Delta Roundtable Puts Science Teaching on Center Stage
Katherine Friedrich

Chemistry came to life when Madison Area Technical College instructor Holly Walter Kerby presented “How Can Theater Help Us Teach Science?” at the Dec. 6 Delta Roundtable.  

Once she began working at a technical college, Walter Kerby said, she was forced to draw on her theater experience to teach chemistry effectively. Her students viewed science as an “exercise in futility and humiliation.” “They really didn’t want to be in my class,” Walter Kerby said.

One day, after Walter Kerby’s students had difficulty visualizing a chemical reaction, she made herself a “high-tech” demonstration kit. She brought out large squares of colored paper labeled with the names of the atoms and molecules in the reaction. She then demonstrated the reaction by tearing off and reconnecting the “atoms.”

Since that first experiment, Walter Kerby has successfully used many theatrical techniques in her chemistry courses. She has even developed a hand signal for chemical equilibrium. Her teaching role has also expanded to include creative writing and drama.

Walter Kerby emphasized three central principles of theater that can apply to science teaching: “action,” “connecting character,” and “story.” She said that connecting character can be as simple as greeting students before class. Lectures can be organized to include action and to follow a story line. “Use suspense,” Walter Kerby said.

Last year, together with her colleagues at MATC, Walter Kerby developed a science “circus” for children. Walter Kerby said that parents have told her their children talked about the way neon signs worked for weeks after the event.  

An advantage of bringing theater and science together is that the originality of the combination encourages scientists to bring their interdisciplinary interests into their teaching. This welcomes active learners and artistic students into the course, and captures the attention of students who are discouraged with science.

Zoology professor Stanley Dodson, who attended the Roundtable, said he incorporates his long-term interest in t’ai chi into his teaching. He said he has used dance movements with his students to explain crane behavior and inorganic carbon equilibrium.
   
Walter Kerby encourages scientists to include theater in their teaching, rather than simply hiring professional actors to communicate science. Before the production, Walter Kerby said, her husband told her: “Don’t worry, science teachers are hams. They’re professionals.”

December 12, 2006

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