Rena Upitis

Playing together beats playing apart, especially for girls

This paper describes follow-on studies focusing on how gender and grouping affects performance and attitudes of children playing a puzzle solving game called The Incredible Machine (TIM). We found that children playing together on one machine solved significantly more puzzles than children playing alone on one machine. Female/Female pairs playing together on one machine, on average, completed significantly more puzzles than Female/Female pairs playing side-by-side on two computers. In addition, the level of motivation to continue playing the game was affected by the opportunity to play with a partner, and success in the game. This paper describes follow-on studies focusing on how gender and grouping affects performance and attitudes of children playing a puzzle solving game called The Incredible Machine (TIM). We found that children playing together on one machine solved significantly more puzzles than children playing alone on one machine. Female/Female pairs playing together on one machine, on average, completed significantly more puzzles than Female/Female pairs playing side-by-side on two computers. In addition, the level of motivation to continue playing the game was affected by the opportunity to play with a partner, and success in the game

When Teachers Become Musicians and Artists: teacher transformation and professional development

Abstract Two models for professional development in the arts are described in this paper. One model involves summer institutes complemented by autumn/winter workshops and teacher‐led action research projects, in partnership with performing arts organizations and museums. Another model engages all staff members in a school in workshops and individual learning projects over the school year. In both programmes, teachers and artists are brought together with the aim of increasing artistic sensibilities and skills of teachers. Data collected over a two‐year period included observations, questionnaires, interviews, and portfolios. From these data and the research literature, a three‐level matrix to describe teacher transformation was developed. Each participant was placed in the transformation matrix, based on a detailed analysis of the many forms of data collected. The application of the matrix is illustrated by profiling four teachers, selected independently by three researchers, as representative of the full...

Figural and Metric Understanding of Rhythm

Bambergers studies of visual descriptions of rhythmic patterns led to a distinction between two kinds of rhythmic understanding: metric and figural (Bamberger, 1982). Metric understanding describes events in terms of a measured underlying beat, while figural understanding describes events in terms of the events surrounding them. The present study asked whether the ability to produce accurate figural representations is related to the level of metric understanding. Forty-nine children (6-12 years old), and forty-eight adults (17-45 years old), served as subjects. Twenty-four of the adults, but none of the children, were musically trained. Each listener completed four tasks: (1) drawing, (2) clap-back, (3) join-in, and (4) an intelligence test. For the first three tasks, eighteen rhythm sequences were designed so that metric and figural representations did not coincide. The drawing task required listeners to represent each sequence with symbols of their choice, so that someone else could reproduce the sequence from their description. For the clap-back task, listeners were asked to clap back the sequence. For the join-in task, listeners were asked to clap along with what they perceived to be the underlying beat of the sequence. For both children and adults correlations between accuracy on drawing and performance tests were significant for the figural drawers but not for the metric drawers. Accuracy of figural drawing is related, for both children and adults, to the ability to respond to the metric aspects of rhythm. Figural descriptions and metric actions may be complementary aspects of rhythmic understanding.

Self-regulation and music learning: A systematic review

Recent research into how individuals achieve their musical goals has been enriched by studies investigating music practice through the lens of self-regulation, or the goal-orientated planning, cyclical adaptation, and reflection of an individual’s thoughts, feelings and actions. The article aims to review the available empirical evidence in order to identify the relationship between processes contained within Zimmerman’s (2000) model of self-regulation and specific music learning variables. It also attempts to discover how self-regulatory behavior relates to both general music instruction and interventions designed to enhance self-regulation. Findings indicate weak, positive relationships with the variables of interest, but suggest self-regulation instruction is the most strongly related variable. The discussion proposes that future research may benefit from investigations of self-regulation within a broader spectrum of musicians and an exploration of participant-driven understandings of self-regulation theory.

The microworld of Phoenix Quest: social and cognitive considerations

The present paper explores social and cognitive considerations in the context of a computer-game microworld or learning culture environment. Forty-one boys and 57 girls, aged 8 to 12 years (Grades 4, 5, and 6) were observed playing a computer game called Phoenix Quest. This computer game, featuring an adolescent female protagonist, is an interactive, mystery-adventure with embedded language and mathematics activities. The issues discussed include (a) the development of a computer game learning culture or microworld, (b) interdependence in the process of learning social skills, (c) computer game-playing strategies, (d) gender differences in computer-game play, and (e) mathematics concepts explored in the Phoenix Quest environment. These findings not only contribute to the understanding of how students create and shape a microworld around a computer game like Phoenix Quest, but also indicate some of the inherent teaching and learning limitations of educational software when the guidance of a teacher is absent.

Real and contrived uses of electronic mail in elementary schools

Abstract This paper contrasts uses of electronic communication which are contrived by teachers in order to somehow make use of the available technology, with uses that are based on real educational or logistic needs within and beyond the school community. In other words, the difference between needing a tool vs creating the need for a tool is examined. Examples of both types are cited, based on school projects in Canada, the U.S.A. and Australia. Contrived uses of electronic mail are usually electronic representations of a traditional curriculum. On the other hand, uses of electronic mail arising out of real communication and educational needs include delivering correspondence courses to geographically isolated home students and providing richer educational experiences for handicapped children. Perhaps one of the most promising electronic communications projects is the American Kids Network project to develop a telecommunications-based science curriculum. Classes all across the country contribute data and analyze national trends and patterns on such relevant issues as acid rain and food production. In order for electronic communication to be meaningful in schools, students have to be communicating with real people, about real issues, and or solving real problems of communication. At a time when electronic communication is on the increase in schools, teachers and researchers need to consider the most useful ways of using this new tool.

Spheres of Influence: the Interplay Between Music Research, Technology, Heritage, and Music Education

The centrality of music to the human experience is explored in this article through the contrasting lenses of heritage and technology. The importance of social participation is highlighted, along with the need for a closer interplay between music educators, music researchers and the public. It is argued that by making music education research more accessible to the broader public-including policy makers, parents, teachers, taxi drivers, grocery clerks, dancers and politicians-some of the goals that are inherent in our work might be brought to fruition through the interplay between research, education, policy and practice.

Girls (and Boys) and Technology (and Toys)

In this inquiry, I have examined how 11- to 14-year-old students used technology to design and produce toys. While most students created toys by hand, I explored the range of computer use, and male and female students’ views of this integrated unit. In addressing three specific research questions, I found that a project-based unit allowed students to use technology in meaningful ways, that the wide variety of computer use disrupted typical gender-technology patterns, and that computer use allowed some shifts in traditional gender-technology relations. L’etude porte sur les diverses utilisations de l’ordinateur et sur la maniere dont les garcons et les filles de 11 a 14 ans percoivent l’unite integree qu’est un jouet concu par ordinateur. Les resultats suggerent qu’une unite axee sur un projet permet aux eleves de se servir de la technologie de maniere interessante, que la variete des utilisations de l’ordinateur modifie profondement les modeles typiques quant a la technologie et aux differences entre les sexes et que l’utilisation de l’ordinateur permet certains changements dans les rapports traditionnels entre la technologie et les sexes.

Can an online tool support contemporary independent music teaching and learning

The body of research examining deliberate practice and self-regulation in musical instruction has grown extensively over the past several decades, while at the same time many practices in the independent music studio remain unchanged and/or under-researched. Compelling evidence indicates that students with high levels of self-regulation experience deep fulfilment as musicians. But in order to develop these self-regulatory behaviours, students need guidance as they learn to set goals and monitor, and reflect on, their progress. The research reported here describes how a web-based electronic portfolio, called iSCORE, served to enhance the experiences of students and teachers and to help students become more self-regulated. The results demonstrated that the tool supported learning by helping students articulate their goals more clearly and by making it easier to receive guidance from their teachers between lessons.

Technology and music: an intertwining dance

Abstract In this paper, ways in which new information technology (e.g. computers, synthesisers and hypermedia) offer educators the opportunity to revise music teaching are discussed. These include emphasizing the creation of original works over performance, and finding ways to use music and its associated technology so that the teaching of “traditional subjects” is also enhanced. These changes in music teaching are considered in light of a specific teaching and research setting, where children were observed as they composed music, using computers, traditional materials and movement to create mixed media presentations. An analysis of this setting indicates the importance of(1) providing opportunities to manipulate raw materials, (2) learning through social interaction, (3) treating technology as a new tool in relation to old crafts and (4) creating activities where subjects are naturally integrated. It is argued that such an approach will lead to a deeper understanding of both music and the supporting technology.