Thesis (Ed.D.)--Liberty University School of Education, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

<p> This study examined the ways in which mid-career ensemble directors and administrators (some with musical and some without musical background) described the effect of implementing standardized teacher evaluations on their practices and perspectives. Participants described the application and critique of the evaluation tools, particularly the Danielson Framework for Teaching, on their process and pedagogy. There is little information on how in-service teachers&mdash;specifically ensemble directors&mdash;locate themselves in their practice and how they articulate their process and pedagogy. There is also little literature on mid-career teachers, both in identity formation and self-reflection. Mid-career ensemble educators who have an established professional identity may find imbalance in light of the new policies, and have to negotiate and manage the contemporary evaluation systems predominantly designed for English and Math. Further, if supervisors do not understand what learning and assessment processes look like in a middle or high school band, orchestra, or chorus setting, they might try to evaluate with criteria that apply to a social studies or chemistry class. Without critically reflecting on how these evaluations affect pedagogy and process, educators may fall into routines of trying to reach a particular benchmark, instead of imagining ways to engage with their students.</p><p> A phenomenological interview approach was used to solicit the participants&rsquo; voices and to allow their narratives to describe their lived experiences with teacher evaluation in ensembles. The participants&rsquo; personal and shared narratives help to better explain and navigate the changing waves of educational policy. Data collection involved interviews and document review of the contemporary evaluation systems, in particular, the Danielson Framework for Teaching. Data analysis uncovered themes of conflicting identities in the classroom, misaligned interpretations of student-centered learning, as well as discourses based on location and the privileges associated with place. Teachers negotiated their performer/conductor and educator selves; administrators negotiated their leader and educator selves.</p><p> This study found that the Danielson evaluative tool, when poorly implemented in an ensemble setting, is faulted and lacks content validity. Additionally, while ensembles function rather traditionally in public schools, embracing a more open rehearsal pedagogy with conductor as facilitator may help to assure more student-centered learning.</p>

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction of select variables (cognitive style, gender, and achievement) when middle school students are involved in learning about music through two different instructional modes. The two modes of instruction explored were a researcher-designed interactive hypermedia program and an expository teaching method. The sample consisted of the entire grade six and seven population of one public elementary school in a western Canadian city. A researcher-designed preknowledge test was administered to determine if any of the potential subjects had previous information about the lesson material--the steel band orchestras of Trinidad. To test for cognitive style, the Group Embedded Figures Test was administered to all potential subjects. Based on the results of these two tests, four groups were created: field dependent males, field dependent females, field independent males, field independent females. Half of the Ss from each of the four classifications were randomly assigned to the hypermedia instruction (experimental) group and the other half to the expository teaching (control) group. All Ss completed an achievement posttest immediately after treatment and a delayed posttest approximately six weeks later to test for long term retention. Results suggest that cognitive style, mode of instruction, and gender do not, either alone or in combination, affect long term retention of information by middle school music students. Irregardless of instructional mode, girls and boys in this project achieved similar results when measured using an achievement posttest. However, it was also found that field dependent female students using the hypermedia program achieved significantly lower posttest scores than any other combination of Ss' cognitive style, gender, and the mode of instruction being used. Contrary to previous studies, it was found that Ss receiving hypermedia-assisted instruction achieved significantly lower scores on the initial posttest than those experiencing an expository teaching lesson. Based upon these findings, recommendations for future research were made.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of a tangible goal on students' on-task behavior and the perception of their classroom climate. The tangible goal examined in this study was an audio CD. Also examined were the interactions of grade, group, gender, and time of test. The My Class Inventory was used to measure students' perceptions of their learning environment. Two hundred and fifty-one students from twelve intact classes in two elementary and two middle schools of three school districts were chosen for the study. The intact classes were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups for a four-week experiment. The study utilized a pretest/posttest two group quasi-experimental design to answer six research questions. Four-way ANOVAs with repeated measures were conducted to measure mean differences and interactions. Group and time of test were the principal variables of this study. Results of the study found significant differences between experimental and comparison groups of off-task behavior scores.

This study expands prior research demonstrating a relationship between electronic piano keyboard instruction and increased spatial ability in preschoolers (Rauscher, F. et al., 1993, 1994, 1997). Spatial ability was assessed after active music instruction using Orff xylophones, active singing instruction, or a passive listener-oriented approach. Kindergartners (N = 68) from 3 intact classrooms, stratified for gender, were randomly assigned to 3 groups: (1) xylophone (n = 28), (2) singing (n = 26), and (3) passive music (n = 14). The lessons for active groups 1 and 2 were identical except for the variable of xylophone instruction. Children learned the same songs, movements, unpitched instrument accompaniments, and read the same simple iconic musical notation. However, during part of the lesson group 1 used xylophones as accompaniments and to sight-read iconic notation, while group 2 (singing) continued to use unpitched instruments as accompaniments and Kodaly hand-signals to sight-read the same iconic notation. Passive group 3 did no singing, playing, moving, or music reading but listened to and talked about music. The instructor taught bi-weekly 30-minute music classes for 4 months; IQ's were measured using 5 subtests (Performance Scale) of the Weschler Primary and Preschool Intelligence Scale - Revised (WPPSI - R) (1989) by a school psychometrist. To control for WPPSI - R practice effects, half of group 1 (n = 14) and group 2 (n = 14) were pre-tested while half of group 1 ( n = 14) and group 2 (n = 12), and all of group 3 (n = 14) were not pre-tested. All were post-tested six months later. There were no practice effects. To compare groups raw scores were used as there were no significant age differences among groups. No significant differences were found. However, consistent with other studies a trend (p < .06) towards enhanced performance on the xylophone group's Object Assembly (OA) subtest was found when compared with the passive music group. A similar trend (p < .06) was found on Block Design, the subtest that most highly correlates with OA. A ceiling effect may have constrained growth due to music instruction as 21% of the xylophone group's OA scores were perfect or near perfect.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of critical thinking instruction on the music listening skills of fifth grade students as measured by written responses to music listening examples. It was hypothesized that music listening instruction including opportunities for critical thinking (Critical Thinking Instruction, CTI) would be more effective than parallel instruction without critical thinking instruction (Activity-Based Instruction, ABI). CTI consisted of four components: musical terms and concepts, repeated music listening examples, responding activities, and opportunities for critical thinking. In contrast, ABI consisted of three components: musical terms and concepts, repeated music listening examples, and responding activities; ABI did not include opportunities for critical thinking. Both CTI and ABI treatments were taught concurrently by the same music teacher at the same school in a series of sixteen (16) forty-five (45) minute lessons. Two intact classes of subjects were randomly assigned to the CTI and the ABI treatment groups (n = 41 and 40, respectively). "Thinking and Listening," a researcher-designed dependent measure, was administered as a pretest and a posttest. Subjects' written responses were classified into three categories (i.e. musical, affective, or associative) and scored by three independent judges. Additionally, the Musical Aptitude Profile (Gordon, 1967/1995) was administered as a covariate. Significant disordinal interaction effects in subjects' responses by test by treatment were found such that CTI subjects demonstrated greater gains in musical term, associative, and total response scores from pretest to posttest than did ABI subjects. Additionally, significant main effect differences between treatment groups were found such that CTI subjects demonstrated higher musical term, affective, associative, and total response scores than did ABI subjects. Significant main effect within group differences were also found such that CTI subjects demonstrated significantly higher musical term, affective, associative, and total response scores on the posttest as compared to the pretest, while no significant main effect differences were found in ABI subjects' response scores. The positive effects of the CTI treatment, however, should be interpreted with caution based on larger than expected standard deviations and departures from normal distributions. Implications include designing music listening instruction to incorporate critical thinking skills.

This study examines the behavior and actions of one music and movement teacher, coupled with a look at one little boy's participation and reactions. It focuses on the following questions: What music and movement activities create opportunities for social, motor, cognitive, and language development? In what ways would a child having difficulty in the classroom respond to the teacher and activities in a music and movement enrichment program? What teacher qualities make a positive impact on the child's behavior and development? The study showed that the music and movement activities promoted positive experiences for the subject. It also found that the skillfulness of the teacher was one of the most important factors in the successful music and movement program. The study led to several recommendations including the following: ECE teachers need support, education, and resources; classes should be small; and young children need to music and movement to maximize development.

<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of singing tempo during specific song acquisition of preschool aged children. The study had two research questions: 1. What is the effect of slow and fast singing tempos on preschool children&rsquo;s performance of musical components (melody, rhythm, and text, individually and combined) of a duple major song over time? 2. Will children&rsquo;s performance tempo be the same as or similar to the presented instructional tempo? </p><p> Participants were randomly assigned by classroom to Tempo Group A (120 beats per minute) or Tempo Group B (60 bpm). A three week pilot study (<i> N</i> = 14) validated the teaching procedures, recording procedures, and the scoring rubric. During the six week main study, participants (<i> N</i> = 50) were exposed to the song 30 times. Three judges evaluated individual performance recordings from the pilot study and the individual midpoint and final performances from the main study in three dimensions: melody, rhythm, and text. </p><p> Interjudge reliabilities were calculated using a Pearson product moment reliability. Data analysis used a two-way Multiple Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) with repeated measures for the individual components and an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures for the composite score. The melodic scores, the rhythmic scores, the text scores, and the composite scores showed statistically significant growth for both groups from the week three recordings to the week six recordings. There was no statistically significant difference between the instructional tempo groups. </p><p> The mean of complete performances for both tempo treatment groups moved toward the center of the tempo range (60&ndash;120 bpm) Using a <i>t </i>-test, the change in performance tempo from instructional tempo was statistically significant. Further research is needed for specialized groups (English as a Second Language, developmental delays, and different tonalities/meters). </p>

<p> Dr. Charles Hirt and the Department of Church and Choral Music at the University of Southern California (USC) produced some of America's most successful choral conductors and administrators. Many of those students are conducting or administrating at the finest colleges and universities, secondary schools, churches, and community choral organizations in the nation. From the earliest moments of his career, Charles Hirt himself received a seemingly endless string of accolades. Always focused on the betterment and future of the choral arts, he was a "founding father" of significant choral organizations such as the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Choral Conductors Guild of California, and the International Federation of Choral Music. It was also his visionary mindset that served as a hallmark of his tenure at USC and arguably earned him the right to stand as an equal alongside the greatest of American choral conductors. </p><p> It is the aim of this study to examine Hirt's significant contributions to the University of Southern California and his legacy as it continues on in his students and the subsequent generation of choral leaders they generated. </p>

<p> This study seeks to provide female singers and their teachers with insight on achieving career longevity through the collection of data and commentary from seasoned professional female singers. One hundred artists from the United States and Canada, each with a singing career spanning twenty years or longer, were invited to complete the online survey The Professional Female Singer and Career Longevity via SurveyMonkey.com. </p><p> Participants, ages 45-75, responded to an array of questions to create an overview of their vocal careers. Each singer provided answers on physical and vocal health challenges they experienced as well as, the impact of menopause, hormone replacement therapy, and the perceived benefits of teaching to maintain the voice. Respondents also shared information on the lifestyle, dietary, and other choices they believe contributed to career longevity. </p><p> The sample population, composed of forty-nine mezzo-sopranos and fifty-one sopranos, is predominantly made up of baby boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1964. It is significant to note that none of the one hundred singers reported being "retired" from the profession. All continue to engage in performing, teaching, or a combination thereof. </p><p> According to the U.S. Census Bureau life expectancy over the past century for women has nearly doubled from an average of 48.3 years in 1900 to 81.3 years in 2010. Women can now expect to live a considerable portion of their life in a postmenopausal state. This document adds first hand reports by female professional singers to the present voice science research on the benefits of diet, exercise, lifestyle choices and hormone therapy. Singers should be educated to the benefits of maintaining hormonal balance and its direct impact on preserving the voice. Further study is warranted to explore which hormone replacement therapies are proving to have the greatest vocal benefit and to disseminate information on which natural/alternative medicines and modalities female singers and voice teachers feel help maintain their voices and contribute to career longevity.</p>