Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-07, Section: A, page: 2507. Adviser: Joe Grant. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-145) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-11, Section: A, page: 4275. Adviser: Eve Harwood. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 350-356) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-11, Section: A, page: 4229. Adviser: Liora Bresler. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 216-222) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate principals&rsquo; perceptions of the status of music education in secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago. The guiding questions were (a) What are secondary school principals&rsquo; perceptions of music learning outcomes as they are currently being met and as they should be met under ideal conditions, (b) What are secondary school principals&rsquo; perceptions of broad educational goals as they are currently being met and as they should be met under ideal conditions, (c) Is there a difference between principals&rsquo; perceptions of current and ideal conditions for the learning outcomes and the educational goals, and (d) What are secondary school principals&rsquo; perceptions about the degree to which eleven selected variables impact music education?</p><p> A descriptive research design was used in which secondary school principals (<i>n</i> = 93) were provided with the survey instrument. The survey is organized into four sections based on the questions that are derived from the research purpose and questions. Cronbach&rsquo;s alpha was used to test for internal consistency of the survey items. Data, related to the first two guiding questions, was fielded via Likert-type scales where the responses represented the principals&rsquo; perceptions of the level of realization of the standards for the music learning outcomes and the broad educational goals. For the third guiding question, data analyses included repeated <i> t</i>-tests and Cohen <i>d</i> value measurements to describe differences between the current and ideal perceived conditions of the realization of the standards for the music learning outcomes and the broad educational goals. A Spearman correlation was used to describe the consistency between the current and ideal perceived conditions of the realization of the standards for the music learning outcomes and the broad educational goals. Chi-squared analyses, on the two open-ended questions presented to the principals, were used to examine the differences in how principals perceive certain factors affect their ability to support music programs.</p><p> Results from the repeated <i>t</i>-tests showed that principals believe there is a difference between how the music learning outcomes and broad educational goals are currently being met and how they should be met, under ideal conditions. Chi-squared analyses revealed that there were moderately positive associations between the current and ideal conditions, with the music learning outcomes yielding <i>r_s</i> = .71 and the broad educational goals yielding <i>r_s</i> = .65.; however, results were statistically significant only for the broad educational goals.</p><p> Chi-squared analyses revealed that there were no significant differences in the ways principals perceived how 11 variables (a) Medium-Term Policy Framework 2011-2014, (b) Students, (c) Parents, (d) Budget/Finances, (e) Scheduling, (f) Standardized tests, (g) School Board, (h) Governing Office/Ministry of Education, (i) Music Teacher, (j) Classroom Teacher, and (k) Educational and Scientific Research were impacting the music programs. Results showed that the principals were mostly inclined to remain neutral about the effects of most of the variables and that they did not consider any of the variables to either strongly positively or strongly negatively affect the music program. </p>

<p> The purpose of this research was to examine the potential relationship between students&rsquo; degree of familiarity with repertoire common to beginning band method books and aural-based music achievement after one year of study. Three research questions guided this study: (1) Which songs from the Familiar Repertoire Survey (FRS) are reported as being the most and least familiar to the sample? (2) For a familiar song, &ldquo;Lightly Row,&rdquo; can FRS scores predict (a) Familiar Music Achievement Singing Test (FMAST) scores, (b) Familiar Music Achievement Playing Test (FMAPT) scores, (c) Familiar Music Achievement Improvisation Singing Test (FMAIST) scores, and (d) Familiar Music Achievement Improvisation Playing Test (FMAIPT) scores? (3) For an unfamiliar song, &ldquo;Finish Line,&rdquo; can FRS scores predict (a) Unfamiliar Music Achievement Singing Test (UMAST) scores, (b) Unfamiliar Music Achievement Playing Test (UMAPT) scores, (c) Unfamiliar Music Achievement Improvisation Singing Test (UMAIST) scores, and (d) Unfamiliar Music Achievement Improvisation Playing Test (UMAIPT) scores? </p><p> Participants (<i>N</i> = 17) were fifth and sixth grade students enrolled in their second year of beginning band in a New Jersey elementary school. I created two measurement instruments: FRS, designed to gauge the breadth and depth of students&rsquo; familiarity with songs common to beginning band method books, and the Music Achievement Test (MAT) designed to measure aural-based music achievement in singing, playing by ear, and improvising on a familiar and unfamiliar song. </p><p> In the first session, participants completed FRS by listening to songs common to beginning band books and completing a Likert-type survey on their familiarity with each song. Later, participants watched MAT through an interactive video which prompted them to complete eight musical subtests. I recorded all performances. Judges rated each performance with two rating scales. </p><p> I analyzed the frequency of responses for each song and found &ldquo;Hot Cross Buns,&rdquo; &ldquo;Jingle Bells,&rdquo; &ldquo;Pierrot,&rdquo; &ldquo;Lightly Row,&rdquo; and &ldquo;London Bridge&rdquo; to be the most familiar songs. Through linear regressions, I analyzed the ability of FRS to predict MAT scores. I found a significant regression equation between FRS and its ability to predict FMAST scores and UMAIST scores. </p><p> The current exploratory study contained many limitations which restricts its generalizability to other beginning band populations; however, six conclusions can be made. Familiarity with common beginning band repertoire as represented by a selection of 24 songs common to beginning band method books does not predict students&rsquo; achievement (a) singing an unfamiliar song, (b) demonstrating through singing improvisation based on a familiar song, (c) playing by ear a familiar or unfamiliar song, and (d) improvising on an instrument, whether improvising within the context of a familiar or unfamiliar song. Familiarity with common beginning band repertoire does predict students&rsquo; achievement (a) singing a familiar song and (b) demonstrating through singing improvisation based on an unfamiliar song.</p><p>

The purpose of this study was to determine whether differing composition software formats, personality, and gender affect the psychological approach that middle school students employed in their compositions. The subjects (N = 77) were seventh and eighth grade band students enrolled in a Western middle school. The subjects were administered the Murphy-Meisgeier Type Indicator for Children (MMTIC) to determine their dominant personality function. Upon the completion of the personality inventory, subjects were given a 30 minute exploratory period using the iconic and standard notation composition software formats. Two compositions were created by the subjects in subsequent class periods using Making Music, the iconic format, and Making More Music, the standard notation composition format. Upon the completion of each composition the subjects were administered the Measure of Psychological Approach toward Composition to determine which dominant psychological approach was used to create their composition. Descriptive statistics and the chi-square statistical test were used to determine the relationship between the independent variables and the psychological approaches used by the subjects. The findings of the study indicate that middle school students employ one of the four psychological approaches observed by Carbon (1986) as their dominant approach toward composition. Most often the intuitive approach was utilized by the subjects, followed by feeling, thinking, and sensing. Furthermore, the relationship between the psychological approach employed by the subjects and the computer software format used during the composition process were found to be significant This finding suggests that middle school subjects are likely to employ the same psychological approach toward composition when using either an iconic or standard notation software format. As indexed by Cramer's statistic, the strength of the relationship was .41 with a .90 level of power of as determined by the Population Fourfold Point Correlation Coefficient. Additional findings indicate that personality and gender were not related to the psychological approaches employed in the subject's compositions.

This project aims at preserving Haitian mythology music; it is conceptualized as having two components: • Digital Preservation Archive: The process generates equivalent notation of hardcopies as well as supplementary audio clip. The resulting artifacts are archived in a website. • Music Production Using Media Technologies: is an effort to stimulate interest in the music. Digital media technologies are applied toward arranging mythology songs for small Afro Western styled musical group. We design a workflow for notating, recording, and staging the music.

<p> Although many teachers use concurrent instructional strategies, little is known about how or when they function in rehearsal, or how frequently they are employed. The purpose of the present study was to examine pitched and unpitched concurrent instructional behaviors as they occurred naturally in secondary choral rehearsals over time. Three master teachers (two male, one female) with at least 10, 20, and 30 years of teaching experience, respectively, recorded their rehearsals over the course of approximately six weeks, from the introduction of a new piece of literature, through the point in time when it is deemed &ldquo;performance-ready&rdquo; by the director. Data were recorded, on average, twice per week, in the form 15&ndash;20 minutes of audio footage, and sent to the researcher for analysis. Results indicate that mean concurrent instruction was present for 25.88% of a given rehearsal. The most frequently used pitched behavior was singing and the most frequently used unpitched behavior was the academic hustle. Potential implications for music education practitioners and directions for future research are discussed. </p><p>

Abstract not available.

Professional development is an integral part of one's career, providing opportunities for growth, reflection, and improving practices. In the field of piano pedagogy, most teachers work independently, often providing instruction from their home, therefore finding appropriate professional development opportunities may be limited by proximity (both in terms of time and physical distance) as well as financial constraints. To meet this need, an on-line digital video library of piano teaching (DVL) was developed and a multiple-case-study methodology was employed to examine the experiences of five piano teachers as they interacted with this tool for four weeks. Findings from this study indicated that viewing the DVL was a beneficial professional development activity, which facilitated teacher learning that could be immediately carried over into their teaching situation resulting in increased student success. Keywords. professional development, piano pedagogy, digital video library, asynchronous distance education