1. Kelly Vadukar
Faculty workshop – Active Immersion in Lectures

2. SESSION OUTCOMES
 The background
 Theatre in classrooms: Experiential learning
 Example and sharing of ideas
 A theoretical approach
 Over to you….

3. THE BACKGROUND
+ Services have been widely described as 'performances' (Berry,
Zeithaml and Parasuraman, 1985) and, for some time now, a number
of services marketing scholars and practitioners have recognised and
identified various aspects of the service encounter as theatrical in
nature (Grove and Fisk, 2007).
+ Those who deliver services have been characterised as 'actors' or
'cast members' (Berry, 1981; Grove, Fisk and Bitner, 1996) whose
role enactments help define service excellence (Solomon et al.,
1985).
+ This has led to the emergence of so-called arts-based forms of
training such as theatre-based trainings and improvisational theatre
exercises which help to develop presentational and performance
skills needed in the service industry (Finsterwalder and O’Steen,
2008).
The literature suggests that hotel school students might benefit
from similar exercises, due to their roles and responsibilities.

4. THUS..

5. EXPERIENCE ECONOMY

6. BORING – NOT USED - OUTDATED

7. THEATRE IN THE CLASSROOM
+ Theatrics methods as teaching approaches are
underpinned by students being involved in constructing their
own knowledge
+ This is (Savery and Duffy, 1995), where students take
ownership of a learning activity, and work with real-life
problems through which they develop work knowledge and
skills through the collaborative efforts of the group to identify
and resolve issues
+ Therefore the active role of students in PBL implies that
students have to plan and monitor their learning processes,
and take responsibility for their own learning and
development (Hmelo-Silver, 2004; Van den Hurk, 1998)
This may well be through improvisation and an assimilation of one’s past experiences.

8. WHICH LEADS TO…

9. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING = PERFORMANCE
MODEL
+ Approaches associated
with experiential learning
include the use of games,
simulations, role plays,
visits and practical work
(Gibbs, 1992)
+ With experiential learning
there is a desire to develop
the person and their
capabilities, and to offer a
form of learning that
emphasise what people
can do rather than what
they know (Graves, 1993)

10. THE NUMBERS

12. IT IS MORE ABOUT
ENGAGING STUDENTS
RATHER THAN
ENTERTAINING STUDENTS.

13. SO WHAT CAN WE DO?

14. EXAMPLES

15. EVENTS: UG: S1 WOHT, S4 MARKETING AND
MBA: TOURISM (LINKED TO PROJECTS)

16. S6: MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION (LIVE
PROJECT)

17. S4: MARKETING ESSENTIAL: CONFERENCE
POSTER NPD (PROJECT)

18. PG: CUSTOMER SERVICE: MONICA OR
(GUEST SPEAKER)

19. S6: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR: KEEP CALM AND
RELEASE STRESS (STUDENT LED/RUN EVENT)

20. S6: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR: HUMAN KNOT –
TEAM AND COMMUNICATION (CLASS ACTIVITY)

21. S6: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR: TEAMS
(CLASS ACTIVITY)

22. S4: ENTREPRENEURIAL MANAGEMENT: PITCH TO AN
ENTREPRENEUR (CLASS ACTIVITY/GUEST SPEAKER)

23. PG: PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING: MOOD
BOARD (CLASS ACTIVITY)

24. ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT IN LEARNING

25. BUT

26. I HAVE..
+ Limited time
+ Big numbers
+ So many learning outcomes to cover
+ Students unwilling participate
+ A small classroom
+ Too much content to deliver
+ Students only interested in exams and
passing them

27. WHAT WE COULD DO IS…

28. FEEDBACK AND SCENARIOS

29. PRACTICE

30. Thank you.

31. REFERENCES
+ Gibbs, G. 1992. Improving the quality of student learning. Technical and
Educational Service Ltd: Bristol
+ Kolb, D.A. 1984. Experiential Learning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
+ Savery, J. and Duffy, T. (1995). Problem-based learning: An instructional model
and its constructivist framework, in Wilson, B. (Ed.), Constructivist learning
environments: Case studies in instructional design, pp. 135-148. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications
+ Hmelo-Silver, C. E. (2004). “Problem-based learning: What and how do students
learn? “ Educational Psychology Review, Vol,16, pp. 235–266
+ Finsterwalder, J. and O’Steen, B. (2008). “Marketing Theatre Education: Using
Improvisation for Teaching and Learning”, Sydney, Australia: ANZMAC 2008, 1-3
Dec 2008. Proceedings of the ANZMAC Conference. Available online:
http://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/2502 [Accessed: 1.8.2009]
+ Fisk, R.P. Gountas, S., Hume, M., Gountas, J., Grove, S.J. and John, J.
(2007).Services Marketing, 1st Asia-Pacific ed., Milton, QLD: Wiley