Education Commons^™

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 …

Bridging The Gap: Self-Efficacy And The Desire To Continue In Music Education, Janet Levine

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This study sought to explore the problem of student retention in music, specifically between eighth and ninth grade. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between eighth-grade band students’ self-efficacy beliefs and their desire to participate in band. Bandura’s (1977) four sources of self-efficacy (mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal/ social persuasions, and students’ physiological state) were the theoretical framework that guided this study. The participants in this study consisted of 68 eighth grade band students who had at least one year of band experience. This quantitative study used the Music Performance Self-Efficacy Scale, specially …

Reimagining The Flute Masterclass: Case Studies Exploring Artistry, Authority, And Embodiment, Sarah Carrier

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This work explores the flute masterclass as an aesthetic, ritualized, and historically reimagined cultural practice. Based on fieldwork that took place between 2017 and 2019 in the United States, in Italy, and on the social media platforms Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, I argue that the masterclass—an extension of the master/apprentice system that dominates learning in the classical music tradition—is characterized by embodied qualities of artistry and authority. These qualities are not inherent, but are perceived through subjective, social, familied, and affective bodies.

Chapter One outlines the main themes and the research design. Chapter Two is a case study that analyzes …

Footprints Of Resilience: Tracking The Career Development Steps Of African American Male Musicians, Patrice Tiffany Leshay Bax

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For African American (AA) male musicians, the road toward career advancement in the entertainment industry is particularly arduous. Despite many difficulties on the journey to career success, the history of gospel, R&B, jazz, and funk music is evidence that many AA male musicians find their way to develop and advance their careers. Many AA male musicians find career development and advancement opportunities through religious and sacred institutions. However, the journey to become a professional musician for AA males is fluid and not formalized causing ambiguity in the steps taken to enter this career field and sustain growth in a rapidly …

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.

Newcomer English Language Learners In High School Choral Music Education: An Ethnographic Case Study, Lisa Ann Serna

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This five month long ethnographic case study seeks to add to the limited literature on Newcomers enrolled in choir (Carlow, 2006), by understanding the role a focused choral music education plays in their ability to listen, speak, read, and write in the English language. The study also seeks to contribute to the literature connecting language learning and choral music education. The purpose of the study was to understand Newcomer English language learnersâ?? (NELs) experiences of practice and performance in high school choir, as it relates to language learning and social belonging. Cultural Historical Activity Theory framed my study which allowed …

Pedagogy Of Video-Game Scoring For Collegiate Application And An Original Score For The Nintendo Switch Title, Renaine, Mason Lieberman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Video-game scoring as an academic subject is quite new. There are limited opportunities for college-level students to study this field, and even fewer that are offered remotely via online sources. My goal for this thesis was to craft educational modules, courses, or other academically-based resources, that would develop a student’s musical skills, professional instincts, and educational groundings in the game audio world. These courses could then serve as an academic model for the development of other classes. After conducting research informed by my professional background as a composer in the video game industry (with a particular focus on my experiences …

Dance Of Exile: The Sakharoffs’ Visual Performances In Montevideo (1935–1948), Pablo Munoz Ponzo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis explores the life-work chronology of the dancers and choreographers Clotilde von Derp (whose surname then was Sakharoff) and Alexander Sakharoff, who were exiled in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, between 1941 and 1948. During their stay in the Rio de la Plata region, the Sakharoffs stirred up the art scene by performing extremely detailed dances with great attention to costume design. This thesis begins with a review of the reception of the dancers’ performances by the artistic and cultural circles in Montevideo, arguing that the Sakharoffs’ “queer” trajectory resonated with the Uruguayan artistic community, influencing the creation …

Illuminating Unsung Americans Sung As A Musical Staple Within American Culture, Richard Leon Hodges

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The book Unsung Americans Sung was first published in 1944 by the Handy Brothers Publishing Company. With over 30 contributors and edited by William C. Handy, this book explores the great abolitionists of the eighteenth century and the climate of Negro culture during that moment in time. The book includes poetry, illustrations, children’s songs, choral works, scenes from major works, and art songs. Handy was not only offering his opinion of the Negro of the time, but he was creating a book that would add these freedom fighters and generational torchbearers into the archives of every American. Sadly, this glimpse …

Music As A Cultural Gateway: A Short-Term Folk Music Program In Albania, Catherine Pierattini

Capstone Collection

Folk songs have been described as a musical representation of a society’s entire culture. The field of ethnomusicology combines aspects of music and anthropology, and the study of folk music can give considerable insight into worldviews, histories, and traditions. Yet there are few study abroad program providers using this discipline as an approach to cultural analysis and exploration.

The proposed Middlebury Music Studies in Albania program would introduce diverse folk music traditions in three distinct cities, giving students the chance to learn the basics of the Albanian language, understand the historical, geographical, and social influences on the music in the …

The History Of The Steelpan, It's Impact In Hartford And The Significant Evolution, Kimani Bishop

Senior Theses and Projects

The History of the Steelpan, its Impact in Hartford and the Significant Evolution.

The thesis focuses on the history and development of the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago and its development for more than twenty-five decades. The rebellion of the African slaves that were forbidden to use their drums upon arrival to the Caribbean led to the invention of the steelpan through paint pans, aluminum tins, and zinc cans.

This research also involves individual interviews and information about the members of the Hartford Steel Symphony Orchestra (HSSO)and their contribution to the community. The HSSO is a well-profound musical orchestra …

The Equal Right To Sing: The American Zeitgeist And Its Implications For Music Education, Youngeun Kim

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

According to music educators and proponents of arts education, music education in U.S. public schools seems to be in jeopardy. This thesis brings attention to several issues in current music education. It is a case study of music education in New York City public elementary schools. First, it shows that music education is not equally distributed to all students in the public-school system and is especially unequal among elementary schools. Next, it investigates possible causes for this inequality, from the current system’s limitations to more fundamental causes including the cultural perception of music among the U.S. public. The consequences of …

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 …

Newcomer English Language Learners In High School Choral Music Education: An Ethnographic Case Study, Lisa Ann Serna

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This five month long ethnographic case study seeks to add to the limited literature on Newcomers enrolled in choir (Carlow, 2006), by understanding the role a focused choral music education plays in their ability to listen, speak, read, and write in the English language. The study also seeks to contribute to the literature connecting language learning and choral music education. The purpose of the study was to understand Newcomer English language learners' (NELs) experiences of practice and performance in high school choir, as it relates to language learning and social belonging. Cultural Historical Activity Theory framed my study which allowed …

Art As A Mediating Tool: Children And Learning In A Music And Arts-Based After School Program, Claudia Saldana

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study explores the experiences of primarily Latina/o children with learning music in a Music and Arts-Based Program (MABP) the context of a low-income neighborhood on the U.S- Mexico border. This year-long ethnographic study was conducted in an after-school art program in the Rio Grande Elementary School, in a low-income neighborhood located within one-mile of the U.S.-Mexico border. The purpose of the study is to understand how music and art can be used as a mediating tool for children to construct social and cognitive learning within a culturally diverse community, thus, enhancing the social environment in which they interact. The …

Music Therapy Effects On Social-Communicative Response Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Raymond Payton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are challenged with communicative skills, which can negatively influence their emotional development. As children with ASD in the local school were not demonstrating functional communication skills as measured by the Assessment of Social Skills for Children with Autism (ASSCM), music therapy was introduced as remediation. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which music therapy increased the ASSCM scores. This single subject design study was guided by Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, which holds that individuals are impacted by various environmental systems around them. The research question addressed the extent to …

Principals’ Leadership Practices For Sustaining Music In K-3 Education, Ivone Fraiha Clark

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Public school principals who provide and sustain music in elementary programs are often confronted with budgetary cuts and reduced funding for music education. There is a dearth of research regarding music as an essential element in K-3 education in low-income rural schools. The purpose of this generic qualitative inquiry was to explore and describe leadership practices of principals, who despite fiscal challenges, include and sustain music in the K-3 curriculum in a low-income rural area of a small county in North Carolina. Elliott and Silverman’s concept of praxial music education and Leithwood and Riehl’s philosophy of instructional leadership practices were …

Measures Of Music Teacher Effectiveness In Three Early Career Levels, Alicia L. Canterbury

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Corroborative findings across instructional targets rehearsal frames and the summative evaluations indicated a general lack of specificity across all levels which improved somewhat during student teaching and peer teaching. Unidentified targets and nonspecific positive feedback were observed less frequently in student teaching and novice teaching. No growth was found across levels in specific positive and negative feedback. Directives were the most frequently observed teacher verbal category in selected rehearsal frames and information and demonstrations were consistently the highest ranked items across all levels in the summative evaluation. However instructional directive scores were inconsistent. Results indicate that new teachers of all …

Beyond Sound: A Descriptive Study Of Fifth And Sixth Grade Children's Listening Perceptions Of Rap And Classical Music, David Camilo Aristizabal Ruiz

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

This action, non-experimental, empirical, descriptive study using a survey technique was aimed at observing the immediate reality of one particular urban school in one cosmopolitan city of the United States of America’s Pacific Northwest. The purpose of this study was to narrate the listening perceptions of 137 fifth and sixth grade elementary aged children while they compared two examples of music: USA east coast rap versus European classical music. Their responses to 24 survey questions were the basis for exploring the idea that social-economic values reflected in bias are affecting their listening perceptions. Moreover, the purpose of this research was …

Improving Piano Teaching At International Schools In A Suburban District Of Beijing, Wei Xie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The quality of piano education in international schools in China has been affected by an increasing number of piano students and piano teachers experiencing heavy teaching loads. The research questions in this qualitative case study included both teachers' and parents' perceptions of the quality of teaching and learning in piano classes at multicultural international schools in a suburban district of Beijing. The 4 principles of the Suzuki method provided the conceptual framework for the study. Data were collected through interviews with 10 experienced piano teachers, 10 selected parents of K-12 piano students, and observations of 3 group piano classes, 8 …