Online Versus Traditional Master of Music in Music Education Degree Programs

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the reasons that two matriculated students had for enrollment into either an online or a traditional master of music in music education (MME) degree program. Research questions were the following: (a) What are the reasons each student gave for matriculating into either an online or a traditional MME program? (b) What are these students’ perceptions of both types of MME programs? How did those perceptions influence their decisions to matriculate into a respective program, if at all? Reasons for matriculating into a respective program included professional and financial obligations, creating relationships with faculty, perceived flexibility of the online program, and development of musician identity and musicianship. Implications include employing the hybrid course format to create a balance of both types of learning environments. Suggestions for future research include investigating the value that students find in an applied lesson and/or ensemble participation component of an MME program.

Keywords

online academic-year traditional master of music in music education degree graduate studies distance education distance learning master’s degree

Traditional academic-year master of music in music education (MME) degree programs offer students the opportunity to learn from and be mentored by faculty-in-residence, perform in ensembles, participate in applied lessons, and satisfy degree requirements by choosing from a plethora of courses (LeBlanc, 1991). Distance education, a broad range of teaching and learning events in which the student is separated (at a distance) from the instructor or other fellow learners (Hoyle, 2014), is meant to provide an optimal learning environment for students that is designed for their schedules and availability, prior educational experiences, and living situations (Artino, 2007). Introduction of high-speed Internet, competition for student tuition dollars, and student demand for access to education have created a new paradigm in distance learning in higher education: online distance learning programs (Butler, 2013). Collegiate music education faculty and administrators have responded to this paradigm by creating online MME programs to allow music educators to earn master’s degrees without leaving their current positions for academic-year residencies at brick-and-mortar institutions (Groulx & Hernly, 2010).

Even with the convenience that online MME programs offer, collegiate music education departments still offer traditional MME programs and students continue to matriculate into these programs. An examination of the reasons why music educators choose to matriculate into either online or traditional MME programs could assist higher education administrators and faculty with program review efforts and assist potential MME students by informing their decision-making process. Possible benefits of this type of examination could include improvement of both types of programs and enhanced feelings of satisfaction with both types of degree programs.

Review of Literature

Several authors have suggested scheduling flexibility and convenience to be primary reasons for enrolling in online programs (Mansour & Mupinga, 2007; Sherbon & Kish, 2005) and that online graduate education can be an effective form of professional development (Kos & Goodrich, 2012; Walls, 2008). However, authors also have found possible detrimental aspects of online coursework, including lack of face-to-face in-person interaction and reduced access to professors (Fung, 2004; Mansour & Mupinga, 2007; Walls, 2008), lack of credibility of the degree-sponsoring institution (Adams & DeFleur, 2006; Hebert, 2007), and employers’ lack of confidence in an online degree (Adams & DeFleur, 2006).

Fung (2004) investigated the perceptions of former, current, and prospective MME program students and its administrators on the need for flexible learning at one American higher education institution using an author-designed questionnaire and semistructured interviews. Fung defined flexible learning as any learning approach that is removed from traditional face-to-face in-class learning. He found that former and current students had negative opinions about the possibility of modifying the current on-campus, in-class, delivery method. They believed that the social, in-person interactions with peers and professors were important components of their learning experience and that flexible learning could compromise the quality of the program. These students, however, did concede that flexible learning could be offered to students unable to attend traditional face-to-face classes due to distance or the need to keep a job.

Walls (2008) evaluated the influence of a distance-learning MME program on the professional development of in-service teachers. The program served both on- and off-campus in-service music teachers. Off-campus students could complete most coursework synchronously with resident students by viewing live streaming videos of the classroom and communicating with the class via text or audio chat. Students found that the program’s use of technology and online professor–student and student–student interactions promoted satisfaction and professional development in areas that should affect K–12 student learning in a positive manner, including teaching philosophy and teaching practices. However, some professors were not proactive with answering students’ communications, leading to students being confused and uncertain about the quality of their work.

Groulx and Hernly (2010) examined existing online MME degree programs in the United States and compared a variety of aspects of those programs, including curriculum, acceptance information, enrollment numbers, tuition, characteristics of students who take advantage of online degree opportunities, and characteristics of professors who teach the courses. Although the researchers found benefits of online degree programs, including increased opportunities for higher education (particularly for those geographically removed from higher education institutions), they found that online students might not be able to serve as graduate/teaching assistants due to time constraints of employment, distance, and family obligations, thus precluding the development of mentor–protégé relationships. Additionally, customization of the degree through elective choices (e.g., applied lessons, conducting opportunities, Orff certification, etc.) may be limited due to the delivery method of instruction.

Despite the increase in student enrollment in online MME programs (Ruthmann & Hebert, 2012) and perceived benefits of online instruction, students continue to enroll in traditional academic-year MME programs. Although researchers have examined motivations for graduate students in general education to participate in online graduate courses over traditional face-to-face graduate courses (Braun, 2008), no research has explored the motivations and reasons behind students’ decisions for enrollment into either type of MME program. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the reasons that two matriculated students had for enrollment into either an online or traditional MME program. The specific research questions were as follows:

Research Question 1: What are the reasons each student gave for matriculating into either an online or traditional MME program?

Research Question 2: What are these students’ perceptions of both types of MME programs? How did those perceptions influence their decisions to matriculate into a respective program, if at all?

Method

Theoretical Framework and Design

This study used a particularistic case study design (Merriam, 1998) with a phenomenological theoretical framework (van Manen, 1997). Particularistic case studies “focus on a particular situation, event, program, or phenomenon” (Merriam, 1998, p. 29) and can “examine a specific instance but illuminate a general problem” (Merriam, 1998, p. 30). Phenomenological studies seek to “elucidate lived experience” (van Manen, 1997, p. 27), thereby focusing on descriptions of what people experience and understanding the nature of the lived experience itself (van Manen, 1997). The phenomena of interest in this study are the reasons for choosing a particular degree program experience.

Researcher’s Lens

I earned my MME degree following matriculation into a traditional, academic-year MME program at a university in the American Midwest after 3 years of teaching. I also matriculated into a PhD in music education program in a traditional academic-year graduate music education program located at a different university in the same region. I chose to matriculate into traditional brick-and-mortar programs for both graduate degrees because I value the mentor–mentee relationship that can be built with professors through a graduate assistantship. I also participated in two graduate online music education courses offered by a university in the Northeastern region of the United States. At the time, I perceived online graduate degree classes as making learning more convenient by giving me control of when I could complete assignments and eliminating the need to drive to a campus classroom on a regular basis.

Participants

When seeking participants for this study, I used purposeful sampling (Patton, 2002) to select MME students with whom I was professionally familiar and who had matriculated into either type of MME program. Purposeful sampling is used to study “information-rich cases . . . from which one can learn a great deal about issues of central importance to the purpose of the inquiry” (Patton, 2002, p. 230). I used pseudonyms for confidentiality.

David currently is in his second semester of an online MME program based at a private university in the Northeastern region of the United States that has 200 MME students enrolled in its program to date. He has been teaching for 6 years, 5 of which were as director of both curricular and extracurricular band programs in a suburb of a large city in the Southeastern region of the United States. David had no previous online course experience prior to his participation in his graduate music education program. David’s MME program requires a minimum of 32 semester credits and includes graduate courses in musicology and/or music theory, introduction to music education research, curriculum, foundations and principles of music education, comprehensive examination, an elective within the school of music, and a capstone project that synthesizes the studies of the master’s degree program.

Lucy is currently in her first semester of a traditional, academic-year MME program located at a public university in the Midwestern region of the United States that has two MME students enrolled. Lucy taught K–8 general, vocal, and instrumental music part-time at a private school in the Northeastern region of the United States for 2 years prior to graduate studies. Lucy had taken two previous online education courses during her undergraduate career. One course was a hybrid, defined as a course that combines elements of face-to-face instruction with elements of distance teaching (Lorenzetti, 2004). Lucy’s hybrid course combined an online element of students posting responses to class readings with a weekly face-to-face in-person class to discuss posts that generated the most discussion online. The other course was fully online and included prerecorded lectures, student-generated discussion posts, and student essays that were e-mailed to the instructor. Lucy’s MME program requires a minimum of 30 semester credits and includes graduate courses in musicology, music theory, music performance or conducting, large ensemble participation, introduction to music education research, curriculum, research methods, psychology, philosophy, and additional graduate classes within and outside the school of music. Students may elect to write a master’s thesis or pass a comprehensive examination.

Data Sources

Data sources were one semistructured interview for each participant (Patton, 2002), one focus group interview (Morgan, 1997), degree program descriptions, and course syllabi from participants’ degree programs. I conducted interviews online using Skype™, a voice-over-Internet Protocol service, and recorded interviews with Screenflick, a screen and audio recorder for Mac Operating System X devices. I used Google+ Hangout, an online videoconference program, for the focus group interview. I manually transcribed the interviews using InqScribe, a digital media transcription software program, immediately following each interview.

Procedure

Participant interviews were used to gather personal information and included formal, prepared questions that assisted me in understanding the phenomena of interest. The focus group interview was, according to Patton (2002), a means of obtaining “high-quality data in a social context where participants may consider their views in the context of the views of others” (p. 386). Data analysis commenced shortly after transcription. The entire process took 2 months.

Data Analysis

I reviewed and coded all interview transcripts (Miles & Huberman, 1994) for common categories (Merriam, 1998). The two research questions guided the coding process. After multiple readings and developing shorthand codes, I coded and indexed all interview and focus group transcripts with emerging categories that represented similar ideas and events (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000; Miles & Huberman, 1994) within and across interviews of the participants. From these categories, themes emerged (Ely, 1991). Themes, according to Ely (1991), are (a) statements of meaning that run through all or most of the pertinent data or (b) a statement in the minority that carries heavy emotional or factual impact. I also used substantive significance (Patton, 2002) to determine what in the data was meaningful.

Trustworthiness

I sought data collection triangulation (Merriam, 1998) through interviews and a focus group discussion. Each participant also member-checked their transcript for accuracy (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). I also engaged in a peer audit with several music education professors and music education PhD students to strengthen my analysis and reporting.

Limitations

Although the following findings and conclusions are not generalizable to all MME education degree program students, they may be applicable for students in similar contexts:

We are often amazed at how much our readers will recognize as relevant to their own cases, even though in many ways the studied cases are different. Most find a commonality of process and situation. It startles us to find our own perplexities in the lives of others. (Stake, 1995, p. 7)

Findings

Reasons for Choosing Type of MME Program

Professional and Financial Obligations: David and Lucy

David believed that his job satisfied all of his professional desires and was a good occupational “fit.” He was hesitant to resign from it to begin graduate music education studies, fearing that he may never find a similar job after graduate studies.

David investigated both traditional graduate music education programs within his metropolitan area and online programs hosted by institutions around the United States. He found that the traditional programs in his area required students to attend classes that were incompatible with his teaching schedule and other professional obligations: “My schedule is incredibly busy. If I had to do some sort of traditional program, I would end up missing half of the classes, or having to change my school schedule more often than not.” David also investigated summer master’s in music education programs. However, these were out of the question due to his summer commitments: “That wasn’t ideal because of the amount of summer activities I have . . . high school band camp, drum and bugle corps . . . it doesn’t work with my schedule.”

When asked if a leave of absence to attend a graduate program outside of his immediate area was an option, David stated that it was not ideal due to personal circumstances and his perceived need for continuity in his school’s music program.

I don’t know how I would afford being able to not have a job and having to pay for rent and utilities and food. I recently purchased a house here as well, so, it wasn’t much of an option to say, “Okay, let me just sell or rent this and move.” There were too many too many unknowns to really make it work. Also, I don’t know how well it would work to have someone else just jump in with me saying, “See you later. I’m going to be back.” I think just the commitment to the team that we have in place is important on my end.

Lucy’s job was only part-time. As a result, Lucy felt less of an obligation to stay. Additionally, Lucy did not consider the loss of her teaching salary to be a barrier to matriculating into a traditional music education graduate program as her part-time salary was equivalent to the graduate assistantship stipend offered by her current institution.

My former position was very secure, but my starting salary was the same that I’m getting paid as a graduate assistant now. So, I’m not losing out all that much. I can teach private lessons at a couple of schools.

Her previously local institution, which offers an online MME degree, did not offer her any financial assistance on acceptance of her application to the degree program.

Creating Relationships With Specific Faculty: David and Lucy

Lucy, who is particularly interested in early childhood music education, sought to study with a faculty member teaching at a university in a different area of the country. She believes that learning from an expert in person creates a better learning experience and facilitates the creation of a relationship that could be of assistance in obtaining a job following graduation or pursuing other professional opportunities:

Working in person with an expert in the field, recognized worldwide as such, I would not sacrifice getting first hand experience with that person, simply for the convenience of online . . . If a professor were to write a letter of recommendation and say, “This person is responsible. This person invests a great deal.” That will hold more merit versus [in an online program] “This person turned in all assignments on time and can complete things.” I feel like that’s missing in an online program. You can’t get to know a person. You can only get to know how their brain works.

Lucy believes that the connections she has established will be of assistance in the future and help create professional opportunities, which would not have been created had she matriculated into an online degree program.

You can’t Skype in Edwin Gordon for a weeklong seminar and have your students get to know him as a person. That’s a really important part of networking. I think it’s personal motivation, but on a campus that encourages it, that’s a big deal. They’re getting valuable connections through those associations that you wouldn’t necessarily get online.

David greatly respects the traditional graduate music education program, leaving open the possibility that he could return to a traditional program for further graduate studies. He does, however, regret the lack of opportunity to make connections with professors that could be of benefit for future professional opportunities.

In my classes, I’m working with a facilitator, who is a doctoral student. They’re the ones that you interact with the most. The professor, you’ll watch them in a video lecture. You’ll make a connection with them because you watch them teach, but you’re not really making a personal connection.

Perceived Flexibility of Online Program: David

David sought flexibility with his graduate education due to his demanding professional schedule. He believed that an asynchronous online graduate program would allow him to fulfill course requirements and view course lectures and discussions at times that worked best for him: “I think part of the advantage is the flexibility of being able to do assignments online when I want to. For example, I’ve been working on an online discussion assignment so I don’t have to stress during concert week.”

Development of Musician Identity and Musicianship: Lucy

Lucy chose to matriculate into a traditional, academic-year program partly to develop and advance her identity as a musician through development of her musicianship. She believes that having an identity of a practicing musician engaged regularly in music-making opportunities is fundamental to one’s efficacy of music teaching.

In order to be a music teacher, you have to be a musician. All of the programs that I looked at required that you participate in music ensembles and take lessons at some point during the program. I felt that that would be very important in order to further myself as a musician, to further my abilities to teach.

Lucy believes that online programs are not capable of delivering instruction that would enhance personal musicianship through instrumental music lessons or ensembles: “I can’t take lessons online and have them be effective. I can’t be in an ensemble and have it feel like a true experience.”

Prior Perceptions and Their Influences on Matriculation: David and Lucy

Initially, when embarking on his search for graduate music education programs, David had negative thoughts about online degree programs: “Really cheap and easy, low standards. Is this going to be something that I’m paying all this money for and not be worthwhile?” His perceptions began to change once he started discussing online music education graduate programs with friends and colleagues who had participated in his current program: “I had some friends that went through my program as well—the word of mouth of the positive experience. I had lots of positive reviews coming into the program as well. That was a kind of push that helped.” After a year of classes, David feels satisfied with his online program and believes that he is participating in a quality graduate music education experience: “I feel like I’ve learned a lot of material and synthesized it. I really do feel like I have a good grasp of the material.”

Lucy had previously participated in two online classes. Although she appreciated the face-to-face in-person component of her hybrid class, she believed that the structure of the classes and the delivery medium did not model effective educating or cater to students’ various learning styles:

There wasn’t a lot of opportunity for collaboration. It would have been nice for us to create our own situation or do some sort of project that would have gotten us interacting with the material more. I felt like it was nice to discuss online, but it was not beneficial in that it did not allow us to explore the material in a personal way.

These online experiences, along with negative experiences that Lucy’s friends had with online music classes, led Lucy to form negative opinions on online learning and the ability to effectively educate through an online delivery mechanism: “I see advertisements for a for-profit online university and other online degree programs and I question their ability to provide the skills necessary to be successful, because you don’t necessarily have the opportunity to take advantage of certain experiences.”

Lucy spoke highly of observing and engaging in face-to-face in-person interaction, believing that these experiences are unique to a traditional degree program: “There are nuances that you can get when you’re interacting with people that you can’t get online and a lot of times, it’s those nuances that actually give the meaning to what’s going on.”

Interpretation

David’s and Lucy’s circumstances illustrate that “everyday” matters, such as income and paying expenses, can take on significant importance during the graduate program deliberation process. Similar to issues raised by Groulx and Hernly (2010), David had concerns about income during traditional graduate studies and how to pay for monthly expenses while in residence. Conversely, Lucy’s part-time position and the low income it entailed were not motivating factors for her to matriculate into an online program. In fact, the similarity between her part-time income and her current graduate assistant stipend could have been a motivating factor for her to matriculate into a traditional graduate music education program, as she had little “to lose” with the move.

Professional and financial circumstances were major factors for both participants, particularly David, who was hesitant to leave a job that provided an occupational “fit” and satisfied his professional needs, and to sell or rent a house that he had recently bought. Uncertainty on finding a comparable job in the future motivated him to matriculate into an online graduate degree program.

David is similar to students in previous studies who have identified scheduling flexibility and convenience to be primary reasons for enrolling in online programs (Mansour & Mupinga, 2007; Sherbon & Kish, 2005). David also sought an online graduate degree program to accommodate his demanding professional schedule, as his academic-year commitments conflicted with class meetings at a traditional graduate program at a local institution. Furthermore, David’s unwillingness to relinquish summer teaching commitments prohibited him from matriculating into a summer master’s program, an option also offered to educators (LeBlanc, 1991). David’s scenario demonstrates that personal and professional obligations and priorities can greatly affect one’s schedule and possibly affect the graduate program decision process and its outcome.

Both participants initially had negative perceptions of online degree programs. The design and execution of Lucy’s previous online classes may have been factors in her overall negative opinion of online degree programs. Her concerns about lack of real-time face-to-face interaction and reduced access to professors have been echoed by students in previous studies (Fung, 2004; Mansour & Mupinga, 2007; Walls, 2008). It was not until David solicited input from friends who had participated in graduate online music education programs that his opinion began to change. If David’s friends did not have positive graduate online music education experiences, it is possible that he could have chosen another option for graduate studies.

Lucy had a desire to study in person with a specific faculty member. She believed that this experience not only would be inherently fruitful but also could create a relationship that might facilitate job placement and future professional opportunities. David conceded that his online graduate experience is less likely to create professional connections between professors and students. This factor seems to be guided less by practical considerations and based more on personal preference, coupled with thoughts on how graduate school outcomes can influence future career and professional possibilities.

Implications

Out of the two online classes in which she participated, Lucy most enjoyed the face-to-face in-person component of her hybrid class as it allowed for real-time interaction with her professor and fellow students. The hybrid course format could be a means toward increasing contact time and building of relationships. Lucy placed a great deal of importance on these factors during her MME program search, whereas David acknowledged regret with not being able to make connections with faculty. Collegiate music educators may wish to investigate this course format or other means of interactions that lend themselves to creating more “personal connections” between faculty and students to attract potential MME students who wish to have a balance of both types of learning environments.

Lucy considered her undergraduate online class experiences to be less than ideal due to the lack of collaboration with classmates, modeling of effective teaching, and catering to students’ various learning styles. As collegiate institutions are increasingly assigning educators to teach online education classes in addition to traditional classes held in brick-and-mortar buildings (Lane, 2013), it may be advisable for collegiate administrators to offer professional development workshops on effective online teaching practices to collegiate faculty. These workshops could assist instructors with creating hybrid and online courses that use appropriate online pedagogy techniques and, as a result, may improve quality of online teaching and the educational experience for students who hold values similar to Lucy.

The absence of financial aid and her part-time salary could have been pivotal factors in Lucy’s decision to matriculate into her traditional MME program. Lucy has since established a relationship with faculty that could be of assistance in the future. Based on her experience, traditional MME programs might consider offering graduate assistantships to deserving applicants to assist with defraying tuition costs. Additionally, brick-and-mortar collegiate music education institutions that operate online MME programs may wish to offer modified graduate assistantships to those who live within a reasonable distance so online MME students have opportunities to work with faculty in person and establish relationships that could be beneficial when applying for doctoral programs. Duties of the assistantship would need to align with a student’s skill set, geographic location, and other factors.

Lucy believes that participating in music-making opportunities affects one’s efficacy of music teaching and chose to enroll into a traditional MME program with requirements that include applied lessons and ensemble participation in order to develop her musicianship. Online MME program educators and administrators may wish to explore means of developing musicianship in an online program, as other potential students may have similar opinions as Lucy and consider only programs that include options for development of one’s musicianship.

Suggestions for Future Research

One could replicate this study to include more participants and determine if additional factors influence decisions to matriculate into a type of MME program. A replication of this present study also could examine doctoral students’ reasons for choosing an online or traditional doctoral music education degree program.

It may be prudent to further explore the value that MME students find in an applied lesson and/or ensemble participation component of an MME program. Interviewing MME students who have matriculated into programs with these components could determine if a relationship exists between applied lessons/ensemble participation and students’ beliefs on the importance of developing one’s musicianship and identity as a musician.

Researchers should determine whether there are online graduate music education programs that have included applied lessons as part of their curricula, via either online delivery or traditional in-person means. Recently, music educators who teach privately have started using Skype™ and other voice-over-Internet Protocol services to teach private music lessons (St. Louis, 2012). Researchers could gather detailed information on implementation, delivery processes, and perceived effectiveness. Additionally, a survey or questionnaire could be designed to investigate effectiveness of music education hybrid courses as a means of fulfilling students’ needs for building relationships with faculty and fellow students and increasing contact time.

Conclusion

Although traditional undergraduate and MME degree programs will continue to exert influence on American music education and music teacher education, online courses and MME degree programs are likely to increase their influence on K–12 music education and music teacher education in the future, given the growing footprint of online education in K–16 education (Archambault & Crippen, 2009; Lane, 2013) and professional development for in-service music educators (Ruthmann & Hebert, 2012), the increasing number of institutions that offer online MME degree programs (Ruthmann & Hebert, 2012), and the increasing number of students enrolling in online MME degree programs (Ruthmann & Hebert, 2012). As a result, continuing to examine why students choose their respective MME degree programs may illuminate strengths that can be implemented in both types of programs, thus improving them and, ultimately, assisting K–12 music educators and collegiate music education faculty in their quest to improve the state of music education in schools across the country.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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