Community Building Part 1
Submitted by: Gary Beckman
Institution: The University of Texas at
Austin
Course Title: "Entrepreneurship in the
Arts"
Division Offered: College of Fine Arts -
Fall 2006
Demographic: Undergraduates [Fine Arts,
Liberal Arts & Business] & Graduates [Fine Arts]
Date: 3/1/07
Learning Objectives:
1) To develop a sense of classroom community.
2) To give students the opportunity to learn the topics of
their peer's feasibility studies.
Student Evaluation Method: None.
Description: When calling upon a student,
ask them to recite their "elevator pitch" before answering
questions or offering an opinion.
Instructor Comments: One of the core
aspects of community building is knowing what each member,
or groups of members are interested in accomplishing. In an
effort to merge a couple of course objectives into a
repeatable and random learning action, this simple tact
accomplishes each rather well.
I'm a big fan of the "elevator pitch" - though not in the
"traditional" context. By asking students to develop a core
three sentence description of their feasibility plan topic
and randomly asking them to vocalize this description, a
number of things occur.
First, students hear (from their own mouths) their topic
expressed, and observe it's reception. (Multi-sensory input
can be a *real* wake-up call or a much-needed affirmation
for some).
Second, the class is repeatedly exposed to these
descriptions. In this case, repetition breeds familiarity
and familiarity helps to break down the restrictions of
classroom culture, where most students learn and interact
passively. I've found this simple tact assists in breaking
down this cultural reaction and promotes not only a sense
of community, but reflects "open source" culture.
Lastly, as students develop their "elevator pitch," they
have the opportunity to test new grammatical and rhetorical
configurations. This is a great way to promote a safe
learning environment within the classroom community
paradigm.
