Breadth v depth

1
Breadth v depth

• focus topics and student choice in the
  curriculum

2

• Mask, Movement and Mime
• After 1st reading week
• Theme emerged from conversation before vote
• Theme new to me
• Performance and Text
• Around 2nd reading week
• Theme from closed list
• Familiar theme

3
Section 1 - Concept

• The number of topics addressed by the tutor
  within a module should be limited, so that he or
  she can deal with them in depth.
• A tutor should introduce as many topics as
  possible, it is down to the students to research
  further those in which they are interested. 
• Having a focus topic is a good way to deal with
  this dilemma.

4

• ...an interesting and powerful tool, allowing
  the students to develop themselves.

5
Section 2 - Form

• ...I believe that better structure and moving it
  to a different time in the year, especially for
  2nd and 3rd year students, would make it much
  more enjoyable and useful.

6
Who do you believe should choose the focus topic
for the module?

• The students
• The module tutor

• 66.6
• 33.3

7

• the topic should be chosen within the context
  of the course and from a selection of
  possibilities drawn up by the tutor or accepted
  by the tutor as a suitable topic.

8

• I believe it is important that the students have
  input in what the topic is. This allows us to
  feel more connected and dedicated to it.

9
When do you think it is ideal to use the focus
topic approach?

• 1st year
• 2nd year
• 3rd year

• 16.6
• 66.6
• -

10
What do you think about the duration of the focus
topic block (5 weeks)?

• It was too short.
• It was about right.
• It was too long.

• 25
• 58.4
• 16.6

11
When, within the academic year, do you think it
is most appropriate to have a focus topic block?

• Around and including the first reading week
  (weeks 5-9)
• After the first reading week (weeks 8-12)
• After the Christmas break (weeks 13-17)
• Around and including the second reading week
  (weeks 17-21)
• After the second reading week (weeks 20-24)
• After the Easter break (weeks 25-29)

• 16.6
• 33.3
• 33.3
• 8.8
• -
• 8.8

12
Section 3 Your experience

• I am satisfied that the process of choosing the
  focus topic was fair (elimination of least voted,
  runoff between the two remaining).
• I knew enough about each option given to me to
  make an informed choice.
• The subject taught in the focus topic was well
  covered.
• I have learned something useful during the focus
  topic block.

13

• I found the techniques used for the creation of
  character very useful in practice for performance
  after the focus topic.