Penn State’s C-PAD Classroom Is Changing The Way Integrative Art Students Learn
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Red lights, white walls, eight students and utter silence. Despite the lack of in-person learning caused by the pandemic, the integrative arts students at Penn State’s Center for Pedagogy in Arts and Design (C-PAD) have found a new way to learn.
With synchronous options on Zoom and in-person, the C-PAD ARTH297 learning lab is not your typical arts lecture, but rather a tangible, learn-by-doing interactive multimedia experience.
“When the pandemic shut everything down, we had to get creative,” said Kacee Briggs, a senior at Penn State. “As a student and a choreographer, I had to completely adapt to teaching my students online while being online myself, it was a whole new kind of learning.”
Along with majoring in Integrative Arts with an ENTI minor; she also teaches at The Dance Academy of State College and is currently taking ARTH 297 in the C-PAD lab.
Briggs is no stranger to the effects of a pandemic. According to her, the C-PAD lab is one of the only times she can fully express herself, even if it is behind a mask.
“CPAD gives us the freedom to explore so many different styles of our art through a more technical approach,” Briggs said. “With how small the class size is, it’s easy to get the hands-on instruction we’ve been hoping for without giving up the technology.”
Within room 113 of Penn State’s Borland Building, lies a multimedia classroom, designed and funded through C-PAD. It was created to advance the arts and design pedagogies, professional development, research, and teaching throughout all disciplines.
The classroom features multimedia equipment such as stage lighting, wall-to-wall whiteboards, access to projectors, a sound-proof computer room for editing and graphic design purposes, as well as open areas, and university-provided face masks.
“Teaching in a C-PAD classroom is like offering my students a multimedia experience,” said Stephanie Thomas, the professor of ARTH297. “My students are very visual, so rather than just showing them what might happen I am able to engage their learning in different ways; this semester they get to test out new virtual reality tech in creating their very own 3D museum showroom.”
Thomas teaches two classes in C-PAD: AA297: Multimedia Arts Public Relations in the spring, and ARTH297: Museum Public Relations in the fall. She is also the Communications Director of Social Media and Visual Assets for the College of Arts and Architecture.
Alongside Briggs in the C-PAD classroom is fellow integrative arts majors, freshman Sa’ida Bronner and sophomore Lelaina Scott, both of which are experiencing their first in-person collegiate art class.
Scott explained that pandemic learning hindered her ability to connect to the art community at Penn State and hopes for more classroom experiences like C-PAD. Bronner, on the other hand, preferred the synchronous option.
“I think the zoom option is a great way to reach out to more people if they have the discipline for it,” Bronner said. “If you don’t want to risk going in person, you can still put in the time and learn.”
Although the C-PAD lab room was intended to inspire the arts, its purpose was not limited to those in arts majors. Currently, there are no prerequisites for these courses, and they are open to all students interested in the arts or art history.
Brook Peaco, a senior in Anthropology, is just one of the students whose lives have benefitted from the creative environment inside C-PAD.
“Having a digital option for students who do not feel comfortable at school while still having in-person options like the C-Pad classroom builds a social environment that is more personable,” Peaco said. “Arts are important for me to have a creative outlet, and for me to freely express myself, and now I can do so safely.”
