Music--Instruction and study

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is an influence of bilingualism as well as musical experience and training on performance during tasks of executive function using electrophysiological (EEG) measures. The aims included: 1) analyzing differences across groups of bilinguals, monolinguals, bilingual musicians, and monolingual non-musicians on executive function tasks in their performance as well as in their corresponding event-related potentials (ERPs) to evaluate the effects of experience-dependent neuroplasticity, and 2) correlating the ERP measures during executive function tasks with measures of bilingualism and musical training.
We used three questionnaires to determine the level of bilingualism, years of instrument use, and musical experience, which were provided online in the first phase of the study through Qualtrics. For the second in-person testing phase of the study, three cognitive tasks that measured stimulus evaluation and working memory (Oddball), response inhibition (Go/No-Go), and cognitive flexibility (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; WCST) were administered. Also, three behavioral tasks: Digit Span, Short Term Visual Memory Binding, and Corsi block tapping test assessed differences in working memory across the groups.
Latency differences were observed for bilingual musicians in Standard trials at frontal electrodes, and faster reaction times to Deviant stimuli were observed in bilingual musicians compared to bilinguals, with no other significant results in response inhibition and cognitive flexibility. Therefore, this study demonstrated that musical experience may influence an individual’s speed in performing a task that uses working memory and stimulus evaluation of unexpected stimuli, as well as in their cognitive efficiency of updating as reflected by earlier peaks in the P300 ERP component.

There is a lack of creative material for classroom
and music teachers to use. Teachers do not often have the
creative ability or the time required to create their own
materials; therefore, the author felt a need existed for an
in-depth study of elementary music programs.
The themes of the programs chosen were such that
they correlate closely with social study units. Considerable
research was conducted to find the most appropriate songs and
dances from many sources. Vhen there were none, the author
composed or created new material which was made available for
elementary teachers. These programs may be adapted to meet
the needs of individual schools. Teachers could modify or
expand them to meet their own classroom situations.
It was discovered that there was little related
literature directed to the problem of preparing music programs
for the elementary school. Dissertation Abstracts, issues of
the Journal of Research in Music Education and Music Educators
Journal were reviewed and it was found that an apparent void
existed in this area. Additional programs may be developed
in many other areas of the elementary music curriculum by
those who are interested in this area of research.

The objective of this study has been to examine
the discovery approach to learning and its adaptability to
music education.
Professional literature relating to the discovery
approach was reviewed and summarized. Conclusions and implications
for music education were drawn from these summaries.
An examination of the philosophical implications of educational
trends and the nature of learning was also made. This
examination was made to gather perspective on the need for
evaluating and exploring educational approaches and methods
that affect learning.
It was concluded that no one method or approach can
be accepted as the all encompassing answer in music education.
However, the discovery approach does hold great promise as
another way of teaching music to the child in a creative manner.
Through the discovery approach the child can be given
the opportunity to experience personal success and expertise
in the art of music. He can enjoy exploring and discovering
the elements of music as learning evolves from his personal
perspective and point of view.

Over the last several years the Broward County, Florida school system has experienced a dramatic decline in music programs. In Broward County, as in many school systems across the nation, programs in music and the other arts are finding themselves reduced because of curtailed funding. The problems are constantly debated by school board members and top administration officials. Meanwhile, young people are deprived of music. A major concern of the music community has been an inability to propose a truly self-justifying curriculum. Therefore, an aesthetically based curriculum supplement has been developed with the intention of cementing the place of music in the overall elementary school curriculum. This will be a major approach to curriculum building with instruction, which will include music theories, musical styles and periods, musicians, composition and historical facts. The objective is to create an understanding of music, establishing music as an integral part of school curriculum.

Leonard Bernstein has been known worldwide as an outstanding conductor and composer, but only to a lesser extent as a music educator. His involvement and achievements as a music educator are enormous and collectively deserve greater attention. This thesis brings greater attention to those ventures by tracing his musical development and his career as a music educator.

Statement of the Problem. This study was designed in response to a documented decline in music skills for the purpose of identifying, rating and analyzing proposed competencies to be possessed by a high school student following four years choral membership. Procedures. Randomly selected current or former choral instructors, high school choral students, and post-high school choir members rated a set of eight general and 68 associated sub-competencies according to their perceived importance for high school choral students. A forced-rank order rating system yielded rank order values for each general and sub-competency. Results. Answers were sought for the following questions: (1) Did the data obtained from the rating procedure concerning the general competencies lend themselves to a statistical rank order of relative importance? Results: Median values for the general and sub-competencies were extracted from the one-way frequency distribution. Arranging these values in order from smallest to largest achieved an average rank ordering of the data. (2) Do the groups differ when all general competencies are considered simultaneously? Results: Multivariate analysis of the rank order of competencies indicated differences, not attributed to chance occurred among the groups. (3) On which individual competencies do the groups differ? Results: Univariate F-tests revealed differences, not attributed to chance, existed among the groups on four of the general competencies. When the result was subjected to the Scheffe post-hoc, follow-up test, two of the four competencies were rejected as not containing differences from influences other than chance. (4) How do the groups differ on the individual general competencies? Results: Analysis of the remaining two general competencies revealed five sub-competencies for one and ten sub-competencies for the second contained significantly different ratings. Recommendations for Further Study. Pursuit of the investigation initiated through this study should seek answers to these questions to solidify and validate the findings of this study. (1) Would a replication of this study employing analogous or non-analogous populations of raters yield identical results? (2) How would the study results have been influenced by: a different membership for the Panel of Experts; a difference in independent variables; a simultaneous use of multiple variables; and, a different set of statistical tests?

The intent of this study was to research, develop,
and present creative music activities which could be used by
classroom teachers to promote creative thinking in children.
The creative music activities follow the format developed by
Frank Williams in his Total Creativity Program for Individualizing
and Human~zing the Learning Process.
Creative music activities which were selected encourage
divergent production and develop the creative thinking
abilities of fluency, flexibility, original ity, and
elaboration. These activities also stimulate t he development
of affective behaviors such as risk-taking, preference
for complexity, curiosity, and imagination. In addition,
suggested teaching strategies for teachers which enhance
creativity are included in each activity.
These activities were categorized as being (1)
composition, (2) dramatization , (3) movement, (4) rhythmic
experience, (5) special project, or (6) basic music skills. They were further organized into appropriate grade levels,
kindergarten through sixth grade.
A survey was conducted of music teachers in Palm
Beach, Broward, and Dade Counties, Florida, to obtain information
about the use of creative activities. A questionnaire
designed by the author and the Khatena-Torrance
Creative Perception Inventory were used to gather the necessary
data.
The major findings of this study showed that most
teachers used creative activities in their teaching and are
receptive to new materials on creativity. Physical setting
was not a significant variable in predicting the extent of
the use of creative music activities by teachers. Teachers
who scored high on the Creative Perception Inventory used
more creative activities in their teaching than those who
scored low but the difference was not· significant. The
discovery technique is desirable in teaching children with
high creative ability but most teachers did not use this
method exclusively in their presentation of new material.
This study was not intended to be field tested by
the author. Rather, emphasis was on the development of
creative music activities with variations of difficulty
which could be used by classroom teachers with a minimum
of musical training.