Course Coordinator:Hannah Banks (hbanks@usc.edu.au) School:School of Business and Creative Industries
UniSC Sunshine Coast |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
This course focuses on building performance skills and exploring approaches to realistic acting and theatre practice. This includes knowledge of the actor’s craft, character development and the elements of live performance. Through practical applications, workshops, rehearsal processes and critical reflection, you will acquire an understanding of the conventions of realism, improvisation, script interpretation and skills in acting, including the effective use of voice and movement. You will learn how to effectively collaborate with your peers and hone your performance skills to communicate with an audience.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – Asynchronous Online Delivery of Learning Material | 1hr | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Scheduled On-Campus Workshops | 2hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
In DRA100 students will:
100 Level (Introductory)
12 units
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
| 1 | Demonstrate knowledge of performance theories and reflect on the application of these theories. | Knowledgeable |
| 2 | Implement improvisation, acting and performance skills with proficiency and confidence. | Empowered |
| 3 | Create a polished performance of a scene from a realistic play text. | Creative and critical thinker |
| 4 | Reflect on the performance process undertaken to prepare for a specific role. | Creative and critical thinker |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Competent English language skills for oral and written work
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
You will receive feedback on your Task 1 Structured Improvisation in the Week 4 workshop. In Week 3, you will participate in a peer review process to assist you with Task 2 Reading summaries. From Week 7 onwards, you will receive feedback during workshops on your Task 3 Performance.
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1 | Creative Performance | Individual | 20% | 3-5 mins |
Week 5 | In Class |
| All | 2 | Written Piece | Individual | 40% | 1,500 words (5 x 300 word entries) |
Week 9 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All | 3 | Creative Performance | Individual | 40% | 5-8 minutes |
Week 12 | In Class |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Structured Improvisation | |||||||||||||
| Goal: | Professional actors are able to improvise a scene to develop a realistic character. |
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| Product: | Creative Performance | ||||||||||||
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| Format: | Prepare an improvisation to explore and develop a given character. In workshops you will be given a choice of characters to explore, and you will work in groups of 2 or 3 to devise a scene between these characters. You will work in groups to prepare your improvisation but will be marked individually. Further information will be provided in workshops and on Canvas. |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Reading Summaries | |||||||||||||
| Goal: | Reflection and synthesising information are key elements of effective acting. Professional actors utilise acting theory to develop and reflect on their craft. |
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| Product: | Written Piece | ||||||||||||
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| Format: | In week 3, you will be required to summarise a set reading and bring your draft summary to class for peer and tutor feedback. You will submit a final version of five reading summaries in Week 10. Your responses will record your on-going learning linked to issues explored through improvisation, role-play and acting techniques. Further information will be provided in workshops and on Canvas. |
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| All - Assessment Task 3:Performance Scripted Text and Rehearsal Journal | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | Professional actors undertake detailed role preparation; effectively collaborate with others; and present polished performances. |
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| Product: | Creative Performance | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | This assessment is designed in two parts. Part one (Performance) will assess your performance skills in a scene from an Australian or New Zealand play. Part two (Process) will assess your preparation process, rehearsal development and collaboration with your scene partner/s. Select a scene, with two-three characters, from one of the set choices and collaborate with your peers to bring the script to life. Create a rehearsal script and analyse the scene. Present the polished scene to your workshop group using appropriate rehearsal props and costume. You will also keep an Individual Rehearsal Journal. Your journal will reflect on your rehearsals and document your character development process. You will submit this in hard copy or online via Canvas on the day of your performance. |
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A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
Students are expected to wear comfortable clothing suitable for movement and rehearsal purposes to all workshops. Students must supply their own costuming and rehearsal props for all performance tasks.
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying: The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4% The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale You have not failed an assessment task in the course due to academic misconduct.
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.
The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
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For course-specific questions, contact your teaching staff or Course Coordinator.
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