You, accidental reader, real student of theatre and directing, do not expect much from my notes for myself. My pages are "thinking space"... scrapbook.
Although, I still hope that by doing it long Enough the notes will become texts -- and could be usable/understandable by others.
I am doing it for ten years already.
Now, in Africa?
... back to my hard drive for a year? anatoly.org, summer'09
Research w/Anatoly * Theatre * Research/Creative
...
I write online and therefore most of the pages have this "unfinished" look. I try to change this style, but gave up and follow "my" method: when I have something to add, I open the page and do it (so-called updates and editing). I let my projects compete for my time. Suddenly, for example, Biomechanics (BM) become active, the subject is on my mind, more notes on my desk and I have clear the space -- put it all on webpages. And then, again suddenly, it stops.... because something else takes its place. So, I have to leave it until next time.
I feel a little bit guilty, but I believe in the chaos theory...
My writing is a priority and all other projects I can do only after I am done with the nonfiction books ("night shift"). There are two papers I need to write: About Virtual Theatre as a new Ritual -- for Performance Study International in Germany, and another on Russian/Soviet Theatre "Between Rome and Byzantine" for Modern Drama Association conference. The abstracts in THR Directory @ Film-North.
How does it work? For example, Biomechanics is for classes Intermediate Acting) and I use it in directing (next: Don Juan Spring 2003), but in order to more the instructional pages closer to students (textbooks), I have to releave them from the "research" notes, so I had to open another place biomechanics.vtheatre.net, where I keep the pages for myself with the questions without answers.
six standards can be used to evaluate faculty work in any form: clear goals, adequate preparation, appropriate methods, significant results, effective presentation, and reflective critique.
[ Scholarship Assessed: Evaluation of the Professoriate, is the sequel to an influential Carnegie report that appeared in 1990, Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. ]
American Association for Higher Education: The foundation's 1990 report proposed broadening the notion of "scholarship" beyond its traditional focus on the discovery of new knowledge. Scholarship Reconsidered suggested that teaching be considered scholarship, as should the work that profess ors do in "integrating" knowledge, such as making connections within or between disciplines.
[ THE CORE OF ACADEME:
TEACHING, SCHOLARLY ACTIVITY AND SERVICE ] http://uwp.edu/staff/gov/faccom/prc/AASCU.htm -- The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)
"Scholarly activity has three components--research, scholarship, and creative endeavor--whose principal foci are oriented toward the academic program of the university and are carried out by individual faculty."
Research for the purposes of this discussion will be categorized as discipline, applied, and pedagogical. The first orients toward new knowledge, the second toward the utilization of that new knowledge, and the third toward methods of teaching and learning. Discipline research is that activity which is carried out with the deliberate intent of extending the frontiers of knowledge in a particular academic discipline. Little attention is given to the applicability or practical use of possible discoveries. Applied research is activity that is carried out with the deliberate intent of solving a specific problem in an immediate time frame. The focus of the activity is the applicability of the research to a well-defined, real-life need. Pedagogical research is activity which explores the merits of one educational approach to instruction over another approach, under what conditions students learn best, how educational material may be organized to enhance the learning process, investigations of the degree to which curricula meet the requirements they have been designed to meet, etc. The sharing of the results of research, as outlined later in this paper, is an integral part of the research process. The responsibility to communicate the results of research to assist colleagues, as well as to validate findings, is the task of the faculty member. The responsibility to support and facilitate research efforts on the part of the faculty is the task of the academic administrator.
Scholarship is an area of scholarly activity that refers to updating and extending an area of study within the professional life of the faculty member. University professors must be constantly alert to new and innovative directions in their disciplines if their leadership in the classroom is to be truly effective. It is this kind of activity that frequently spells the difference between professors who are inspiring and creative in the role as teacher and those who only continue to use notes on aging yellow pages. Faculty engaged in scholarship are those who take advantage of the opportunities to remain viable and active in their particular areas of specialty. The development and sharing of ideas; the conception and implementation of new and creative instructional materials; participation in conferences, conventions, workshops, professional meetings; and the publication of articles and monographs in areas other than research are samples of such activities.
Creative endeavor refers to the result of the production of creative work by faculty. Creative endeavor is most easily identified when associated with the performing arts (theater, music, dance) and the fine arts (two- and three-dimensional art, writing). It is also most appropriate to apply it in the area of applied arts (architecture, graphics and printing, design, decorating). Creative endeavor involves not only the creation of a tangible product, but the subjection of that creative piece to judgment by public and peers through the vehicle of performance, show, publication, display, or exhibit. There is some overlap area of scholarship. For example, an article dealing with the impact of carbon steel by its inventor could be classified as creative endeavor.
Some activities indicative of scholarly activity follow. Those provided are meant to serve as examples only. They should not be perceived as the total universe of scholarly activities.
[Service: Institutional, Professional, and Community]
Institutional Purpose and the Core of Academe : Cardinal Newman in The Idea of a University noted that a "university...aims at raising the intellectual tone of society, at cultivating the public mind, at purifying the national taste, at supplying pure principles to popular enthusiasm and fixed aims to popular aspirations, at giving enlargement and sobriety to the ideas of the age, at facilitating the exercise of political power, and refining the intercourse of private life."
...
Concentrate on writing grants and writing manuscripts, not necessarily in that order.
Keep your academic work focused; avoid too many uncorrelated research pursuits; become thematic.
Keep your nose to the keyboard and write, write, write.
Keep your manuscript in the mail, not the desk.
Use whatever resources are available to advance your research, within the bounds of law, ethics, and courtesy.
Research and learn all you can about grant applications immediately.
...
* Create a “tenure and promotion” file immediately. Keep duplicate copies of all relevant materials --- your CV, annual reports, publications, teaching evaluations, etc.
* Save letters of thanks, supportive memos, etc., for your dossier or dossiers (to cover teaching, research, and service). You may not have to use this material, but at least you’ll have it should the need arise. Copy particularly noteworthy items to the Head, as they are received, for inclusion in your departmental file.
* Document your contributions as you go, highlighting efforts made to improve your teaching (e.g., indicate course changes you’ve made and why, what you expected to happen, what did happen, etc.).
Research/Creative Criteria:
A. the relevance, quality, and breadth of research/creative activity,
B. the currency of research/creative activity, and
C. peer assessment of the quality of research/creative activity.
[ Such quality is documented by peer statements, published reviews, grants and contracts for productions and publications, invitations to exhibit and present work, awards, comments from adjudicators, and written comments by external peer reviews. ]
Theatre Standards for Research & Creativity:
Each year, each faculty member will agree upon an Annual Goals statement agreement with the department head outlining their individual goals for the next year. Except in unusual circumstances, the normal minimum expectation will include the direction of one mainstage production for the Acting/Directing faculty or the designing or supervision of designs for all design aspects of two mainstage productions for the Design faculty or publication. This agreement will then become the minimum expectation for each individual faculty member. If each member adequately fulfills this goal during the year with an acceptable level of performance, it will be assumed that Minimum Expectations will have been met. Any additional creative projects, research or productions work of significant quality and scope or extraordinary performance on activities within the goals statement will be considered as exceeding expectations.
In order to provide professional assessment of individual faculty members' performance, outside adjudications of mainstage direction or design will occur on a somewhat regular basis. Usually this external review can come under the auspices of a visiting regional theatre representative of ACTF. Each faculty member will be adjudicated annually by the other option faculty for a qualitative judgment statement relating to their research/creative work for the year under review. At the time of the annual review, each member will provide a qualitative statement appraising each of the other faculty members' performance in research/creativity projects for the year. These statements will be confidential. On the basis of these qualitative judgments, the completion or non-completion of projects outlined in the Annual Goals Statement, the assessed quality of these projects and due consideration given to other creative/research projects faculty members have been involved in during the year, the department head will make an adjudication as to whether individual faculty members have met, not met or exceeded expectations. Faculty members may provide any other evidence they feel appropriate to assist the department head in his/her evaluation.
