A Novel Approach: Engaging First-Year Students in a Common Book Program

SOURCE

Return to Front Page

A Novel Approach: Engaging First-Year Students in a Common Book Program

As colleges and universities confront student retention challenges, many have charged their faculty with finding new and innovative ways to engage students in the first year. These faculty are frequently encouraged to embed common-reading selections in their courses as a way to deepen students’ engagement with a chosen text. This article describes a unique strategy of doing so at Kansas State University (KSU).

KSU’s first-year seminar partnered a common reading of Mark Haddon’s book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time with a choreographic dance. The project gave a section of 22 first-year students, most of whom likely had no dance experience upon entering the course, the chance to engage in dance and theater without needing to enroll in extra classes. While common readings are not new to FYE programs, we found that activities exploring this common read provided opportunities for cross-disciplinary learning, exchanges of ideas, and a variety of interactions.

Engagement Project

As a foundation, all participants (i.e., seminar students and dancers) had to read and become familiar with Haddon’s book, a mystery novel released in 2003. Students in the first-year seminar created timelines ofimportant events from the book, which served as a reference for designing choreography for the dance piece. Trained dancers and other performers directed by the first-year students and their professor, who also served as the choreographer, would perform the piece as part of a mainstage event.

The students’ first assignment was to construct a one-sentence statement that captured the novel’s essence rather than summarizing it. The choreographer had not expected to include spoken word in the dance piece; however, after reading the students’ responses, it was apparent that those one-sentence statements would greatly impact the overall performance. The variety of ideas they generated was diverse and inspiring. The text chosen to be part of the performance included the following:

• If someone is labeled, it doesn’t define them;

• A boy who is discovering himself;

• Innocence of the modern life;

Return to Front Page

Kansas State University’s first-year seminar partnered a common reading of a mystery novel with a choreographic dance performance. Photo courtesy of Kansas State University Communications and Marketing

Vol. 15 | No. 3 | August 2018 14

Julie Pentz Associate Professor, Director, K-State Dance Program

Kansas State University

“The students’first assignmentwas to constructa one-sentencestatement that

captured thenovel’s essence

Copyright © 2018 National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience® and Students in Transition, University of South Carolina

rather thansummarizing it.… The varietyof ideas they

generated was

diverse and inspiring.”

SOURCE

Return to Front Page

Vol. 15 | No. 3 | August 2018 15

• The truth always comes out;

• Adversity and challenges stand in everyone’s path;

• Sometimes a true gift can be shielded by a label; and

• One of the greatest tragedies in life is when the world tries to define you as something you are not.

The students were then asked to outline the most powerful moments from the story. Working in small groups, they collectively formed a single outline based on their individual timelines that included those moments, along with themes they thought the choreography should represent. The choreographer used the groups’ outlines to help develop the dance sequence.

In one instance, the students felt strongly that a dead dog in the story should be represented. Their idea was for one dancer to lie on stage for the entirety of the piece, not moving. The students made an engaging case for this choice, and ultimately the choreographer was convinced that the dog should be represented. The outcome was different, however; the dog was represented by stillness and an unused space present throughout.

Active Involvement

For their third assignment, the students had to attend a dance rehearsal for the piece, view the choreography created to go along with the story, and provide feedback. After seeing the choreography for the first time, they all agreed that the choreographer had captured their wish to have the dog represented throughout the performance. Through this experience, students felt actively involved in the creative process. One student said having the chance to watch the rehearsal and then give feedback was the most influential part. The energy of the students’ classroom discussion shifted dramatically after they visited the dance rehearsal, which was a new experience for most of the group. Not only were they happy with the creative choices made based on their assignments and discussions, they were surprised that the choreographer and performers valued their work.

The students’ final assignment focused on technical aspects of the performance, as they brainstormed ideas for lighting and costume design. The choreographer used information from this session to communicate with lighting design faculty. Ideas for costume design came directly from the students, who placed dancers in pedestrian, all-black clothing with yellow and red accents. These colors came directly from the text. Starry images projected onto the dance floor represented the final lighting design.

The outcome of this project was fully realized in a main-stage performance of the dance piece the choreographer titled In the Night.

“The studentswere exposedto elements of

architecture andengineering

through givinginput on setdesign andlighting, as wellas art and design

(lighting and costumes).”

Final Thoughts

In Common Reading Programs: Going Beyond the Book, Laufgraben (2006) recommends faculty consider the key stages of course development, implementation, and assessment when designing such programs. Each of these components contributes greatly to the

Return to Front PageCopyright © 2018 National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience® and Students in Transition, University of South Carolina

SOURCE

Return to Front Page

Vol. 15 | No. 3 | August 2018 16

Reference

overall success of a common reading. Our dance project allowed students and faculty in the first-year seminar to connect the reading experience with varied academic disciplines, diverse experiences, shared leadership, expectations for student success and involvement, and the promotion of meaningful learning.

For the students who had no prior experience with dance, a variety of nontraditional assignments and experiences enhanced the learning process. The students were exposed to elements of architecture and engineering through giving input on set design and lighting, as well as art and design (lighting and costumes). They collaborated with trained, upper-level dance and humanities students. As the students left their final class of the semester, they reflected on their first semester of college; the dance project was a consistent topic of discussion. They likely never imagined their college experience would offer the opportunity to help a professor choreograph a dance performance.

For faculty at KSU, our biggest takeaway from the project was that the students wanted more interaction with the dancers and more input in the production. In the future, we hope to repeat this kind of project with a different common read and give students more involvement in the production overall. Based on this experience, readers might be encouraged to think about ways that faculty from varied disciplines can collaborate around the themes of a book chosen for a common reading.

Laufgraben, J. L. (2006). Common reading programs: Going beyond the book. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

Contact

Julie Pentz jpentz@k-state.edu

Related Articles in E-Source

Beacham, M. (2009). Wofford’s novel experience: Taking a common reading program to dinner. 6(6), 11-12.

Bukics, R. M., & Clemence, K. (2007). Lafayette’s first-year students analyze a film for their common reading. 4(4), 8-9, 15.

Lee, A., Jie, Y., & Williams, R. (2010). Common book: Practical strategy for supporting student learning and success. 8(1), 7-9, 13.

SOURCE

Return to Front Page

Aligning Institutional Support for Student Success: Case Studies of Sophomore-Year Initiatives

Submissions are invited for a new volume exploring institutional efforts to support student success in the second college year. Cases from a variety of institutional types highlighting a range of initiatives are welcome. Preference for publication will go to submissions describing initiatives featuring cross-functional collaboration in the design and delivery of the program, innovative approaches to ensuring vertical or horizontal alignment with respect to sophomore-year programs, and highquality assessment. The deadline for submissions is September 10, 2018. For complete guidelines and to submit a case study, visit sc.edu/fye/publications/development.html.

E-Source for College Transitions (ISSN 1545- 5742) is published three times a year by the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208. The National Resource Center has as its mission to support and advance efforts to improve student learning and transitions into and through higher education. The First-Year Experience® is a service mark of the University of South Carolina. A license may be granted upon written request to use the term The First-Year Experience. This license is not transferable without the written approval of the University of South Carolina. The University of South Carolina is an equal opportunity institution.

PUBLICATIONS STAFF

Christina Hardin E-Source Editor

Todd Money Editor

Stephanie McFerrin Graphic Designer

Tracy L. Skipper Assistant Director for Publications

Jennifer Keup Director

Copyright © 2018 National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience® and Students in Transition, University of South Carolina