---
title: New Workshop Has Instructors ‘Acting Out’
date: 2023-04-12T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/new-workshop-has-instructors-acting-out"
section: Articles
---
# New Workshop Has Instructors ‘Acting Out’

*April 12, 2023* — by [Emily Schuster](/author/emily-schuster)


> Improv and Theater Exercises Aim to Unlock Creativity, Engage Students

*Integration Lab 03152023 SC 4930 19200x1080 — Mira Azarm, an innovation instigator in the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, peers out from under a table during a recent improv workshop designed to help instructors bring more playfulness and creativity into their classrooms.*

A faculty member reclined under a table. Another instructor struck a yoga pose over an upturned chair. A third hugged a whiteboard. Don’t worry; they weren’t cracking from stress. The words on a big screen behind them—“You cannot be wrong when you create!”—were a clue that something a little more theatrical was going on here.

The nine University of Maryland instructors were participating in a new workshop hosted by the College of Education and Teaching and Learning Transformation Center (TLTC) that used improvisation and theater games to help them become more playful and inventive in their teaching.

Many people see play as something that doesn’t belong in “serious” education settings, said co-facilitator Christine Alexander, a master’s student studying teacher education and professional development. But research has shown that far from being a frivolous distraction, play can make teaching and learning more meaningful, engaging and successful.

“Fun experiences tend to be memorable experiences. Creative teaching is effective teaching,” Alexander said. “Creativity is mythologized as something that belongs to an elite class of people, but I believe that everyone is creative.”


*one faculty member bends over a chair with a sign that reads, "forced." Another leans with head down on chair with sign that reads, "confused." A third holds a coffee cup, while a fourth covers their eyes with their hands — University of Maryland instructors strike poses to embody their reactions to words they had placed around the room during an improv workshop. Left to right, Nicole Mogul, a senior lecturer in the A. James Clark School of Engineering; Mira Azarm, an innovation instigator in the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Kuan-Hung Lo, a lecturer in the Clark School; and Timothy Reedy, an adjunct professor in the Clark School.*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [College of Education](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-education)