A Weighted Individual Performance-Based Assessment for Middle School Orchestral Strings: Establishing Validity and Reliability

The study established the validity and reliability of a weighted individual performance-based assessment tool within the utility scope of middle school orchestral strings. The following research questions guided this study: 1. What specific string-playing behaviors and corresponding criteria validate a weighted individual performance-based assessment tool for middle school orchestral strings? 2. What are the psychometric properties of the weighted individual performance-based assessment tool in authentic situations? For Research Question 1, the expert panel and I were able to 100% mutually agree on 10 string-playing behaviors: tempo, rhythm, tone, pitch, intonation, technique, bowing, dynamics, phrasing, and posture that created the DISAT. Being interdependent, these string-playing behaviors are relevant because they encompass every necessary facet of orchestral string performance (Zdzinski & Barnes, 2002). According to Zdzinski and Barnes (2002), an orchestral string performance assessment must evaluate each facet of a participant’s playing ability to rate the overall musicianship. Bergee and Rossin (2019) stated in their research that it is important to have various aspects of a performance utilized in a musical assessment. The DISAT obtained reliability of 0.872 by having enough variance between raters in the authentic situation. Linacre (2015) stated that reliability greater than 0.8 is acceptable to v distinguish separation between raters. Combined with the expert panel\u27s 100% mutual agreement on content validity, this proved the DISAT to be a valid and reliable assessment tool for individual performance-based orchestral strings assessment (AERA, APA, & NCME, 2014). The DISAT can be utilized by districts and middle school orchestral string music teachers in North Carolina. Being a consistent, objective tool, the DISAT can standardize our approach to middle school orchestral string music education assessment (AERA, APA, & NCME, 2014). The data collected by the DISAT could easily track the musical progression of students while giving opportunities for constructive, purposeful feedback

Assessment Practice in Year 10 Elective Music in New South Wales Secondary Schoolse

This research project investigates and analyses the implementation of the New South Wales Music Years 7 – 10 Syllabus assessment requirements in three specifically selected schools. At present, no research focusing on classroom approaches to developing and implementing a school-based assessment program has been undertaken in Music in Stage 5 (Year 10) in NSW classrooms. Therefore, this research project will add to the international body of knowledge regarding school- based music assessment. The research project focuses on Year 10 in the NSW Curriculum. Research has shown that this is a time when some students have seemingly disengaged from learning, studying and achieving. This research found that in music, students involved in the project are actively engaged at most levels of music learning. The research aimed to provide an opportunity for teachers to consider their assessment practice, the value of feedback to students after tasks are completed and ways in which they prepare their students for each task or topic. For students, it is hoped that they would reflect on their assessment preparation, its value in their learning and the value of teacher feedback in this process. The data has been collected in the natural setting of the selected schools where the researcher interviewed the teachers and students and observed their behaviour within their natural context (Creswell, 2009). This ethnographic method has advantages because of the capacity to provide a picture of the environment being studied. As the study has taken place over three school terms, it has a longitudinal perspective. The research provides a comprehensive picture of assessment in the Year 10 music classroom through the comparison of experiences within the three schools. It demonstrates the variety that exists in the planning and delivery of assessment tasks, the variety of resources utilised between schools and the different levels of feedback given after tasks. It also points to the inequity that currently exists in the awarding of a School Certificate grade from school to school in a subject such as music which relies on internal assessment

The influence of solo performance opportunities on self-reported levels of musical performance anxiety among undergraduate college music majors

Musical performance anxiety (MPA) is a concern for most college age musicians. While low to moderate levels of MPA may enhance performances for some musicians, too much “stage fright” can seriously hinder the quality of solo performances. Musicians use several techniques to manage MPA. One of these, desensitization, involves repeated exposure to solo performance opportunities. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between the number and type of public solo performances completed and the level of self-reported performance anxiety among students pursuing baccalaureate degrees in music at a research extensive university in the southern United States. A researcher designed survey included eight questions: five items solicited demographic characteristics; two scaled items asked respondents to rate their self-assessed levels of MPA at both the time of admission as a music major and at the current time; and the final item was an open-ended question that asked students to fill in the number of times they had performed public solos in a variety of listed venues since admission to the School of Music. The surveys were administered during a designated course with a 72% rate of return (n = 226). Analysis of the data revealed that students’ self-assessed levels of MPA declined slightly while pursuing their undergraduate degrees in music. The researcher concluded that a significant correlation was found between the change in MPA levels and three particular types of public solo experiences: solos performed in jury and barrier examinations; solos performed in studio classes, master classes, and Recital Hour; and solos performed during small and large ensemble concerts. Based on this conclusion, an increase in the number of these types of solo performances is recommended

‘You can see the quality in front of your eyes’: grounding academic standards between rationality and interpretation

This article considers the failure of theory to provide a workable model for academic standards in use. Examining the contrast between theoretical perspectives, it argues that there are four dimensions for which the academy has failed to provide an adequate theoretical account of standards: documented or tacit knowledge of standards; norm or criterion referenced grading; analytical or holistic judgement processes; and broad or local consensus on standards. It concludes that whilst a techno-rational perspective poorly represents the actual practice of standards in use, alternative, interpretivist accounts do not satisfy demands for reliability, transparency and fairness. It concludes by outlining an alternative framework for safeguarding standards: systematising a range of processes for learning about and safeguarding standards, particularly for new staff; reviewing the role and potential of documented standards; building staff awareness and assessment literacy; and establishing trust in standards by students and other stakeholders

Focus of attention affects singer's tone production

textIt is now well understood that skilled motor behavior is affected by performers' focus of attention. This effect has been demonstrated in numerous and varied motor tasks, from golf-putting to piano playing. I conducted two experiments with college-aged singers to test the extent to which trained singers' vocal tone is affected by their focus of attention while singing. In Experiment 1 (N = 11) participants sang a 3-note sequence and an excerpt of a well-learned melody under six different focus conditions. In Experiment 2 (N = 20) participants sang 3-note sequences in both high and low vocal registers, a well-learned melody, and an unpracticed, familiar melody under seven different focus conditions. Focus of attention affected participants' vocal tone in all of the singing tasks. The results of the two experiments are consistent with the results of related investigations of attentional focus in motor skill performance. Singers' tone was rated most highly and described most positively by expert listeners when singers' focused their attention on external rather than internal targets. Focusing on distal targets (i.e., targets that were far removed from the vocal mechanism) in particular was associated with high ratings and positive descriptions of vocal tone.Musi

Sounding Out Reconstruction Error-Based Evaluation of Generative Models of Expressive Performance

Generative models of expressive piano performance are usually assessed by comparing their predictions to a reference human performance. A generative algorithm is taken to be better than competing ones if it produces performances that are closer to a human reference performance. However, expert human performers can (and do) interpret music in different ways, making for different possible references, and quantitative closeness is not necessarily aligned with perceptual similarity, raising concerns about the validity of this evaluation approach. In this work, we present a number of experiments that shed light on this problem. Using precisely measured high-quality performances of classical piano music, we carry out a listening test indicating that listeners can sometimes perceive subtle performance difference that go unnoticed under quantitative evaluation. We further present tests that indicate that such evaluation frameworks show a lot of variability in reliability and validity across different reference performances and pieces. We discuss these results and their implications for quantitative evaluation, and hope to foster a critical appreciation of the uncertainties involved in quantitative assessments of such performances within the wider music information retrieval (MIR) community

Research training for teaching staff as a catalyst for professional and institutional development:a case study

When an institution wishes to develop a Masters programme that combines relevance to the profession with preparation for possible 3rd cycle study, there are many things to consider: curriculum design and content, facilities, stakeholder opinion, assessment, likely student intake, etc. But at least as important as any of these is ensuring that the teaching staff are fully engaged with the development process and, if possible, that their activity within the institution reaches into most or all of the areas that their students are addressing