Education Commons^™

Inclusive Ensembles: Differentiating For The Singer On The Autism Spectrum, Natalie Wilkins, Natalie A. Wilkins

Honors College Theses

Exceptional children belong in music classrooms. Music ensemble directors need to overcome complex challenges to meet the goal of inclusion, because ensembles often include a mixture of ages, grades, social and intellectual development stages, musical skills, and a wide variety of diverse learning needs. This study focuses on how a choral ensemble director may create an inclusive environment for students on the Autism Spectrum.

This study reviewed the current research on inclusive rehearsal environments. Analysis revealed varied methods for differentiation that allows students with special needs to thrive in a music classroom and also revealed that music can be a …

Effects Of Chair Testing In Orchestra On Student Motivation: Student Perspectives And Applications From Motivational Theories, Rosanna Christine Honeycutt

MSU Graduate Theses

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine how string students perceive achievement on chair testing through the lens of attribution and achievement goal motivational self-theories. A teacher survey was administered to identify the goals of chair testing in two high school and seven middle school orchestra classrooms. A student survey was used to collect data in those same classrooms on (a) the reasons why students do and do not do well on chair tests, (b) the perceived goals of chair testing and (c) the ratings of motivation and self-achievement. Qualitative techniques were used to analyze attributions within both …

Beginning The Baroque Bassoon: A Contemporary Approach, Elizabeth Ellen Valvano

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

“Beginning the Baroque Bassoon: A Contemporary Approach” is an introductory method for bassoonists who are interested in learning how to play the baroque bassoon or transitioning from the modern bassoon to its baroque counterpart. This method begins with a history of the development of the bassoon before delving into specific performance techniques. This approach includes bassoon history, information on reed making, instructional examples, fingering charts, solo suggestions and playing examples, and resources for further study. While emphasizing beginning the baroque bassoon, this method also includes resources for the more advanced bassoonist. The goal of this text is to widen the …

This Is Me: Anxiety And Depression Awareness Event, Stephanie Cotrone

Honors Projects

College and life are stressful, but they don't have to be. We've all been in that place where it feels like life is caving in and there's nowhere else to turn, but it does get better. This event brings awareness to mental illnesses common on college campuses and in the community. There will be engaging and interactive activities to learn about anxiety & depression, and healthy ways to cope through music, art, theatre, amusement parks, learning, reading, and more. Performances by the Humanities Troupe and testimonies by current students who have had experience dealing with mental illness before or who …

The Impact Of Bridge Program Participation On The Academic Success And Retention Of Freshman Music Majors, Allie Celeste Prest

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The bridge program for incoming music majors at Louisiana State University, run by the School of Music, is a program in its sixth year of existence (2014-2019). The program is a 5 day pre-college orientation that seeks to “bridge the gaps” for incoming music majors through a variety of programming, including sessions on note taking and lectures (given by current music faculty), peer-led integration sessions, financial and time-management workshops presented by university staff, and panels with alumni and community arts leaders. This program was developed as a departmental response to the call to increase the academic success and retention of …

I Had To Do The Reading: A Phenomenological Case Study Of College English Students, Jennifer Eleanor Frank

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

The purposes of this qualitative phenomenological case study were to investigate multiple student experiences in a general elective introduction to literature course when music was added as an autonomously structured assignment. Music and song lyrics are no strangers to the classroom setting, but there is a gap in the literature examining the space where students can create meaningful links between music they enjoy and assigned course readings in college English. Informed by social constructivism and English studies theories this study was designed to investigate any impact that autonomously driven music-link assignments may have on students. The structured assignments were called …

Literacy-Based Elementary Music Instruction And English Language Literacy Acquisition, Stefan Wolf

Graduate Teacher Education

It is often touted by music educators and proponents of music education in the public school system that music helps improve math and reading achievement and test scores. While this justification has undoubtedly saved some music programs, the purpose of this study is not to establish the usefulness of music education in improving other skills but rather to find parallels and overlaps between music literacy and English language acquisition and the pedagogy used to teach both and to determine what implications these relationships have for music literacy pedagogy for all. The author tentatively postulates that music literacy instruction has some …

Integrating The Fine Arts, Cole Alexander

Honors Projects

This project seeks to understand and apply research to a lesson plan unit regarding the integration of the fine arts (art and music) into the general education classroom.

Dance: Music, Movement, And Performance, Elise Beal

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Dance is an art form that incorporates many different mediums. Music is selected to determine the quality of movement that is visualized. Movement becomes realized through repetition of listening to music and outside influences. All dances require collaboration between choreographer and dancers to construct the piece and prepare for performance. The process of development, refinement, and completion is known as the choreographic process. The methods for the process include determining the style of movement and choosing music to satisfy the inspiration. Once music is selected, movement and steps can be determined with influences from previous pieces or other choreographers. The …

Religious Music In Public School Choir: Attitudes, Practices, And Experiences, Landon R. Lamontagne

ETD Archive

A large portion of the choral music canon is sacred or religious in nature because the history of choral singing is in large part due to its importance in the development of the Christian church. Many public school choir teachers include sacred or religious music as a part of their repertoire because of its historic, musical and educational value. The fact that religious songs and sacred texts are often included in public school choir curricula has raised numerous philosophical and legal questions over the past several decades, although research regarding public school choir curriculum and religion is limited. The purpose …

Experiences Of Music Therapy Junior Faculty Members: A Narrative Exploration, Carol A. Olszewski

ETD Archive

Very few music therapists have educational background or training to be proficient at teaching at institutions of higher education. With only minimal (if any) training in andragogy and in research methodology, music therapy junior faculty (MTJF) members find themselves novice academics in the highly structured, competitive environment of the academy. In order for music therapists to be successful in their career change from clinical work to the academy, improvements and modifications to the education of future music therapy professors are likely, but data are necessary to intimate and to guide those changes. This narrative research study explored the lived experiences …

Documenting Fifth-Grade Band Students’ Experiences In A Kodály-Centered Beginning Band Curriculum, Elisabeth Henderson Dhillon

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

ABSTRACT

Based on the work of Hungarian composer and educator Zoltán Kodály, the Kodály method, a sound-to-symbol approach to music-making and literacy stemming from an aural and auditory entry point, forms an integral aspect of many elementary level general music curricula in the United States. In this process-oriented, experiential approach, students hear and explore music kinesthetically, aurally and through folk and art song before visual concepts in the form of notes in formal notation are introduced.

In contrast, traditional beginning band methodologies tend not to incorporate a sound-to-symbol approach, teaching the intricacies of a complex new instrument in conjunction with …

Individual Ability To Learn A Parallel Processing Technique And Musical Aptitude., Daniel Warren Emmett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Correlations between music training and psychosocial skills, sensory abilities, and aspects of intelligence, are sorted into primary or secondary effects. Correlations between these areas of human development and music training lack support pertaining to the underlying cognitive networks that these processes rely on. Thus, this study was based on the work of Baddeley and Hitch's model of working memory, and implemented a test of parallel processing (Articulatory Suppression Task, AST), which measures proficiency of working memory systems. Individual differences therein, were compared with music aptitude. Participants were gathered throughout urban and rural regions of the state of Oregon. Half the …

The Benefits Of Music In Child Development, Dulce-Paola Ixtupe

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Music is a subject that does not limit children to simply having fun, although “fun” is an essential component when trying to engage children in learning activities. Music further enhances a series of transferable skills and can help children with their learning experience in other subjects. By being part of a fun activity such as music, children are able to acquire affective, cognitive, and evaluative skills, which will further reinforce a variety of areas of their development. When engaged in an activity where recognition and expression of feelings are required, they learn that having feelings is perfectly normal and that …

Relevant Versus Extraneous Music In Multimedia Instruction: A Study Of The Coherence Principle, Jonathan Gunnell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the inclusion of nonessential music in an instructional multimedia presentation affected learners’ ability to recall information in retention, cued-retention, and transfer cognitive measures. This study tested the coherence principle of multimedia learning which holds that the addition of nonessential content that is not relevant to the instruction is detrimental to learning. This study tested this principle by analyzing differences across three groups; a control group which included no additional music, a group including bland music selected at random, and a group including music that has been intentionally designed to align with …

Treble In The Environment: Incorporating Music Into Environmental Education, Shinara Sunderlal

Pitzer Senior Theses

In this era where global sustainability is challenged, environmental education plays a vital role in building environmental awareness. Other roles of environmental education include the promotion of responsible citizenship and the fostering of environmental advocacy in children. As a way to strengthen these goals of environmental education, this thesis explores the dynamic uses of music to compound on the fields impact. I argue that the benefits of music outlined suggest music’s power to heighten environmental sensitivity from a young age. I use narratives from the environmental education, music, education, and psychology discourses to demonstrate the theoretical advantages of music in …

Efficient Strategies For Playing The Horn, Jon Allan Holloway

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In their pursuit of becoming accomplished performers, horn players spend a great deal of time studying proper brass playing techniques from the great pedagogues. The modern horn is a fairly young instrument (less than two hundred years old) and the most efficient pedagogical approach is still evolving. Because of this, horn players spend a great deal of time studying proper brass playing techniques from the great pedagogues. Books by Philip Farkas, Arnold Jacobs, Raphael Mendez, and more have many theories and exercises on how to breathe, the best way to perfect embouchure development, performance techniques, and more.

Modern pedagogues have …

Crescendo, Jeffery A. Pabotoy

Theses and Dissertations

Artist Statement

I have always found comfort and warmth in my family. When I am not with them, I find myself clinging to the objects they leave behind as a substitute in their absence. As I began to re-create these objects through paintings and ceramics, I realized that I was creating symbolic portraits of my family. These portraits are tangible family moments preserved in pigment and clay.

In recent years, my siblings were deployed to war and I began to represent them as various instruments. These instruments, both musical and tools of war, chronicle who they were and who they …

Music As Narrative In American College Football, John M. Mccluskey

Theses and Dissertations--Music

American college football features an enormous amount of music woven into the fabric of the event, with selections accompanying approximately two-thirds of a game’s plays. Musical selections are controlled by a number of forces, including audio and video technicians, university marketing departments, financial sponsors, and wind bands. These blend together in a complex design that offers audible and visual stimulation to the audience during the game’s pauses. The music chosen for performance in these moments frequently communicates meaning beyond entertainment value. Selections reinforce the game’s emotional drive, cue celebrations, direct specific audience actions, and prompt behaviors that can directly impact …

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Influence Of Professional Development On Music Integration, Marcy Thurmond Simmons

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

International Baccalaureate (IB) schools are focused on a school-wide approach to developing inquiring students who are motivated to succeed. The problem explored in this case study was based on a local IB elementary school's response to a reform model to integrate music into other content areas. The curriculum lacked an interdisciplinary approach to music education even though teachers had participated in some professional development (PD) to help them integrate music into content areas. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of elementary teachers regarding the influence of professional development on music integration at the IB elementary school. …

Effects Of Criteria-Referenced Formative Assessment On Achievement In Music, Christopher Valle

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of criteria-referenced formative assessment on music achievement. Archival data from 1,173 students who participated in the first two years of the Arts Achieve project were used to examine the overall and school level effects of criteria-referenced formative assessment on music achievement, as well as its effect on content knowledge, listening, and performance achievement tasks. The relationships between sources of feedback from formative assessment – self, peer, teacher – and music achievement were also investigated. Unbiased causal treatment effects were derived after employing propensity score analysis to minimize selection bias and …

A Suryey Of Music Therapists' Use Of Music To Facilitate Reading Development In Children, Cynthia Cross

Masters Theses

This study utilized Naturalistic Inquiry methods to investigate how music therapists use music elements to impact reading development in school-aged children. Eleven Board-Certified Music Therapists were interviewed providing information regarding music therapy interventions, reading skills targeted, theoretical influences, and professional influences. Transcripts of interviews were analyzedto determine themes, coÍtmon use of language related to the subject, common perceptions, and techniques and uses for music to impact reading development. In general subjects did not report specifically using music elements to target reading behavior. Rather, most subjects identified reading objectives determined by classroom teachers and developed music interventions to accommodate those objectives. …

Problem-Solving Pedagogy: A Foundation For Restructuring, Updating, And Improving Undergraduate Theory And Musicianship Curricula, Michael T. Simonelli

Masters Theses

The goal of this thesis is to provide the ideological and practical foundation for an improved approach to undergraduate theory and musicianship pedagogy. I will discuss the structure of conventional theory programs and explore problems inherent to traditional curriculum design. Problem-solving pedagogy, an approach rooted in creative composition and improvisation, will be presented as a complement to traditional theory pedagogy. Balancing problem-solving pedagogy with a more traditional pedagogical approach will provide a practical foundation for improving undergraduate theory and musicianship curricula.

Motivation And Retention Of Instrumental Music Students In A Suburban School District, Megan M. Dray

Multidisciplinary Studies Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the motivation of students to join and remain in instrumental music in suburban school districts through the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. The goal was to seek which area of motivation in each grade level and school building had the highest impact on student involvement and retention. Areas of motivation studied include teacher/student relationships, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, approach success/avoid failure, competition/ego, peer involvement, parental support, and financial issues. The sample included 205 students from a suburban school district in New York. Students were broken into groups based on school buildings …

An Examination Of Cooperating Teachers' Observations Of Their Student Teachers In The Areas Of Personal, Teaching, And Musical Skills In The Elementary Classroom, Mark Remsen Cole

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the observations of elementary school music teachers regarding the level of preparation of their most recent student teachers at the beginning of their student teaching experience. Twenty-seven elementary music teachers participated in a survey rating the preparedness of their student teacher in the areas of personal, teaching, and musical skills, and provided free-response feedback concerning the skills and abilities they observed as strong and weak. These responses were compared to the 1997 research completed by David Teachout, where preservice teachers and experienced teachers were asked to list what they felt were …

The Benefits Of Music: An Exploration Of Music In Core-Curriculum Classrooms, Courtney Froehlich

Honors Projects

Inspired by research that establishes the benefits of using music in the teaching and learning of non-music subjects, this creative honors project provides sample lesson plans for music, math, and English teachers in grades K-8 that use musical activities to teach math and English concepts. Sample lesson plans are grouped by subject and grade levels, and underlying concepts of each plan are identified. Part One includes lesson plans that combine and draw connections between music and math concepts; Part Two includes lesson plans that combine and draw connections between music and English concepts. Within each part, plans are designed for …

Rockin School : An Audio, Visual, And Kinesthetic Approach To General Education Through Music, Tobias Gebb

Graduate Student Independent Studies

A research study that aims to show that the use of music with content embedded in the lyrics within regular classroom lessons can be an effective tool to improve student enthusiasm, engagement, memory, performance, and test scores.

A Study Of The Associations Between Conditions Of Performance And Characteristics Of Performers And New York State Solo Performance Ratings, Elizabeth Curran Vonwurmb

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation undertakes an analysis of 1,044 performance evaluations from New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Spring Festival solo adjudication ratings of student performers from a large suburban school district. It relies on results of evaluations of observed performances, and takes these evaluations as assessments of what the student performers know and are able to do in this field. The analyses undertaken in this study seek to uncover patterns in performance ratings by identified conditions of performance (time of day of performance, level of music performed, and performance medium) and characteristics of performers (gender, race/ethnicity, and grade level). The …

The Power Of Music: Song Serves As An Effective Recall Cue In Children, Tanisha Dews

McCabe Thesis Collection

Song, in some cases, can facilitate learning and recall. The experiments in this thesis demonstrate that information is better recalled when it is heard as a song rather than as speech or through lecture. This study further proves that when a combination of song and speech are taught to children, the retrieval of information is even greater. When the group of the second condition was tested, they were more successful in recalling the information learned. This study also recognizes that song can infuse difficulty due to music's rich structure and makeup of rhythm, tempo, and stress patterns. The overall paper …

The Female Singing Voice, Shirley Guerreiro

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

A study of perceived changes that may occur to the voice within the menstrual cycle The study examines factors that may affect women's voices and examines if there is a change occurring in the female singing voice during the premenstrual phase of the menstrual cycle. Journals and questionnaires of premenstrual vocal and physiological symptoms of seven female voice students were used during two menstrual cycles. Vocal Teacher journals were also used to see if relationships could be found. The median score for various variables were calculated to produce graphs for visual comparison looking for relationships between days of the menstrual …