Philosophy of Music Education and Undergraduate Internet Collaboration: An Initial Assessment
Kenneth L. Liske, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Eighty-eight
undergraduate music education majors enrolled over a four-year period in a
one-semester introductory music education course initially participated in a
personal philosophy of music education project that combined a cooperative
learning approach in the traditional classroom setting with internet-enhanced
collaborative inquiry. Twenty-seven of those students later participated in a
guided revision of the personal philosophy of music education statement in a
subsequent upper level music education methods course.
The article reports on the implementation and preliminary
assessment of the project. Instructor observations are presented and student
feedback is reported. Suggestions for future study are given. The viability of
the philosophy project as a tool for recurring student self-assessment
throughout the curriculum is explored, as is the potential to exploit Internet
capabilities to enable expansive collaborative opportunities leading to
sustained pre-professional growth outside the traditional classroom curricular
setting.
Findings indicate that an enhanced sense of community and extended dialogue among music education majors and recent graduates may have resulted from the Internet component of the project. Informal assessment opportunities for the instructor and other faculty increased. Students valued the development of the philosophy statement in a resource-rich, cooperative environment. Students used revised philosophy statements as components of formal, pre-professional assessments.
Kenneth L.
Liske, Ph.D.
Asst.
Professor of Music, Education, and Human Services
University of
Wisconsin Oshkosh
Department of
Music
800 Algoma
Boulevard
Oshkosh,
WI 54901