Jane W. Cassidy

Demonstration and Recognition of High and Low Contrasts in Teacher Intensity.

The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher intensity, the global attributes of enthusiasm combined with an astute sense of timing in relation to classroom management and effective subject presentation and delivery. The authors also tried to ascertain whether high and low contrasts in teacher intensity could be taught to and then demonstrated by prospective music education student teachers (n = 20) and whether other music education majors untrained in the concept of intensity could recognize these contrasts (freshmen, n = 23; seniors, n = 22; and graduate students, n = 29). Results of the study indicated that intensity as a concept could be operationally defined, easily taught to prospective student teachers, ably demonstrated, and recognized with an extremely high degree of reliability across levels of sophistication within the music education major.

Effect of Intensity Training on Preservice Teachers' Instruction Accuracy and Delivery Effectiveness.

Preservice elementary education majors completed five teaching presentations that included (a) teaching childrens songs and music concepts to peers and (b) a preschool field-teaching lesson. Experimental subjects (n = 26) received four training sessions in teacher intensity, which alternated with the five teaching presentations. Control subjects (n = 26) received no instruction in intensity. All videotaped sessions were observed, and teacher behavior was recorded as high intensity or low intensity. Low intensity was further categorized as poor information and/or ineffective delivery. Analysis of the teaching of three rote songs indicated a significant interaction between teaching task and treatment on accuracy and efficiency of instruction. During preschool field teaching, both groups significantly improved in the delivery aspect of teaching, and control subjects significantly increased the percentage of intervals of high-intensity teaching. Further analysis indicated that experimental subjects incorporated more interactive music activities into presentations than did control subjects.

Effects of Various Sightsinging Strategies on Nonmusic Majors' Pitch Accuracy

The purposes of this study were to determine if different strategies used to practice sightsinging would aid nonmusic students in accurately performing such a task; if improvement in sightsinging would transfer to improved pitch accuracy while singing a familiar childrens song; and if teacher-selected starting pitches and tessituras would raise the tessitura of subsequent performances by subjects. Pretest and posttest data compared among the five groups of elementary education majors (N = 91) the accuracy of notes and intervals sung and subject-selected starting pitches on a familiar childrens song and four composed sightsinging exercises. Results indicated that improvement in sightsinging occurred in all experimental groups, with posttest scores of subjects using solfege coupled with Curwen hand signs and those using solfege alone scoring significantly better (p < .05) than subjects using staff letter names and those using the neutral syllable “la. ” There was no significant difference among groups (p > 5) on the accuracy of singing a familiar song on the posttest, with an average gain of 6.4 %, indicating that improvement of vocal accuracy while sightsinging did not transfer into recreational singing. Classwork in a higher tessitura than that selected by all subjects on the pretest had no effect on shifting starting pitches upward during the singing of a familiar song on the posttest.

Enhancing Literacy in the Second Grade: Five Related Studies Using the Register Music/Reading Curriculum.

The purpose of these five related studies was to ascertain the effects of a music curriculum designed to enhance reading skills of second-grade students. The dependent variables were subtest scores on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test administered pre and post the music/reading intervention. Results showed that the total test gain scores of children receiving the music/reading curriculum were somewhat higher than those for control conditions in four of the five studies, but not significantly so. At the second site, gain scores were basically the same. All sites informally observed teacher and pupil enthusiasm for the music for reading curriculum. Though postreading scores were statistically equivalent among groups, it should be noted that in most sites, the music/reading curriculum time replaced reading instruction time. The value of this project is that it demonstrates the general benefits of music as a viable methodology for teaching reading skills at a comparable level while promoting enjoyment in an important academic area.

The Role of the String Project in Teacher Training and Community Music Education.

The National String Project Consortium was designed to encourage string education majors to become string teachers and to stimulate growth of new school orchestra programs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which these goals were accomplished across 13 university sites in 2003-2004. Survey data were obtained from project directors, master teachers, student teachers, children, and parents (N = 1,458). Results indicated the majority of student teachers were music education majors who received professional and financial benefit from participation, and were engaged in authentic string teaching in productive and rewarding settings. Children studied string instruments under satisfying and affordable conditions. The String Project seems to have filled a void where school strings programs do not exist, or functioned to supplement strings instruction available in the schools.

Development of Harmonization and Sight-Reading Skills among University Class Piano Students.

This study is an exploration of the development of sight-reading and harmonization skills among nonkeyboard music majors enrolled in six intact sections of class piano (N = 39). Classes included 10 minutes of instruction in each of two topics, harmonization and sight-reading, with the remaining time spent on keyboard skills not directly related to the study. Subjects were videotaped twice completing two harmonization and two sight-reading tasks. Videotapes were analyzed for pitch and rhythm errors. Statistical analysis compared pretest to posttest scores, right-hand to left-hand scores, the four tasks, and practice-group condition. Results indicated the right hand was more accurate and consistent than was the left hand, made less improvement on all tasks, and was slightly more accurate on the harmonization tasks than the sight-reading tasks. The left hand made noticeable gain in accuracy on all tasks and was more accurate on the easier tasks than on the more difficult ones.

University Students’ Perceptions of an Inclusive Music Production:

A total of 130 undergraduate and graduate music education and music therapy students watched a videotape of elementary children with cerebral palsy (CP) and typical peers preparing and performing in a musical production. The focus of the video was on preparation for inclusion, inclusive interactions, and the performance. Four questions addressing inclusion that required written responses from participants were posed. Responses were categorized for comparisons. Results indicated no significant difference due to training (music therapy majors, music education majors with and without class discussions on inclusion; p > .05). All groups focused on social more than academic benefits for all children. Participants noted the following: benefit of being in a musical play for the children with CP, that children without CP benefited from exposure to information about the disability, that children with CP gained from interacting with typical peers and from making a new friend, and many of the techniques teachers used to prepare students for successful inclusion. More than a third were concerned that their future students would not accept children with disabilities in the classroom or that children with disabilities would be incapable. There is an apparent inability to make the transfer of using the identified teaching techniques to enable their own future efforts at inclusion to be successful.

The Role of the Dissertation in Music Education Doctoral Programs.

This survey study was designed to determine attributes of, and attitudes toward, the doctoral dissertation. Of particular interest was music education faculty awareness and implementation of project-based dissertations as alternatives to traditional dissertations. Respondents, music education program heads at doctoral granting institutions (N = 46, 85% return), agreed strongly that the dissertation should make a contribution to knowledge and that the outcome of doctoral programs should be skilled researchers, but indicated that less than half of recent graduates published a research or practitioner article based on the dissertation. Only eight participants responded that their students had an option for completing their doctoral dissertation in any format other than the traditional dissertation. Only 53% of respondents were familiar with the project-based doctoral dissertation, which may explain the relatively neutral responses to questions related to the appropriateness of this format. Faculty were only moderately interested in the format, but almost all estimated stronger interest on the part of their doctoral students.

The role of initial attack and performer expertise on instrument identification

The purpose of this study was to examine the role initial attack and expertise play in the identification of instrumental tones. A stimulus CD was made of 32 excerpts of instrumental tones. Sixteen possible combinations of the variables of initial attack (present or absent), expertise (beginner versus professional), and timbre (flute, clarinet, alto sax, trumpet) were recorded twice, once on B-flat4 and once on F4. After listening to the excerpts, music major (n = 100) and non-major participants (n = 112) identified the instrument that was performed in the excerpt and the expertise level of the performer of the excerpt. A list of possible instruments was provided that included the four stimulus instruments as well as four distractor instruments. Data analysis revealed initial attack presence had a significant main effect on instrument identification, especially for music majors’ identification of performer expertise. Results suggest presence and possibly quality of the initial attack affect timbre identification and tone quality assessment.