2010 Research Poster Session II Abstracts - Part 2

2010 Biennial Music Educators National Conference Research Poster Session Abstracts

Research Poster Session I	Research Poster Session II	Research Poster Session III
Part 1 • Part 2	Part 1 • Part 2	Part 1 • Part 2

Research Poster Session II, Part 2

Latimer Jr., Marvin E.; University of Alabama. mlatimer@music.ua.edu
“A History and Analysis of the Choral Journal Editorial Board (1959-2009).”

Mace, Sandra; Music Research Institute, UNCG. stmace@uncg.edu
O’Connell, Debra; Winston-Salem State University.
“Sound-Level Exposures of a Senior Drum and Bugle Corps.”

Manternach, Jeremy N.; PhD Student & Graduate Teaching Assistant, The University of Kansas. jmanter@ku.edu
“The Effect of Varied Conductor Preparatory Gestures on Singer Upper Body Movement.”

Mason, Emily; Ithaca College. emason@ithaca.edu
“Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions of and Preference for Kodály or Orff Methodologies Used in Teaching Elementary General Music.”

Mayhew, Paul J.; Florida State University. pjmayhew@gmail.com
“Perceptions of Collegiate Contemporary A Cappella Ensembles.”

McConkey, Michelle S.; Arizona State Univ. michelle.stephan@asu.edu
“Music in the Lives of Three Fifth Grade Girls.”

McQuarrie, Sarah H.; Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater, MA. smcquarrie@bridgew.edu
Sherwin, Ronald G.; Anna Maria College, Paxton, MA.
“Assessment in Music Education: Relationships between Classroom Practice and Professional Publication Topics.”

Meyers, Brian; Arizona State University. brian.meyers@asu.edu
“The National Solo and Ensemble Contest 1929-1937.”

Orman, Evelyn K.; Louisiana State University. eorman1@lsu.edu
Whitaker, Jennifer A.; The University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
“Time Usage During Face-to-Face and Synchronous Distance Music Lessons: An Exploratory Study.”

Powell, Sean R.; Schwob School of Music, Columbus State University. spowell4@gmail.com
“Examining Preservice Music Teachers’ Perceptions of Initial Peer- and Field-Teaching Experiences.”

Puller, Shawn I.; Albany State University. shawn.puller@asurams.edu
“An Analysis of Gender, Authority and Educational Background of Voice Teachers in Undergraduate Degree Granting Institutions.”

Riley, Patricia; The University of Vermont. patricia.riley@uvm.edu
“Video-Conferenced Classes: American Pre-Service Music Educators Teach Composing to Students in Japan.”

Roberts, Christopher; University of Washington. croberts777@aol.com
“The Effect of Internal and External Musical Stimuli on Beat Accuracy.”

Silvey, Brian A.; The University of Missouri. silveyba@missouri.edu
“Effects of Score Study on Novices’ Conducting and Rehearsing.”

Smith, Marc L.; South Middle School, Arlington Heights, IL. msmith@sd25.org
“The Effects of Self-Evaluation on Music Performance Achievement and Motivational Attributions of Success and Failure in Music Performance.”

Wayman, John; Texas Tech University. johnwayman2000@yahoo.com
“Identification of the Adolescent Male Voice:Unchanged vs. Falsetto.”

Worthy, Michael; University of Mississippi. mworthy@olemiss.edu
Waymire, Mark; University of Mississippi.
“Repertoire Performed at High School Concert Band Contests in Mississippi, 2004-2008.”

Zelenak, Michael; University of South Florida. zelenak@mail.usf.edu
“A Mixed Methods Analysis of a Professional Development Model for Integrating Technology into the Music Classroom.”

Latimer Jr., Marvin E.; University of Alabama. mlatimer@music.ua.edu
“A History and Analysis of the Choral Journal Editorial Board (1959-2009).”

The purpose of this study was to investigate the Editorial Board of the Choral Journal (CJ), the official publication of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), during its first fifty years in print (1959-2009). It examined (1) how the editorial committee and its policies developed and changed over time; and (2) selected characteristics such as gender, term length, number of CJ articles published, and geographic distribution of professional affiliations and degree granting institutions. The study found that (1) the committee successfully responded to the journal’s dual purpose of publishing scholarly research and providing ACDA members with information, (2) female representation and authorship increased over time, (3) over half of members published at least one CJ article prior to their appointment, (4) members’ professional affiliations were dispersed among a large number of institutions but were strongly concentrated in the Southern and Southwest Divisions, (5) the number of members who possessed earned doctorates increased over time, and (6) the primary contributors of doctoral alumni were the University of Illinois and the University of Southern California. Findings were discussed within the context of their relationship to ACDA Division populations and various changes that occurred over time. Conclusions were that the committee made progress in gender equity, editorial and appointment procedures, and the qualifications of its reviewers, but gender and demographic parity among choral researchers has not yet been achieved and likely will require continued effort in years to come.

Mace, Sandra; Music Research Institute, UNCG. stmace@uncg.edu
O’Connell, Debra; Winston-Salem State University.
“Sound-Level Exposures of a Senior Drum and Bugle Corps.”

The purpose of this study was to describe sound-level exposures of members of a senior drum and bugle corps. The purposes of the current study were to: 1) to measure sound-level exposure of members of a senior corps, and 2) to determine if the sound-level exposure exceeds NIOSH standards placing the members at risk for NIHL. Thirty brass and percussion in a senior drum and bugle corps wore Cirrus Research doseBadge dosimeters, at ear level, during a 12 and 6-hour rehearsal. Twenty-nine of the thirty participants exceeded the NIOSH-recommended standard dose percentage for sound-level exposures.

Manternach, Jeremy N.; The University of Kansas. jmanter@ku.edu
“The Effect of Varied Conductor Preparatory Gestures on Singer Upper Body Movement.”

This study examined participants’ (N=60) head and shoulder movements during 2 breath inhalation moments as they sang a familiar melody while viewing a videotaped conductor under 5 conductor preparatory gesture conditions.
This study indicated apparent differences in participant head and shoulder movement with varied conductor preparatory gestures.
Among primary results: (a) participant head movement significantly increased when the conductor added upward head movement to his preparatory gesture; (b) participant shoulder movement significantly increased when the conductor added upward shoulder movement to his preparatory gesture; (c) participant shoulder movement increased during a downward moving gesture as compared to an upward moving gesture; (d) less experienced choristers appeared to move their heads less, but their shoulders more than experienced participants across all gesture conditions; and (e) participant head and shoulder measurements differed between the initial breath and the internal breath taken in the melody.
These results were discussed in terms of possible non-conscious mimicking behaviors of choristers, conductor gestural behaviors in choral rehearsals, singer behaviors based on song repertoire, choral experience of the sample, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further research.

Mason, Emily; Ithaca College. emason@ithaca.edu
“Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions of and Preference for Kodály or Orff Methodologies Used in Teaching Elementary General Music.”

The purpose of this study was to investigate preservice teachers’ ability to identify two different teaching methodologies when viewing teaching excerpts. Participants were undergraduate music education majors (N = 134) from eight different universities across the United States in their sophomore, junior, or senior year. All participants viewed a stimulus DVD containing music lessons using either the Kodály or Orff method and chose which method they believed was being used. Results revealed preservice teachers’ were more successful in identifying the Kodály method when viewing the excerpt using solfa and the Orff method when viewing the excerpt using Orff instruments. Findings for the three remaining excerpts revealed low percentages of correct answers from all participants. Further results are discussed.

Mayhew, Paul J.; Florida State University. pjmayhew@gmail.com
“Perceptions of Collegiate Contemporary A Cappella Ensembles.”

The purpose of this study was to compare perceptions of collegiate contemporary a cappella ensembles held by university music faculty with perceptions held by student members of contemporary a cappella ensembles. Specifically, the following comparisons were explored: (a) How faculty and student perceptions compare regarding the value of contemporary a cappella ensembles, (b) how faculty and student perceptions compare on issues related to vocal health and contemporary a cappella ensembles and (c) how faculty and student perceptions compare regarding the affiliation of these ensembles with the music departments at their schools.
Sixty-one student ensemble members and 18 choral/vocal faculty members from two large geographically diverse universities completed a researcher-designed survey regarding their perceptions of contemporary a cappella ensembles. Subjects were given a list of 15 statements and asked to indicate their level of agreement using a six point Likert-type scale. The results of this study indicate that student and faculty perceptions of contemporary a cappella ensembles are similar concerning the value of such groups, but differ significantly concerning vocal health and concerning the affiliation these groups should have with the college music department. Statistical analysis found significant differences between faculty and student perceptions on 86% of the statements. Implications of the study for music departments, music teachers and students are discussed.

McConkey, Michelle S.; Arizona State Univ. michelle.stephan@asu.edu
“Music in the Lives of Three Fifth Grade Girls.”

What function does music play in the lives of children? Patricia Campbell wrote the book Songs in Their Heads and using Merriam’s list of functions, as well as her own categories, she provided examples of how music functions for children. Campbell’s research served as a model for this paper. For this study, I interviewed and observed three 11-year-old girls involved in musical experiences. They were asked to describe their various interactions with music and asked in depth questions to gain a greater understanding of their attitudes and feelings about music and music making. Each girl was interviewed four times for approximately one hour each session. This paper provides portraits of each girl so that the reader may gain insights into how these children interact with music and hear from their own words their thoughts and feelings on the subject. After qualitative analysis of transcripts from the interviews, I discovered and extracted four themes: Access, Emotion & Feeling, Identity, and Adult Impact. Each theme is discussed as related to each girl. It is hoped that by studying the musical lives of children in different contexts, especially outside of school, educators may gain insights into the complexity of children’s musical knowledge and therefore may provide more relevant activities for musical growth.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between actual current assessment practices of elementary music teachers and the assessment topics as published in the literature aimed at those teachers. Specifically, this study sought to: (1) Identify the current assessment techniques utilized by elementary music teachers. (2) Identify the types of assessment techniques included in the current music teacher literature. (3) Identify any relationships between the assessment techniques that are most frequently utilized by teachers and those that are most frequently included in teacher-focused music education publications.

The researchers first examined data collected from the 100 elementary general music educators from the Northwestern United States who participated in a survey designed to identify the assessment practices of elementary general music teachers. The researchers next reviewed the last ten years (1999-2009) of the national publications Teaching Music and Music Educators Journal searching for articles which addressed the topic of classroom music assessment. Finally, the researchers ranked both the classroom and literature assessment techniques by frequency of use and frequency of inclusion in the literature and then examined the results in order to identify possible relationships.

The researchers found that there is a possible disconnect between the assessment strategies reported as used by the classroom music educators participating in this study and the major professional publications in the music education field.

Meyers, Brian; Arizona State University. brian.meyers@asu.edu
“The National Solo and Ensemble Contest 1929-1937.”

This study is the first investigation of the eight-year history of the National Solo and Ensemble Contest, held in conjunction with the National School Band and Orchestra Contests of the late 1920’s and early-to-mid 1930’s. Primary sources used to construct this research were letters from those involved with the planning of the contests, meeting minutes from the responsible organization, and music journals from the early twentieth century. Secondary sources of dissertations and research articles pertaining to the National Band Contests were used to provide foundational information about the ensemble contests, but they provided little information about the solo and ensemble contests, only corroboration that these events existed. This research helps to provide a clear picture of the interest in the Solo and Ensemble Contest and how it flourished during a time of substantial change in the philosophy of musical contests. This paper also focused on the evolution of the rules and on the changes that occurred throughout its history and how these changes in turn affected the establishment of solo and ensemble contests in many states throughout the nation. This paper adds to the previous research done in the 1960s and 1980s on the National Band Contests by documenting an unknown important aspect of these contests, which influenced the solo and ensemble contests that are part of the school band and orchestra fabric of all states in the U.S.

This study compared videoconference and face-to-face private music lessons of one saxophone and two tuba students. One value of this study is the magnitude of the data analysis. Over 28,800 frames of digital video and verbatim scripts of all lessons were analyzed for time spent engaged in sequential patterns of instruction, performance, focusing on musical elements, eye contact, and other non-verbal behaviors. Findings revealed teacher modeling occurred 28% more often and off-task behaviors comprised 36% more time during face-to-face lessons. Student performance increased over 22% and all eye contact increased during distance lessons. Overall, only a few differences were found for focus on musical elements and venue confining behaviors. Activities such as touching, instructors marking student’s music, and pointing to specific places in the music, occurred less than 1% of the time during face-to-face lessons.

Powell, Sean R.; Columbus State University. spowell4@gmail.com
“Examining Preservice Music Teachers’ Perceptions of Initial Peer- and Field-Teaching Experiences.”

The purpose of this study was to examine phenomenologically a peer-teaching and a field-teaching experience as perceived by six participants (four preservice music teachers, an in-service music teacher, and the researcher-participant). The research questions guiding this study were: (a) How was an initial peer-teaching experience in a laboratory setting perceived and constructed by the participants? (b) How was an initial field-teaching experience, which followed the initial peer-teaching experience, perceived and constructed by the participants? and (c) How did the participants’ perceptions of each experience compare? A qualitative particularistic case study design was employed. Data included interviews, observations, and written teaching self-reflections. Findings suggested that (a) the preservice teachers valued the peer-teaching experience for the opportunity it afforded them to concentrate on the technical aspects of teaching; (b) the main challenge, and drawback, of peer-teaching for the participants was the lack of authentic context; (c) the observation process was valuable to the participants to the extent that it provided context for their teaching preparations; (d) the field-teaching experience was highly valued by the participants for the opportunity it afforded them to be immersed in an authentic context with real-time feedback; and (e) the most difficult challenges for the participants in the field-teaching experience were the lack of ability to predict the achievement level of the middle school students, the literal interpretation (and/or non-interpretation) of the their verbal instructions, and the lack of ability to assess how much impact their teaching had on the performance level of the students.

Puller, Shawn I.; Albany State University. shawn.puller@asurams.edu
“An Analysis of Gender, Authority and Educational Background of Voice Teachers in Undergraduate Degree Granting Institutions.”

Although twice as many females as males are enrolled in doctoral voice programs little is known about the actual demographic make-up of applied voice teachers in post-secondary institutes. A demographic profile of voice programs in four-year institutions within the United States (N=887) was completed during October 2006 through June 2007 for one state from each of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) 14 regions. Of the 1,590 voice teachers listed, females (n=997) accounted for 63% while males (n=605) comprised only 38 %. However, a similar number of males (n=324) and females (n=368) were listed as holding full-time faculty positions. In addition, a similar number of males (n=197) and females (n=226) were listed as having earned a doctoral degree. Over one-third of all voice teachers (n=581) provided instruction in areas outside of their applied specialty area. These results and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Riley, Patricia; The University of Vermont. patricia.riley@uvm.edu
“Video-Conferenced Classes: American Pre-Service Music Educators Teach Composing to Students in Japan.”

This research reports on a collaborative project between pre-service music teachers in the United States and students at an international school in Japan. Participants in this school/university partnership were undergraduate college music education majors (n=3) enrolled in their general music methods course, and seventh-grade students in their general music class (n=10). Together, the teachers developed lesson plans, taught, and reflected on two beginning melody-writing music composition classes. Lessons occurred in real time via the Internet using video-conferencing technology. Students worked two-to-a-computer station, each equipped with a keyboard and an on-line music notation application. Each lesson was 45-minutes in length, and was facilitated by the researcher/music education professor in the United States, and the classroom music/technology teacher in Japan. Following the video-conferenced classes, each teacher and student reflected on his/her teaching and mentoring or learning experiences, answering the following questions: What was it like to teach students/learn from teachers in Japan/the United States using video-conferencing technology? What were the challenges that you encountered and how did you respond to them? What do you feel the benefits and drawbacks are to teaching/learning in this environment? What did you liked best and least about this experience? What would you do differently if you were to teach/learn through video-conferencing again? The research took place during the spring of 2009. Data included the teacher and student reflections, videotapes of the classes, lesson plans, student compositions, and mentoring documents.

Roberts, Christopher; University of Washington. croberts777@aol.com
“The Effect of Internal and External Musical Stimuli on Beat Accuracy.”

All existing research concerning the effect of auditory stimuli on children’s beat competency has considered the ability of children to perform the beat while hearing an external aural stimulus, such as a metronome, drum, or recorded music. However, common elementary classroom practice finds elementary students keeping the beat while responding to an internal musical stimulus, such as chanting a rhyme or singing a song. The purpose of this study was to determine if first grade students perform the beat significantly more accurately with an external or internal musical stimulus. Thirty student volunteers from one elementary school in the Pacific Northwest were video recorded while they individually patted the beat, once while chanting a known rhyme, and once while listening to an unknown rhyme. A Wilcoxon signed-ranks test revealed a significant difference in beat accuracy performance in favor of the external musical stimuli, T=83.5, p<.05, with the ranks for responses to external musical stimuli totaling 83.5, and ranks for responses to internal musical stimuli totaling 374.5. Students performed the beat with more accuracy while hearing the unknown chant than while speaking the known rhyme. The standard deviation of responses to the internal musical stimuli (SD=4.31) was greater than for the external musical stimuli (SD=2.77). The wider variability among students’ beat accuracy while chanting suggests that beat accuracy with an internal stimulus may be an all-or-nothing skill acquisition for children.

Silvey, Brian A.; The University of Missouri. silveyba@missouri.edu
“Effects of Score Study on Novices’ Conducting and Rehearsing.”

This study investigated the effects of score study on novice conductors’ nonverbal and verbal conducting behaviors. Presented with a brief musical excerpt of which they had no prior knowledge, eleven undergraduate conducting students conducted and rehearsed a live brass quartet. After an initial conducting session, six participants in the experimental group received two individual 30-minute score study tutorials, while the five participants in the control group received no assistance. All participants returned one week after the first conducting session to conduct and rehearse the quartet for a second time. Brass quartet members and three experienced conductors, all whom were blind to the experimental condition, evaluated participants’ conducting.
Significant differences were found between the score study and control conditions. The brass quartet members’ ratings for eye contact and knowledge of the score were higher for the participants who studied the score. There were no significant differences between conditions in the ratings given by experienced conductors.
In reviews of participants’ responses about their experience and comments provided by the evaluators, three characteristics emerged that distinguished those who engaged in score study from those who had not: (1) more meaningful, instrument-specific eye contact; (2) greater confidence, and (3) more effective gestures.

Students need to take responsibility for their own learning by more actively engaging in the performance process and constructing their own understanding and knowledge of musical concepts. The current study investigated what possible benefits student self-evaluation has on performance achievement and motivational attributions of success and failure in music performance. A total of 47 band students from a suburban middle school in the Midwest United States participated in the quantitative study. The students were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. A panel of expert music educators measured student music performance achievement using the Woodwind/Brass Solo Evaluation Form (Saunders & Holahan, 1997). Motivation in music was measured using the Attributions in Instrumental Music Scale (Sandene, 1997). Two one-way Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) were employed to analyze the data. The MANCOVA results revealed a statistically significant improvement in overall music performance achievement for the group incorporating the self-evaluation treatment versus the control group. In addition, results indicated statistically significant gains for the self-evaluation treatment group in the musical subareas of technique/articulation, melodic accuracy, rhythmic accuracy, tempo, and interpretation. Analysis showed no multivariate effect by the treatment condition of self-evaluation for the combined causal attributes of effort, background, environment, musical ability, and affect for music. However, results revealed pretest/posttest mean score gains for the self-evaluation group for the causal attributes of effort, musical ability,affect for music, and background.

Wayman, John; Texas Tech University. johnwayman2000@yahoo.com
“Identification of the Adolescent Male Voice:Unchanged vs. Falsetto.”

The purpose of this study is to examine the abilities of the pre-service music educator to identify, describe, and distinguish between the male adolescent unchanged and falsetto voices when listening to a stimulus recording. Secondary questions involve pre-service educators’ confidence in their decisions and their verbal descriptors of the unchanged and falsetto voices. Pre-service music educators (N= 61) assessed an experimenter-prepared stimulus recording of the changing and unchanged adolescent boy’s voices, identifying falsetto or unchanged, followed by a Likert ranking of their confidence in their choice. The recording were cropped samples of the two voice types in the same octave. A pre-assessment survey was given to collect demographic information (gender, major, primary instrument, classification, vocal experience) as well as pre and post free response questions asking participants to provide descriptors of the adolescent male falsetto and unchanged voices. Data were analyzed using the Chi-Square statistic. Additional data (descriptors of the adolescent male unchanged and falsetto voices) were analyzed through comparing and contrasting emerging themes. Significant results yielded: Identification of the unchanged voice more correctly than the falsetto voice (p= .0008); male respondents had greater accuracy than females (p= .05); male respondent that had participated in elementary/middle school music programs were more accurate than those that had only participated in secondary programs (p= .0071). Common descriptors associated with the male falsetto were: break/cracking, raspiness/throaty, less confident, and strained. Descriptors associated with the unchanged male voice were: pure/clear, easier/more confident, and consistent/stronger.

Worthy, Michael; University of Mississippi. mworthy@olemiss.edu
Waymire, Mark; University of Mississippi.
“Repertoire Performed at High School Concert Band Contests in Mississippi, 2004-2008.”

We compiled a comprehensive list of selections performed at all Mississippi state high school concert band contests within a five year span (2004-2008) in order to identify the concert pieces that were performed the most frequently and the composers whose pieces were performed the most frequently. We compared the lists of the most frequently performed pieces and the most frequently performed with lists of repertoire recommended by leading conductors and pedagogues, and lists of pieces that have been identified as “core repertoire” through systematic research. We identified 27 individual pieces that were performed more than 10 times over the five-year period. Circus Days, a march by Karl King was the most frequently performed piece, followed by A Childhood Hymn and On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss, both by David Holsinger. Five of the 27 most frequently performed pieces were composed by Robert W. Smith, three were composed by David Holsinger, three were composed by James Swearingen. James Swearingen, Robert W. Smith, Karl King, and David Holsinger were all performed more than 100 times. James Swearingen had the highest number of compositions performed (65), followed by Robert W. Smith (47) and John Edmonson (42). We also tabulated the number of performances for each piece identified by Gaines (1985) as “essential repertoire” and recommended by additional sources. Combined, those pieces represent approximately 1.4% of all performances.

Zelenak, Michael S.; University of South Florida. zelenak@mail.usf.edu
“A Mixed Methods Analysis of a Professional Development Model for Integrating Technology into the Music Classroom.”

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a professional development program for in-service music teachers training them to integrate technology into their classrooms. The study sought to (a) determine differences among participant and non-participant teachers in their knowledge and application of technology, (b) determine differences among elementary and secondary music teachers in their knowledge and application of technology, and (c) identify strengths and weaknesses of the program. A mixed methods methodology was used. In the quantitative section, participant and non-participant teachers (N = 109) completed an online survey based on the International Society of Technology in Education’s (ISTE) Performance Standards for In-Service Teachers (PSIT). Survey results were analyzed using the MANOVA procedure. A significant difference was found among participants and non-participants, Ë = 0.8438, F (3, 103) = 6.35, p < .05, and among elementary and secondary teachers, Ë = 0.8922, F (3, 103) = 4.15, p < .05. The findings exhibited a high level of power (0.94) and moderate multivariate effect size (f² = 0.16). In the qualitative section, five diverse participant teachers were interviewed using a multiple case study model. The responses were analyzed and four themes emerged from the data. Three themes reflected how the program initiated changes in participant use of technology, instructional practices, and opinions about technology. A fourth theme provided specific program feedback. Professional development programs for in-service music teachers may be an effective means to facilitate technology integration.