Plans for experiential learning in the Fall 2020 remote coursework environment
Humanities Area:
Art, Music, and Theatre Arts/Dance
Studio Art
ARTS 250 (Beginning Photography)
ARTS 350 (Intermediate Photography)
ARTS 497 (Practicum: Studio Art)
These classes will be led synchronously on Teams. Classes
will meet at the regularly scheduled times and days. All of the content for these
classes, lectures, discussions, assignments, and demonstrations will be
submitted and received on Teams, although a different system will be devised for
receiving the large number of images expected from students.
ARTS 160 (Beginning Drawing with Melissa Gill)
ARTS 220 (Beginning Printmaking)
These classes will hold one synchronous meeting each week on
Teams, which will include discussions, lessons, Q&A, etc. The other class
meeting will begin with a check-in on Teams, then students will work on their
projects. All course materials will be posted on the Teams, and a dedicated
Wordpress blog site will serve as the central location for students to submit
their works in progress, finished projects, and for them to write comments on
each other’s works. The blog screen will be shared with the class during group
critiques in Teams. All technical demos will be recorded and posted on a dedicated
YouTube channel. Zoom may be used as a backup platform for class discussion and
smaller group discussions if Teams presents challenges. Student work will be
evaluated using a single point rubric and grades will be posted by email.
ARTS 210 (Beginning Mixed-Media 3-D)
ARTS 310 (Intermediate Mixed-Media 3-D)
Each student will be sent a set of pre-cut polygons and a
copy of Principles of Three-Dimensional Design by Wucius Wong (Van
Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1977). Beginning students will begin by assembling
polygons into the five platonic solids. Coursework for the rest of the semester
will be based on these objects.
Lectures will include the history of polyhedra, the history
of sculpture, the history of contemporary sculpture and the history of
geometric sculpture. Students will follow the textbook and use the principles
within to explore three-dimensional design based on polyhedra. Quizzes are
prepared to accompany the lectures and textbook contents.
Model making is at the core of these classes; models created
are the sculptor’s version of a sketch book. Students will be graded on quality
and quantity of models created. Students will be introduced to a computer-based
3D rendering program so that they can explore the ideas of 3D design remotely
and have the ability to create physical objects using the College’s 3D
printers. All students will be required to create two finished pieces of
sculpture during the semester, which will be critiqued in a group setting.
ARTS 160 (Beginning Drawing with Layet Johnson)
Students will meet Monday/Wednesday mornings via Teams. Classes
will include four daily elements: introduction to drawing history and concepts,
drawing demonstrations, group drawing time, and independent assignments. Students
will learn to draw from observation while using technology such as photography
and researched images in developing independent artworks. Drawing
demonstrations and group drawings will use a two-camera system, with one camera
fixed on a still life while another shows live drawing. This way, students will
be able to watch the instructor draw before trying it themselves. Various still
lives and alternative subjects will be designed for each course segment which
students will work from as a group. The instructor will make rounds, visiting
each student virtually to review their work and discuss concepts. For homework,
students will set up independent still lives to draw “from life,” using
techniques discussed in class, as practice in relating two relevant
contemporary art strategies: developing artworks from flat image references
compared to the three-dimensional world. As observational drawing is often
taught through the western methods of one- and two-point perspective, this
screen-based drawing process will serve as a natural teaching tool, training
students to use their own eyes as “cameras,” while simultaneously encouraging
their development of personal studio practices at home. Throughout the
semester, students will photograph and share their work with one another in
virtual critiques, discussing concepts, techniques, and ideas related to the
drawing process.
Music Lessons
Students will sign up online through Google Forms; students’
class schedules are sent to adjunct faculty who reach out to students
individually to schedule lesson times. Remote student lessons will be the same
amount of time as an in-person lesson. Lessons will occur via Teams or Zoom.
This year, the Google Form will include questions concerning whether students
need to borrow an instrument. Students and their teachers will need to discuss
honestly any challenges regarding how students can find appropriate practice
time and space.
Class Piano
This course will be taught in a synchronous model. Students
without access to a piano will need keyboard apps. Based on the experience of
colleagues at other institutions, online instruction will focus more on aspects
of notation and theory and less on actual performance.
Music Ensembles
Each ensemble will have its own agenda of online topics and
activities, designed by the conductor. In chamber orchestra, Geoff Robson will
work one on one with individual students and on technical and musical skills
that will improve their ensemble playing. This will include some listening
exercises and some recording group projects. Choir will involve daily (or close
to it) singing exercises, along with several topics for group discussion,
listening activities, etc. We are looking into a virtual choir project,
although this is a highly time intensive activity that would be limited likely
to one piece, perhaps for Candlelight. Wind Ensemble, likewise, will be
involved in several projects throughout the semester, including improvisatory
exercises and weekly synchronous meetings.
Theatre Arts
Faculty will conduct the classes in Acting and Directing
synchronously using both Teams and Moodle platforms available through Hendrix
College. Introduction to methods and practices will be achieved through
demonstration, both live and recorded. Students will develop skills of
communication, collaboration, and creative and critical thinking through
scripted and improvisational exercises, and will practice reflective writing as
a means of charting personal progress. Faculty will coach students privately
and in class.
Voice and Movement
Voice and Movement class will be conducted through Teams and
Moodle. The class will require vocal work and thus a space where the student
will have the freedom to “make noise” is recommended. An outside space is
certainly acceptable. Students will upload audio and video files of their
assignments.
Production and Design Classes
Production and Design classes will maintain a highly engaged
and hands on pedagogy. Classes will be taught through Teams and Moodle using
recorded and live lectures and demonstrations. Students will be required to
purchase materials necessary to complete projects; this information will be
provided by the faculty of each course. Students will meet synchronously as
well as meeting individually with faculty to review their work. The students
will meet the learning goals of the classes by developing the work for a design
and observing the implementation of the skills through a video demonstration.
Dance
Faculty will conduct the classes using Teams synchronously,
including live and recorded demonstration and live discussion. Students will be
required to send personal videos of movement assignments. All classes will be recorded in the event of
technology failure. All syllabi, text-reading outline, and other important
class materials will be stored in Teams “class materials.” Students will need
the ability to play music for their recorded exercises.
Dance Ensemble
Dance Ensemble will meet synchronously and develop movement
pieces that will be recorded and streamed for the public. Students will
audition for the ensemble through video demonstration.
Theatre Arts Productions
Hendrix Players Theatre Productions will be readings of
plays: Playwright’s Theatre student winner; a reading for students on campus
that will provide an opportunity to discuss the protests of the summer
regarding racial inequity; and a devised piece that responds to the times using
student writing. These productions will be recorded and streamed on Teams or
Zoom. Auditions and rehearsals will be
held online.
Natural Sciences
Area: Laboratories
Science laboratories teach how science works in the world.
The scientific process includes experimental design, hypothesis, execution,
data analysis, assessment, and presentation. In some science laboratories,
small kits can be used develop hands-on skills and create data. In other online
science laboratories, execution will have to be deemphasized, but this gives
space for other equally valuable skills to be developed including working with
large data and/or using computational methods. All teaching delivered through
web-based platforms and applications will be guided by the same principles of inclusive,
intentional, and engaging pedagogy that Hendrix is known for. In subsequent
semesters, laboratory programs will adjust to over-emphasize execution to
readjust the balance of laboratory skills.
Biology
Students will work in small groups and engage in experimental
design, data analysis, and presentation, the most crucial elements in the
scientific disciplines. The cornerstone of the laboratory curriculum will be bioinformatics,
modeling, simulation, and data analytics. These approaches have become critical
career competencies in the biological disciplines. Virtual labs will be used to
learn standard molecular genetic laboratory techniques.
Chemistry
Introductory Majors’ Chemistry (General Chemistry I &II CHEM 110 and CHEM 120) will maintain
many of the hands-on skills by sending out kits to teach analytical skills with
dyes and pre-weighed samples. Some virtual laboratories will be used for proof
of concept work. All of these labs will involve instructor-facilitated group
activities.
Organic Chemistry (CHEM 240 & CHEM 250) faculty commit
to maintaining a challenging learning experience for our students and preparing
them for continuing in our program. In-house materials will demonstrate
techniques. As usual, the laboratory will emphasize organic analysis including thin
layer chromatography, IR and NMR spectroscopy. Our emphasis on safety and green
chemistry principles remains the same.
Physics
Workshop Physics with Calculus (Workshop Physics PHYS 235 & 245): This workshop-based course
will focus on computation - modeling and data visualization. These skills are increasingly
important for understanding physics and highly transferable across many
professions. Basic coding skills will be incorporated to aid students in
evaluating and presenting complicated data.