Abstracts for papers presented at the 2010 WMEA Music Research Poster Session are available below. For more information about each paper, or to request a copy, please contact these researchers.

Influences on Continued Active Music Engagement Beyond High School
Chelcy L. Bowles, PhD; Teryl Dobbs, PhD; Janet Jensen, PhD
University of Wisconsin

The purpose of this study was to investigate influences which encourage active engagement in music beyond the high school and college years among those who do not expect to pursue music as a career, but who are actively engaged in music. Subjects for this study were 493 university students who are not majoring in music, but are currently involved in a university band, orchestra, or choir primarily populated by students from across the university academic spectrum. The primary research questions for this investigation were: 

1. In what active music experiences do students participate both in and out of the school environment (HS and college)?
2. What/who are the most significant influences during the high school and college years on continued active engagement?
3. What role do music ensemble directors (HS and college) play in the decision to continue active participation?
4. Is there specific language used by ensemble directors that make students feel it is important to continue beyond HS and college?
5. Are there specific activities included in the ensemble curriculum that students feel are aimed at making them capable and independent musicians for continued engagement?

Results indicated that in addition to traditional choral, band, orchestra, and jazz ensembles, 83% of the respondents participated in other types of high school music activities, and the same percentage. As for the role of the ensemble director in encouraging continuation of music, 68% of respondents indicated that their HS ensemble directors talked to the group about continuing, while only 34% indicated that their current directors talk about continuing after college. A number of implications from the results of this study were found included a need for breadth of offerings beyond the traditional ensembles, opportunities made available for non-music majors, encouragement from HS directors, and development of music-making skills that build self-confidence during HS.


50 Years of WMEA History in the Wisconsin School Musician
Sheila J. Feay-Shaw, PhD
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

The Wisconsin School Musician Magazine has carried the story of music education in Wisconsin since before the creation of the Wisconsin Music Educators Conference (WMEC) and through the change to the Wisconsin Music Educators Association (WMEA). Documentation in the magazine has outlined the transition of organizational structure from school music to professional development in music. The purpose of this study is to show how the magazine has been used over the years to trace the emphases that teachers had within school music, the names that were chosen to convey those emphases, and how change in general educational practice has impacted choices in music education in Wisconsin.


Effects of Applied Music Composition and Improvisation Assignments on Sight-Reading Ability, Learning in Music Theory and Quality in Soprano Recorder Playing
Lois Veenhoven Guderian, PhD
University of Wisconsin-Superior

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of applied improvisation and composition assignments that were related to and reinforcing of curriculum content on fifth-grade students’ ability to sight-read traditional music notation, ability to learn to play the soprano recorder, and understanding of music theory. Specifically, the research questions sought to determine whether there would be a difference in student achievement in these areas of music study when given the same curriculum content and delivery of instruction, one group reinforced their learning through repeated practice and the other group through applied improvisation and composition assignments. The subjects were 46 fifth-grade students in two, heterogeneously grouped classes. The students completed the Gordon Intermediate Measures of Music Audiation and a pretest of music theory (written music understanding) at the onset of the 18-week study and performance exams in playing and sight-reading on the soprano recorder and a posttest of music theory at the completion of the study. Three experienced music educators evaluated the students on criteria using five-point, rating scales. Results on the Gordon IMMA showed the groups had comparable music aptitude. Means on the posttests for performance exams in playing and sight-reading and for written music understanding were compared using independent t tests. In addition, pretest scores on the music theory measure were compared to the posttest scores for each of the groups to determine gains. No significant differences in mean scores were found between the two groups on posttest scores and the sight-reading and playing evaluations however the results showed that both groups made a significant gain in music theory. Mean scores for the sight-reading and playing indicated that the control group scored at the 89th percentile on both measures and the experimental group scored at the 91st percentile on playing and 88th percentile on sight-reading. A major result of the study is that the inclusion of composition and improvisation activities during music class did not negatively affect sight-reading, playing or music theory understanding. 


Studying Higher Level Thinking Among University Students: Effect of an Experimental Curriculum on Creative Thinking Skills in a Music Methods Course
Mark T. Kiehn, PhD
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of an experimental curriculum on the higher level thinking development of university students. Elementary education majors enrolled in a music methods course (for non-music majors) participated in an experimental course curriculum containing a variety of creative arts experiences and collaborative project work. Pre-service education majors understand their future pupils’ need to develop higher level thinking skills; however, appear to lack the knowledge of how to define or teach these skills.  Pre-service education majors also appear to have difficulty seeing the relevance of a music methods course to future classroom teaching.  An experimental curriculum was designed and implemented containing a variety of creative experiences:  collaborative music composition, improvisation, music analysis through perceptive listening, creation of a musical instrument, micro-teaching lesson presentations, class performances, visual art analyses through critiques, and collaborative lesson planning. Elementary education majors enrolled in a music methods course (n=14 during spring 2009, n= 17 during fall 2009) were given a measure of creative thinking at the beginning and midpoint of the semester. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, Figural Form is the criterion measure; a standardized test of creative thinking consisting of four artistic drawing open-ended  tasks. TTCT subscores in originality, fluency, titles, and closure increased; with the largest gain in fluency (ability to generate numerous and relevant ideas), 82.7 to 110.2 and  100.5 to 134.8 (pre-test to post-test respectively). Interestingly; each semester class improved one full standard deviation on the creativity index (overall mean score). All participants were asked how their thinking may have changed over the course of the semester, what experiences did they find most engaging, and why was this helpful in developing their thinking?  The initial coding has revealed several themes from reflections:
a)    thinking how the course experiences have changed their teaching philosophies,
b)    seeing the connection between established theories and teaching practice, and
c)    thinking more about “why” “how” “to whom” aspects of their teaching and student learning.
Since the experimental curriculum in the present study contains a range of both creative and critical thinking activities; future investigations could incorporate a critical thinking measure, and a control group in the design.


A Comparison of the Repertoire of College Wind Bands and Professional Orchestras
Jason S. Ladd, PhD
Marquette University

This study looked at the contemporary repertoire of college wind bands and professional orchestras. There have been numerous studies which explored the programming of college wind bands and professional orchestras separately but none had compared the two. The results of the previous studies were dominated by established composers such as Grainger and Sousa for bands and Beethoven and Mozart for orchestras. The current study also focuses on the programming of works by contemporary composers.
Music performed between Fall 2003 and Spring 2008 was collected from members of the College Band Directors National Association (n=23,677) and the League of American Symphony Orchestras (n=15,891). Program information for college wind bands was obtained through e-mail correspondence with CBDNA members while program information of professional orchestras was gathered from documents on the League of American Symphony Orchestras website. College wind bands were divided into categories based on the music degrees offered at their institution: those schools offering a doctorate of music degree, a master of music degree, a NASM accredited school offering a bachelor of music degree, and all other schools. Professional orchestras were divided into categories based on budget size: those with a budget over $14.4 million, orchestras with a budget between $6 million and $14.4 million, and orchestras with a budget between $2.8 million and $6 million.
The study found there was an average of 12.00 performances of works per college wind composer. This is less than the 17.60 performances of works per professional orchestra composer. The 15 most performed composers by college wind bands represented 24.39% of the performances while the 15 most performed composers by professional orchestras represented 46.69% of the performances. These findings reinforced the perception that the college wind band repertoire isn’t as established as that of professional orchestras. Also, consistent with previous studies, the orchestra repertoire is centered on a core of composers whereas the core composers represented in performance by college wind bands is dependent on what year the program information was collected.


How Does the Teaching of Comprehensive Musicianship Through Performance (CMP) Impact Student Musical Understanding
Kati Seiter
Washington Junior High School, Manitowoc, WI

Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP) is a method of teaching that engages the students to think beyond the notes on the page, to dive deep into the underlying meaning of the music, and to engage students emotionally.  The purpose of my research is to determine if teaching of CMP impacts student musical understanding.  In my research, I observed five secondary music teachers in their classrooms; two were CMP influenced classroom, two were not CMP influenced classrooms, and one was a CMP influenced classroom whose teacher is also part of the state CMP committee in the state of Wisconsin.  The purpose of this was to compare the learning of the students in a CMP classroom to students in a non-CMP classroom.  After each observation, I interviewed each teacher and three student representatives from each class.  I found that CMP has a great impact on student musical understanding.  Students used higher order thinking when describing what they were learning in their music class and when describing a piece of music.  Music has the ability to affect people emotionally, and the CMP model has a focus on not only teaching skills of a piece of music, but also how it emotionally connects to the lives of the students.  Because of this, the students feel an attachment to the music and perform the music in a deeper way compared to the classrooms who do not teach the affective element of a piece of music.  The result of the research supports the quest that through the use of CMP in the music classroom, students do have a higher level of musical understanding of the music that they also connect to emotionally.  Through the CMP model, teachers are more focused and educated on a piece of music and students are greatly impacted from this method of teaching.  The results support that the CMP way of teaching is an effective method of teaching music to broaden and deepen students’ musical understanding,


Factors affecting Freshman Participation in Music Ensembles at Marian University
Annette Van Straten
Marian University

The purpose of this study was to identify key factors that affected the participation of freshman in music ensembles at Marian University of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. This study arose from the researcher’s observation of eligible student musicians who had not enrolled in a music ensemble. A survey was distributed over a two-week period to all traditional first-year students for two consecutive fall semesters. Minors, non-traditional students, and students who had not participated in a high school music ensemble for at least three years were opted out of the survey, leaving a sample size of 125. Results from the survey indicated that the top two influences for student non-participation in music ensembles are a perception of lack of time and a fear of auditioning. The top two influences for student participation in music ensembles are to continue involvement in musical performance and to satisfy elective course requirements. A correlation was found between students who rate themselves as “good” musicians and students who are afraid to audition. This same group of students also made the decision not to continue musicianship in college while still in high school or before entering college. Additionally, the data showed a trend of student enrollment in music ensembles being constant from grades 6-11, and a decrease from grades 11 to 12. Further research may include exploring why students do not get involved focusing on auditions and time commitments.


Strings Teaching Strings: The Effects of Specialized String Instruction on a High School String Ensemble
Nashira Young
Sheila J. Feay-Shaw, PhD
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Teacher certification in instrumental music is granted to individuals who specialize in the teaching of all musical instruments, including wind, percussion and strings.  While these individuals develop advanced skills on one specific instrument, they are given a broad playing background from which to teach. In this research, a qualitative approach was used to study a local high school orchestra program being taught by a non-string specialist. Research questions focused on what impact the presence of a string specialist, who provided specific support for student learning and development, would have on the students. A survey was used to gather data on the numbers of years each student had played, whether they studied with a private string teacher outside of school, access to their instrument and general attitude about participating in the school orchestra. Survey data was triangulated with observational fieldnotes and student comments. Analysis of this information is ongoing however, there appears to be a mix of students who study privately and own their instrument versus those who only take lessons provided at school and utilize a school instrument. Attitudinal information from both the survey data and observational data showed that students participate for a variety of reasons including a desire to play well, seeing orchestra as an easy “A”, and playing because of others who play. Findings showed that the attention given to students on technical playing and note reading issues, as well as the relationship developed with individual students, may be the most significant factors effecting student playing.