Journal of Research in Music Education

The purpose of this study was to compare the music improvisational creativity of students in Grades 2, 4, and 6. Randomly selected participants (N = 89) were given two measures of creativity, the Vaughan Test of Musical Creativity and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (figural form). Two independent judges scored responses on the Vaughan test to determine music improvisational creativity. A significant grade-level difference emerged for music creativity scores, with Grade 2 students scoring significantly lower than Grade 4 and 6 students. Results of the study may indicate a music creativity growth stage exists from Grade 2 to 4, followed by a developmental leveling (no significant change in test scores) between Grade 4 and Grade 6. There also were significant gender differences for music creativity test scores, with boys scoring higher than girls. Finally, a weak but statistically significant correlation was found between music creativity and figural creativity.

The purpose of this study was to determine if 1-week technology workshops can be an effective means for the professional development of music teachers in using technology for instruction. The results indicate that three indicators of effectiveness—teacher knowledge, teacher comfort, and frequency of teacher use—can he significantly improved in these settings. Participants (N = 63) were music teachers enrolled in summer music technology workshops. At the beginning of the workshops, participants completed a questionnaire designed to provide demographic information and assess their knowledge of music technology, degree of comfort with music technology, and the frequency with which they used music technology in their teaching. Following an intensive weeklong workshop dealing with strategies for teaching music to K—12 students using music technology, participants completed a second questionnaire that was parallel to the first. Participants completed another similar questionnaire 9 to 10 months after the workshop. Significant differences were found between the pre-and. postworkshop questionnaires, between the preworkshop and follow-up questionnaires, and, between the postworkshop and follow-up questionnaires in all three areas. There was also a moderate correlation (r = .43, p = .00) between participants' frequency of technological use and the degree to which they reported their access to technological resources.

This study is an examination of the effect of computer-generated virtual reality graded exposure on the physiological and psychological responses of performing musicians. Eight university saxophone majors, five men and three women, participated in twelve 15- to 20-minute weekly practice sessions during which they were immersed in one of four different virtual environments designed to elicit various anxiety levels. Baseline heart rates and subjective measurements were taken prior to immersion and continued throughout the exposure period. In addition, heart rate and subjective measurements were recorded for three live performances given by each subject before beginning the virtual reality exposure and after completion of the sixth and the twelfth exposure sessions. Findings indicated that the virtual environments did elicit a sense of presence and may have provided the means for desensitization. Heart-rate readings and psychological indications of anxiety did not always correspond.

The purpose of this study was to determine which experiences in undergraduate elementary music methods curricula were the strongest predictors of the amount of time elementary classroom teachers used music weekly in their classrooms. A discriminant analysis procedure was used to determine whether the variable clusters considered simultaneously were significant predictors of the amount of time elementary classroom teachers (n = 297) use music in their classrooms. Of the three variable cluster groupings, two were found to contribute uniquely to the definition of the discriminant function. More than 42% of the subjects were correctly classified as to the amount of time they used music in their classroom by simultaneously considering Variable Cluster 1 (participating in folk dances, singing games, movements; integrating music with academic subjects; creating songs, rhythms, movements) and Variable Cluster 3 (developing call charts; teaching lessons on musical concepts; practicing solfege; reading music notation; playing musical recordings as background music; identifying names of instruments in the orchestra).

The purpose of this study was to assess the influences of parental musicianship and support in music, students' previous musical experience, self concept of musical ability, value of music, academic integration, and social integration in college choir students intentions to continue music participation in the future, both in and after college. Tinto's model of institutional departure (1975, 1982, 1987, 1993) was used in the present study. The Choir Participation Survey II, developed by the present author, was administered to 154 choir students in a large public university in the southern United States. The path analytical model fit data well and explained 50% (p < .05) of variance in musical intention. The best predictors of musical intentions were social integration in the choir (beta = .34; p < .05) and the value of music (beta = .57, p < .05). The author concludes with implications of the findings and suggestions for future research.

With this study, we examined four potential influences on American high school solo and. small-ensemble festival adjudicator ratings—time of day, performing medium (vocal or instrumental), type of event (solo or ensemble), and school size. A total of 7,355 instrumental and vocal events from two consecutive midwestern state solo and ensemble festivals were analyzed. The two festivals, held in 2001 and 2002, employed 75 adjudicators (33 vocal and 42 instrumental). Statistically significant differences were found in the main effects of time of day, type of event, and school size. The averages rating for all events moved toward “Superior” (“I”) as the day progressed. This tendency, found in all size classifications except the largest, was most prevalent among events from mid-size schools. Large-school events received higher average ratings than did small-school events. Although preliminary analyses showed that small-school events were disproportionately held during morning hours, the interaction between time of day and school size was not significant. Significant time-of-day by performing-medium (vocal/instrumental) and type-of-event (solo/ensemble) by performing-medium interactions were found. The two performing media seemed to mirror each others rating patterns. Vocal ensemble events were more likely to receive a superior rating than were vocal solo events, whereas the opposite was true for instrumental events. Similar time-of-day tendencies were found in both festivals, despite almost entirely different adjudicators. Representing a more even mix of public school and college teachers and selected based on different criteria, the 2002 adjudicators awarded significantly more Superior ratings.