Music Education Commons^™

A Community Of Peer Interactions As A Resource To Prepare Music Teacher Educators, Jihae Shin

Research & Issues in Music Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate interactions between two doctoral students and their colleagues in a graduate music education program and determine how a community of peer interactions functions as a resource to prepare music teacher educators. Results of this study showed that peer interactions between two participants and other students in graduate classes demonstrated characteristics of communities of practice (Wenger, 1998). The domain was the commonality of working as full-time music educators at the college-level and wanting to be better music teacher educators. While reflecting on this common goal, they developed a shared repertoire including their own …

Curriculum Reform In Rural China: An Exploratory Case Study, Patricia E. Riley

Research & Issues in Music Education

This case study consisted of an examination of the perspectives of students, teachers, and administrators at the Shuangling Primary School, a rural Chinese school in Shaanxi Province, as they relate to themes of China’s most recent curricular reform efforts. The intent was to understand these perspectives and determine how to best assist teachers in rural primary schools in Shaanxi Province, and perhaps more broadly in other rural Chinese primary schools, in implementing the themes outlined in the reform document (Ministry of Education of the Peoples’ Republic of China, 2010). Researcher narrative describes this exploration, and data include student, teacher, and …

High School Band Students’ Perspectives Of Teacher Turnover, Thomas E. Kloss

Research & Issues in Music Education

Teacher turnover remains an important issue in education. The least researched perspectives, though, are those of the students who experience teacher turnover. The purpose of this study was to examine how high school band students experience teacher turnover. A total of twelve students were interviewed, representing three schools that experienced a teacher turnover that year. Students were asked to give advice to teachers leaving a program, teachers coming to a new program, and for students who learn that their teacher is leaving. The study shows that reactions to teacher change vary, and that there is more to the turnover process …

Assessment In Music Education: Relationships Between Classroom Practice And Professional Publication Topics, Sarah H. Mcquarrie, Ronald G. Sherwin

Research & Issues in Music Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between actual current assessment practices of elementary music teachers and the assessment topics as published in the literature aimed at those teachers. Specifically, this study sought to: 1) identify the current assessment techniques utilized by elementary music teachers; 2) identify the types of assessment techniques included in the current music teacher literature, and 3) identify any relationships between the assessment techniques that are most frequently utilized by teachers and those that are most frequently included in teacher-focused music education publications.

The researchers first examined data collected from the 100 elementary …

A Comparison Of Bluegrass Bands: 2013 Bands Versus The 1940s-1960s Bands, Elizabeth Rosanne Butler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study investigated the bluegrass music genre of 2013 and compared it with bluegrass found in the 1940s and 1960s. To date, only one similar study has been identified. In 1963, L.M. Smith completed a study entitled, Bluegrass Music and Musicians: An Introductory Study of a Musical Style in Its Cultural Context. In the conclusion to his study, Smith listed five major characteristics found in the bluegrass genre: 1. "Bluegrass is hillbilly music, played by white Southern musicians for a Southern audience." 2. "Bluegrass is not dance music and is seldom used for this purpose." 3. "Bands are made …

A Description Of The Musical Concepts Artist-Level Jazz Musicians Employ While Improvising, Jonathan Whitmire

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to analyze musical concepts employed by artist-level jazz performers (professional jazz musicians) playing an improvised solo. These concepts are then compared to the participant's pedagogical background in improvisation. Subjects were videorecorded performing an improvised solo with an accompaniment track of "Take the ‘A' Train". They then participated in an observational research method referred to as stimulated recall where each performer watched the video directly following the performance and attempted to classify the musical concepts they used in their improvised solo. Categories of musical concepts included: scales/modes, chords/arpeggios, memorized licks, melodic variation, rhythmic variation, range/intensity, …

Cooperating Teacher Perceptions Of Music Student Teacher Preparedness For The Elementary Music Classroom, Charlotte Varner Hester

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study investigated the strengths and areas of improvement for elementary music teacher preparation from the perspective of multiple members of a single body of music teachers. Subjects for the study were elementary music teachers from an urban school district in the southern United States. All elementary music teachers in the school district have at least Level I Kodaly certification. Thus, they teach from the same perspective. An online survey instrument utilizing open-ended and free response questions was designed based on the research questions. Cooperating teachers commented regarding elementary music student teacher preparation across three broad categories: teaching skills …

A Comparison Of Practice On A Midi Wind Controller To Practice On Single-Reed Instruments, Laura A. Stambaugh

School of Music: Faculty Publications

In the study of piano performance, the use of MIDI keyboards and computer software has improved measurement efficiency and accuracy of data analysis. MIDI wind controllers have existed for over 20 years, but their feasibility as a tool in wind instrument research has received little attention. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the validity and practicality of using a MIDI wind controller in instrumental performance research. Specifically, this study examined performances of the same passages, played by the same performers on a wind controller and played on a saxophone or clarinet, for pitch and rhythmic accuracy. The final …

Adjudicated Adolescents, Susan Gardstrom

Department of Music Faculty Publications

This chapter highlights music therapy practice with adjudicated adolescents, also referred to as juvenile offenders or delinquents.

In 2008 alone (the most recent year for which statistics are available), juvenile courts in the U.S. took action on more than 1.6 million petitions of delinquency. Some of these cases were dismissed; some were waived to adult, or criminal, court; still others resulted in adjudication (a determination of guilt) with subsequent dispositions of community service, restitution, fines, probation, and/or mandatory placement in treatment programs of varying levels of security (National Center for Juvenile Justice, 2009).

The Impact Of Group Music Therapy On Negative Affect Of People With Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders And Mental Illnesses, Susan Gardstrom, Jacklyn Bartkowski, Joy Willenbrink, Wiebke S. Diestelkamp

Department of Music Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of group music therapy on levels of self-reported negative affect (NA) among men and women on a residential unit of an integrated dual diagnosis treatment program.

More specifically, we sought to determine if and to what degree engagement in composition, receptive (listening), re-creation (performing), and improvisation experiences would result in a shift—namely, a decrease—in the intensity of self-reported NA.

Participants were adults in residential treatment who had been diagnosed with co-occurring substance use disorders (SUDs) and mental illnesses (MIs), predominantly mood and anxiety disorders. Twenty group-music-therapy sessions were held on …

Women With Addictions: Music Therapy Clinical Postures And Interventions, Susan Gardstrom, Maria Carlini, Jessica Josefczyk, Amy Love

Department of Music Faculty Publications

Like men, women have been using alcohol and drugs since ancient times; yet we are just beginning to uncover important information about women's unique trajectory to and through addiction. Straussner and Brown (2002) write, “There is little or no denial left today: Women can be and are addicts at alarming rates” (p. 34). Close to 15% of the members of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) report working with clients who have addictions (AMTA, 2011). It is likely that some of these members work with women who struggle with addictions, and it seems feasible that some would work predominantly or …

A Historical Study Of Irvin Cooper: Choral Music Educator And Founder Of The Cambiata Concept, Phillip Holland Stockton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Military officers and psychologists have argued that the human experience of killing in combat is directly related to physical proximity between combatants. With the advent of remote controlled weapons and advanced optics, that argument has proven untrue. This thesis, through analysis of contemporary war literature and film, proposes that a better paradigm for understanding and anticipating the human experience of killing in combat is the view the soldier maintains of him/herself and of the other as similarly human. The contemporary soldier may view both the enemy and him/herself as human, subhuman, or inhuman; this view is closely tied to constructed …

The History Of The System Of Music Education In Jamaica: Emancipation In 1838 To The 21st Century, Randy Tillmutt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rich and internationally respected Jamaican music culture has been influenced by the system of music education that exists in the country. Public school and college level music education programs in particular have provided the opportunity for students to have an early exposure to music and to pursue a career in music. However, the multitude of opportunities to study and pursue music did not always exist in Jamaica. The goal of this study is to examine the history of music education in Jamaica with particular focus on such influences as British colonialism, the African Diaspora, Jamaican folk music and Jamaican …

What Keeps Us Well? Professional Quality Of Life And Career Sustaining Behaviors Of Music Therapy Professionals, Shane C. Swezey

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Self-care can be seen as not only critical for individual professionals, but also for the growth of the helping professions and the quality of care which clients receive. The purpose of this study was to investigate use of career-sustaining behaviors and the levels of professional quality of life in music therapy professionals. This study investigated research questions regarding use of career sustaining behaviors and levels of professional quality of life, the relationship between these variables, the differences in the use of career sustaining behavior by demographics, and the use of music as a self-care strategy.

An online survey was sent …

0802: Kay Wildman Collection, 1900-2006, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The Kay Wildman Collection explores the history of music in Huntington, WV. This collection consists of oral histories, photographs, newspaper clippings, and research materials. In most of the oral histories you will find a copy of the interview on a CD and a typed outline of the interview. A diary by Robert Grant, a member of numerous musical groups in Huntington, can also be found in this collection. This diary covers the period of time Grant was a student at Marshall University with some additional entries that go beyond that period of time.

Promoting Schema Formation Among Wind Musicians Of Varying Abilities, Laura A. Stambaugh

School of Music: Faculty Publications

Cognitive load theory identifies three types of cognitive load present during learning: intrinsic, extrinsic, and germane. To optimize learning, cognitive load theory recommends optimizing germane load. The purpose of this study was to examine the interactions among intrinsic and germane cognitive loads when practicing a wind instrument. The study will determine which of two practice strategies is most effective for three levels of learners on a woodwind instrument. Forty-five participants were university music majors and minors with either (1) no experience playing a woodwind instrument, (2) limited experience, or (3) a woodwind major or minor. In a repeated-measures design, students …

Music Industry Market Research - The Effect Of Cover Artwork On The Music Industry, Kendall Cook

Graphic Communication

The creation and use of the Internet has revolutionized the marketing and consumption of music in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Past and current marketing tactics were researched to see why the music industry has declined in sales in recent years. Cover art has been apart of the traditional marketing of tangible goods such as vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, and other media. It grabs the attention of the consumer and is their first impression of the album. The Internet has utilized cover art, but not in the same manner. It exists but is not widespread. This theory to …

Muop 356/856: Intermediate/Advanced Opera Techniques—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Jamie M. Reimer

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

I began the investigation of this course and subsequent course portfolio with the following objectives in mind:

1. To solidify and articulate the skills I intend students enrolled in this course to achieve by the end of the semester;
2. To think creatively about the presentation of course material to most effectively engage and empower students' success; and
3. To assess the effectiveness of the course activities in achieving course goals stated in the syllabus.

I am also excited to explore the options available for different methods of content delivery in this course, particularly the application of recorded performance for assessment. In the …

Mued 345: Instrumental Music Methods, Dale Bazan

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The course Instrumental Music Methods (MUED 345) is designed to provide a fundamental preparation for future music educators to teach instrumental music--both orchestral and band--to adolescents in schools. The description in the UNL Schedule of Classes describes this course as dealing with "administrative approaches, rehearsal techniques, and modern comprehensive teaching styles for the secondary instrumental teacher." I chose this course for my peer-review because preparing future instrumental music teachers is one of my primary responsibilities as the instrumental music education specialist at UNL, and this course is the primary course to prepare students for this outcome. It is therefore vital …

0810: The Huntington Symphony Orchestra Collection, 1974-2012, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The Huntington Symphony Orchestra Collection focuses mainly on the EFFORT (Education For Future Orchestra Related Tradition) Program. The EFFORT Program went from school to school performing for students, and teaching them about the instruments. This collection consists of many EFFORT reports from various years which show the schools the orchestra traveled to. It also includes a variety of programs and flyers and a multitude of newspaper clippings and photographs ranging from residencies to EFFORT In-School performances.