Technology as an Integral Part of the Music Classroom

November 5, 2000 ATMI Conference, Toronto 1

Technology as an Integral Part of the Music Classroom

Incorporating Group Activities & Online Discussion Lists to Enhance

Student Learning, Attitude, & Retention


Dr. Scott D. Lipscomb

Institute for Music ResearchThe University of Texas at San

Antonio


Using Technology in theMusic Classroom

Pedagogical purposesClarify, illustrate, “bring to life”

Building a sense of communityRetention – “Learning Communities”

Change in the instructor/student rolesCollaborative learning

Students not “vessel to fill”

Group activities


Technology forPedagogical Purposes

Enhanced Teaching Techniques


First Class & Syllabus

Instructions for accessing online materialHardcopy of this info

“Getting Started” page for necessary plug-ins, etc.

Must include explicit instructions


LogOn to WebCT


Getting Started Page


Taking LearningOutside of the Classroom

Supplementary MaterialsTable of Contents Page (MUS 2673)

Hard-to-Understand Musical ConceptsMeter & beat subdivisions12-bar bluesStrophic forms

Musical EventsCalendar


WebCT Calendar of Events


Building a Sense of Community

Using group activitiesStudents learn from students

More student-teacher interactionExtends “office hours” … now my office hours are “real”

Discussion lists (requirement)WebCT 3.0


Discussion List (threaded)


Technology Evaluation

2-year project


Evaluation Tool (General Info)

1. This course covered the material I expected based on the catalog description & course syllabus.

2. I successfully learned what I expected to learn in this course.

3. I liked the textbook for this class.

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Evaluation Tool (Class Format)

4. I liked the format of this class (i.e., the manner in which lecture & group activities were integrated).

5. I liked the manner in which technology was utilized by the instructor in the presentation of course content.

6. The use of TimeSketch and the Shockwave animations assisted me in understanding the musical concepts presented in class (e.g., musical form, meter, beat subdivision, etc.).

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Evaluation Tool – (Learning)

7. I benefited from the group activities in class (e.g., group RATs, discussions, etc.).

8. I learned a lot from preparing our group presentations (Brief & Final).

9. I learned a lot from listening to other group presentations (Brief & Final).

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Evaluation Tool (Ease of Use)

10. I benefited from the group activities online (e.g., Bulletin Board discussions).

11. I feel comfortable using technology (e.g., computers, the internet, email, etc.).

12. I found that accessing the web page for this course was easy and intuitive.

13. Overall, the use of WebCT enhanced my learning experience.

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Evaluation Tool (WebCT modules)

14. I found the "Course Content" section of WebCT to be useful.

15. I found the "Calendar of Events" section of WebCT to be useful.

16. I found the "Grade Report" section of WebCT to be useful.

17. I found the "Private Mail" section of WebCT to be useful.

18. I found the "Bulletin Board" discussion group section of WebCT to be useful.

Other? … (open-ended)

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Evaluation Tool – (Benefit)

19. In a general sense, I believe that I benefited from exposure to technology in the context of this course.

20. In comparison to other classes I have taken at UTSA, the individual assignments, group presentations, exam preparation, and WebCT required in this class took too much time.

21. I would recommend this course to another student.

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Evaluation Tool (Access)

22. I accessed WebCT from … Home – On Campus – Both

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Response Scale

5 – agree strongly4 – agree3 – agree somewhat2 – disagree somewhat1 – disagree0 – disagree strongly


Subjects

Not a course requirementReward: 5 pts added to Final Exam grade

Total N = 261MUS 2673 n = 174MUS 2683 n = 75MUS 3153 n = 12


Mean Responses

Evaluation Response Means(Entire Data Set)

0

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

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Mea

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Means & Standard Deviations

Grand Mean w/StDev

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m 1

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m 9

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m 1

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m 1

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m 1

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m 1

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Data Analysis

A closer look


Repeated Measures ANOVA


Data Analysis

Separate Groups


Evaluation Results – by Group

Evaluation Results

0

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Item 1 Item 2 Item 3

Mea

n R

atin

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MUS 2673

MUS 2683

MUS 3153

Qs



Evaluation Results

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5


Mea

n R

atin

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MUS 2673

MUS 2683

MUS 3153

Qs



Evaluation Results

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Mea

n R

atin

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MUS 2673

MUS 2683

MUS 3153

Qs



Evaluation Results

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Item 10 Item 11 Item 12 Item 13

Mea

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MUS 2673

MUS 2683

MUS 3153

Qs



Evaluation Results

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Item 14 Item 15 Item 16 Item 17 Item 18

Mea

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MUS 2673

MUS 2683

MUS 3153

Qs



Evaluation Results

0

1

2

3

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5


Mea

n R

atin

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MUS 2673

MUS 2683

MUS 3153

Qs


Access to Technology

79 8394

0102030405060708090

100

Number of Students

Home On Campus Both

Location

WebCT Access

Q


Student Success?

(a.k.a. “retention”)


Conclusions

Overall, technology integration has had a positive impact on my classroomStudents enjoy it (mostly)

Trend: the more it is used, the better the attitude

The use of groups (in class & online) facilitates the sense of community

Fosters retention

Clarifies difficult conceptsproviding students a “virtual tutor” outside of class


Contact Info

Dr. Scott D. LipscombInstitute for Music Research

The University of Texas at San Antonio

[email protected]://imr.utsa.edu/lipscomb/

Documents

Technology as an Integral Part of the Music Classroom