A Classroom in Concert: How to Design a Truly Rockin’ Learning Experience – Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

My family was buying tickets to see one of their favorite bands. They debated whether to get one for me, knowing I’m not much of a live concert person. I surprised all of us and agreed to go. As we walked to the venue, I was fully expecting not to enjoy the night. I was wrong. 

I didn’t know most of the band’s songs, yet I left feeling energized and light. I recognized that feeling immediately as the same one I experience after a particularly great class session. At first, I couldn’t explain why but the more I reflected, the clearer the parallels became. A well-designed class has much in common with a well-orchestrated concert. 

As I replayed the evening in my mind, I began to notice the intentional choices that shaped the experience: the way the band opened the show, the stories they shared between songs, the careful sequencing of their set list, and even how they used the space to amplify energy. None of it was accidental. Each element was designed to guide the audience through a shared experience. 

Those same design principles, I realized, can transform a classroom. And when we think of our courses as experiences to compose rather than content to cover, the classroom experience transforms into one that is memorable, impactful, and joyful for all in attendance. 

1. Open by Resetting Expectations

At the concert, the lead singer began with an unusual request: to temporarily set aside any past memories we had tied to their music. The nostalgic associations, the old favorites, even the disappointments. He invited us to approach the evening as if hearing the songs for the first time to be open, curious, and present and allow for new experiences to form. 

It was a subtle but powerful move. In that moment, superfans and first-timers alike were placed on equal footing. No one had an advantage. No one had a deficit. We were all simply participants in what was about to unfold. The request didn’t deny our past experiences, he acknowledged them, but it gently asked us not to let them define the night. 

Students often walk into our classrooms carrying similar baggage. Some have taken the course before and struggled. Others have heard from friends that it’s impossibly hard. Many arrive with long-held beliefs about the subject itself. In my discipline, accounting, those beliefs tend to be predictable: “It’s boring.” “It’s only for math people.” “I’ll never understand this.” None of which, by the way, are true. 

So on the first day of class, I borrow the concert’s strategy. Students interview one another and share what comes to mind when they hear the word “accounting.” I invite a few to share, and together we surface, and then dismantle the myths in real time. I ask them to suspend any preconceived notions, at least for the next sixteen weeks, and let the course surprise them. 

Practical Takeaway

Begin by naming the baggage students may be carrying and intentionally resetting expectations. When we create psychological space for something new to happen. 

2. Use Story to Deepen Connection

Between songs, the band paused to share brief stories -what inspired a piece, the obstacles they faced, the friendships formed along the way. Those moments transformed the music. Our understanding of what they were going through that led to the music they created changed our understanding of them. 

In the classroom, story serves a similar function. A short anecdote about a former student who wrestled with, and ultimately mastered, a difficult topic. A real-world example drawn from your professional experience. A case that demonstrates how an abstract principle plays out in practice. Stories give structure and meaning to content that might otherwise feel technical or distant. They help crystallize complex ideas and deepen connection -not only to the material, but to one another. 

Stories also provide the “why” many students are quietly searching for. When they see how accounting rules guide real business owners in real communities, the content becomes purposeful. Just as importantly, story creates a cognitive reprieve. In courses where the material can be dense, narrative offers a moment of relief without sacrificing rigor. 

Recently, my class lit up when I shared the true story of a local business wrestling with a decision about excess building space. Students analyzed the financial implications of multiple options, considered the community demographics, and weighed the values of the two owners before making their recommendations. We tracked each group’s conclusion (nearly a three-way tie), and the room grew remarkably still as I revealed the option the owners were leaning toward. In a time when sustained attention can be difficult to capture, that collective focus was striking. The experience was interactive, analytical, and deeply memorable. 

Lean into those stories. Share them generously. You may be surprised how far even a small narrative moment can carry the learning. 

Practical Takeaway

Intentionally build one storytelling moment into each session, or anchor a project in narrative, to increase clarity, engagement, and connection. 

3. Designing the Set List

Bands take time to carefully curate their set lists -which songs they will play and in which order. They don’t open with their slowest song or end on a mid-energy note. They space out their greatest hits, build momentum, and close memorably.  

We can learn from that. Sprinkling your “greatest hits” -your engaging class activities, high-energy discussions, collaborative challenges -throughout a class session sustains energy, especially when navigating more complex material. And then close with something interactive and uplifting, whether it’s team trivia (a favorite for my classes), a reflective prompt, or short debate, make sure to leave students feeling energized rather than depleted and eager to return for the next session. The energy can be intentionally curated for lasting impact, just like the band showed me during their expertly crafted concert. 

Practical Takeaway

Map the energy arc of your class session. Don’t leave engagement to chance -design it intentionally. For my classes, structure looks like this: 

• Lecture to explain topic 

• Interactive “hit” activity (group or partner work) 

• Deeper application or problem-solving (reconvene as a group to debrief) 

• High-energy or reflective closing (trivia or other exit-ticket like activity) 

4. Curate Energy Across Platforms

Musicians share their art in various platform types -live, streamed, recorded- but the experience still requires thoughtful composition. 

The same is true in education. Whether teaching in person, synchronously online, or asynchronously, the core principles remain: 

• Open with an invitation 

• Build connection through storytelling 

• Vary class activities to build and harness energy and 

Now, before each class, I now ask myself, “Where will energy wane?, Where do I need it rise?”, “What can students do to be active (instead of passive) participants of the class?”. 

Practical Takeaway

Plan not just what students will learn, but how you will harness the collective energy of the class to maximize the impact for all. 

Creating Change that Lasts

Months after the concert, one of the band’s songs came on the radio. My husband smiled and said his relationship to that song had changed because of the experience we shared that night. It meant something new. 

That is what we want for our students. 

We want their relationship with our subject to evolve -from fear to curiosity, from confusion to confidence, from disinterest to enthusiasm. I’ve had students who once dreaded accounting tell me they can’t wait to take their next class! And not because the material was easy, but because the experience changed their perspective. 

When we design our classrooms like a well-crafted concert -intentional, connected, and energized- we don’t just deliver content. We create moments that last long after the final note. So, I’ll be first to say that I can’t wait for my next live concert and that it is “indie roll-n’ roll for me!” 

Teresa Thompson, MBA, CPA, fell in love with accounting after her first class, and with teaching soon after. While tutoring at her community college, she realized she wanted to “tutor this stuff forever!” and quickly charted her path. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, CPA license, and experience in both public and private accounting before returning, this time as a professor, at the very college where it all began. 

Known for her creative teaching methods, Teresa brings pop culture into the classroom with themed syllabi like Pokémon and Wicked. She speaks nationally and writes about the importance of joy, play, and connection in education. Her articles include “The Importance of a Good Bedside Manner for Doctors Teachers” and “The Unexpected Benefits of Play.” 

Outside the classroom, Teresa can be found hiking, diving into books about teaching and learning, or curling up with a good mystery novel and her cats.