Chapter+8

= Chapter 8: Applications of Psychology to Music Teaching  =

Taxonomies of Educational Objectives

- Divided into three areas: Cognitive Domain, Affective Domain, and Psychomotor Domain. - Based on an organization of learning objectives that educators set for students.

The Cognitive Domain
- Was developed primarily to facilitate communication among educators. - Provides teachers with a means of examining curriculum, organizing, and assessing instructional objectives. - Provides a hierarchy of mental skills employed by students when they process cognitive information. - Organization of taxonomy is based on the principle that the more complex behaviors are built from integrating several of the simpler behaviors.

Major Categories of Bloom’s Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain

 * 1) Knowledge:
 * 2) Involves recall of previously learned material.
 * 3) Lowest level of cognitive domain.
 * 4) Comprehension:
 * 5) In addition to simply recalling information, students are able to grasp the meaning of the material.
 * 6) This ability is demonstrated through translation of material (placing the original information in a new form), interpretation (explaining or summarizing information), and/or extrapolation (extending trends or tendencies indicated in the original message.)
 * 7) Application:
 * 8) Students are able to employ generalizations, abstractions, or rules of procedure to concrete situations.
 * 9) Previously learned material must be remembered, understood, THEN applied.
 * 10) Analysis:
 * 11) Involves the identification and organization of the components of the material so the ideas discussed can be made more explicit.
 * 12) Focus is on the form and the content of the material.
 * 13) Synthesis:
 * 14) Students must put together elements or parts to form a new whole.
 * 15) Involves working with previously identified components and combining them in a way that is unique and not previously apparent.
 * 16) The emphasis at this level is on creative behavior.
 * 17) Evaluation:
 * 18) Involves the ability to make judgments regarding the effectiveness of material and methods for given purposes.
 * 19) May employ internal evidence such as logical consistency or external criteria.

- The ability of teachers to evaluate the thought processes employed by their students when performing instructional tasks is likely to be related to effective instruction. - By examining goals, curriculum, and assessment strategies in terms of Bloom’s taxonomy, music teachers are likely to provide more systematic and effective instruction.

The Affective Domain
- Many affective objectives emphasize emotional attitudes. - Affective objectives include interests, appreciations, attitudes, and values of a student. - Generally, in education, more emphasis is placed on the cognitive domain. - With the development of Krathwohl’s Taxonomy of the Affective Domain, terminology is more readily available that can be used to state objectives in behavioral terms; thus, a direction is provided for assessing outcomes.

Categories of Krathwohl’s Taxonomy of the Affective Domain

 * 1) Receiving:
 * 2) Involves behaviors such as being aware of phenomena or stimuli.
 * 3) At this level, a student’s attention is “captured” by a teacher.
 * 4) Responding:
 * 5) Student interacts with stimuli.
 * 6) Student becomes “interested in a phenomenon” at this level.
 * 7) Valuing:
 * 8) Student has attached worth or value to an object, phenomenon, or behavior.
 * 9) Student exhibits behaviors in which he or she expresses attitudes toward an object, phenomenon, or event.
 * 10) Organization:
 * 11) Involves the interrelating of values and the beginning of an organized value system are behaviors that characterize this level.
 * 12) This requires that a student resolves conflicts between values, and yields a complex that is internally consistent.
 * 13) Student is developing a philosophy of life.
 * 14) Characterization by a value or value complex:
 * 15) Student’s behavior reflects consistency.
 * 16) Student’s behavior is due to the internalization of a value or value system to the extent that it is readily observable.
 * 17) Student is living their own philosophy of life.

The Psychomotor Domain
- Less emphasis is placed on this domain by educators; however, its validity is widely accepted.

Categories of the Psychomotor Domain (Adapted from Simpson, 1966)

 * 1) Perception: The process of becoming aware of objects, qualities, or relations by use of the sense organs.
 * 2) Sensory stimulation: Impingement of a stimulus upon one or more of the sense organs.
 * 3) Cue selection: Deciding what cues to respond to in meeting the requirements of a task.
 * 4) Translation: Determining the meaning of the cues for action.
 * 5) Set: Preparatory readiness for a particular kind of action or experience.
 * 6) Mental set: Readiness to perform a motor act. (Cognitive awareness)
 * 7) Physical set: Having made the anatomical adjustments necessary for a motor act.
 * 8) Emotional set: Readiness in terms of favorable attitude.
 * 9) Guided response: Overt behavioral action under the guidance of an instructor.
 * 10) Imitation: Execution of an act in response to another person performing the act.
 * 11) Trial and error: Trying various responses until an appropriate response is achieved.
 * 12) Mechanism: Habitual learned response.
 * 13) Complex overt response: Smooth and efficient performance of a complex motor act.
 * 14) Resolution of uncertainty: Knowledge of the sequence; proceeding with confidence.
 * 15) Automatic performance: Ability to perform a finely coordinated motor skill with much ease and muscle control.
 * 16) Adaptation: Ability to change a performance to make it more suitable.
 * 17) Origination: Ability to develop new skills.

The Overlap of Taxonomies:
- Relationships between the Cognitive Doman, the Affective Domain, and the Psychomotor Domain: o Emotions such as anxiety and tension affect the performance of motor skills. o Attitudes, such as desire to be successful, can influence the improvement of performance tasks through practice. o Intelligence is thought to have a positive but low relationship to motor skill; however, cognitive behavior does play an important role in the development of motor behavior. - Overlapping occurs when teachers employ objectives in one area to helpe reach objections in another area.

Stating Music Objectives Behaviorally
An Instructional System


 * 1) Statement of educational objectives.
 * 2) Development of instructional material to assist the student in achieving goals.
 * 3) Assessment of the student’s success in reaching the stated objectives.
 * 4) Revisiting the instructional materials based on the results of the assessment process.

- Behavioral objectives are an important first step in a systems approach to instruction. - Behavioral objectives should be based on a well-developed curriculum; objectives must be clear, concise, and unambiguous. - Four-stage approach to utilizing behavioral objectives: 1. Stating educational objectives 2. Developing instructional material 3. Assessing students’ progress 4. Revising instructional materials according to the assessment

Accountability

 * Accountability is the idea that schools are solely responsible for educating their students; this is an outgrowth of behaviorism.
 * Accountability has affected the education system in several ways:
 * School boards are accountable to the public for philosophical direction and school efficiency
 * School administrators are accountable for managing this system
 * Teachers are accountable for the learning of students
 * The component of accountability include:
 * Statements of goals and instructional objectives
 * Extensive assessment components (pre- and post-tests)
 * Educational system's ability to assist students in reaching objectives and taking on the costs of the above

Individualized Music Instruction
Educators are becoming more aware of the need to promote individual instruction. This has been prompted by: There are generally two schools of thought associated with the idea of individual instruction: **traditional** and **open education**. Open education is flexible, not assessed, based on analysis of learning (tailored to students' needs), and centered around the idea that children are the source of learning. Traditional education stresses firm approaches, assessments, standards, and learning from experts.
 * An increasing sophistication of educational psychologists in identifying personal factors that affect achievement
 * An increasing knowledge of child development and maturation rates
 * An increasing ethnic and racial pluralism in the school population
 * An increasing awareness of the ineffectiveness of mass instructional strategies

Individual instruction can take on many forms, such as:
 * **Programmed Instruction (PI)**
 * Employs a systems approach
 * Proceeds in small steps
 * Materials are carefully sequenced
 * Students receive immediate feedback
 * Students work at their own pace
 * Uses textbook presentations
 * **Computer-Based Instruction (CBI)**
 * Same as above, except instead of using textbook presentations, CBI uses computers.
 * **Personalized Systematic Instruction (PSI or "Keller Plan")**
 * This plan has seven components and stresses monitoring students' skills and knowledge, as well as personalization:
 * Actions and reactions (behaviors) of the learner in terms of the instructional objectives
 * The learning tasks are analyzed behaviorally and categorically by hierarchies
 * Learning rates and levels are systematically monitored and preserved in numerical terms
 * Strategies of teaching are based on scientifically derived principles of learning
 * Actual teacher techniques are derived from principles and systematically practiced by the teacher in the classroom and rehearsl hall
 * Strategies, principles, and techniques, as well as student learning, are preserved systematically, and there is an explicit system of accountability
 * The teacher is responsible, within her or his power, for student learning

Linear Vs. Branching Programs

 * Linear ** **Programming** was developed by B.F. Skinner; in this model, every student goes through each unit of material. The steps to learning material are small and require students to give overt responses; students are also immediately given feedback. Every student goes through every frame until each unit has been completed.


 * Branching ** **Programs** have more flexibility than linear programs, and have alternating sequences of information blocks and multiple choice questions. When students respond correctly to questions, they are directed to new material; when students respond incorrectly, they are directed to more frames that assist in learning.

Music Instruction with Computers
There are five ways that computer music instruction may be organized:
 * ** Tutorials **
 * These are the most frequently used strategies. Tutorials present information to learners and then test their acquisition of the material. Generally, tutorials focus on basic music knowledge (note reading, names, dates, etc.). These programs are the best in developing factual knowledge, but they do take a long time to develop and focus mainly on the lower levels of Bloom's taxonomy.
 * ** Drill Practice **
 * In this method, learners are given the opportunity to perform and receive feedback. These programs generally reinforce previously learned concepts and work great for analyzing student responses and determining areas of weakness.
 * ** Computer Games **
 * Games allow students to practice skills (although student must already be fluent with these skills); they keep track of successes, mostly through scoring. Games also have the ability to present uninteresting material in a fun and new way.
 * ** Computer Simulations **
 * This method allo﻿﻿ws students to explore skills and concepts without the risks, expenses, or time required to perform or experience the real thing. The only downfall to computer simulations is that there are very few that are involved with music; the ones that do exist exist solely in the music education field.
 * ** Tool Programs **
 * These programs allow students and musicians to compose or arrange music on the computer and then play it back. Most tool programs are very easy to use. There are generally two types of tool software: **sequencing programs** (let students input sequences and harmonies and modify them) and **printing programs** (print in traditional notation). Tool programs are useful in that they are used by working musicians (real world experience for students), offer flexibility, and can be used at a variety of educational levels.

Gordon's Learning Theory
Edwin Gordon's theory is based mostly on the idea of **sequencing**, which is then divided into two major areas: **sequencing music skills** and **music content**. In reference to music skills, Gordon states that there are two related aspects, which include **discrimination** and **inference.** Gordon developed a hierarchy of many subareas and proposed a sequence in which students progress from one level to the next. Gordon's learning theory has three important characteristics:
 * Teaching opposing classifications of the same dimension somewhat at the same time (for example, staccato and legato)
 * Providing sequences of tonal and rhythm patterns at levels from easy to difficult to guide instruction
 * Teaching different dimensions of music (like melody and harmony) in isolation from each other.

Overall, Gordon's appraoch focuses on student's learning one aspect of content rather than the integrated whole. It is strongly suggested that a whole-part-whole learning sequence is used, which consists of an overview of the whole followed by the study of the parts, which then leads to a greater understanding of the whole.


 * || ** Discrimination Learning: **  ||  ** A Subhierarchy Featuring Rote Learning **  ||
 * Aural/oral || Hearing/moving, chanting, singing ||
 * Verbal Association || Associating words, tonal syllables, and rhythm syllables with sound ||
 * Partial Synthesis || Recognizing characteristics of wholes that are heard ||
 * Symbolic Association (reading, writing) || Associating syllables and sounds with music notation ||
 * Composite Synthesis (reading, writing) || Recognizing characteristics of wholes that are seen in notation and translated to sound in audiation ||
 * ** Inference Learning: ** ||  ** A Subhierarchy Featuring Conceptual Learning **  ||
 * Generalization (aural/oral, verbal, symbolic) || Identifying the unfamiliar on the basis of similarities to and differences from the familiar ||
 * Creativity/Improvisation (aural/oral, symbolic) || Using skill and content learned at lower levels of learning to improvise and create music ||
 * Theoretical Understanding (aural/oral, verbal, symbolic) || Learning the mechanics of music notation ||
 * Theoretical Understanding (aural/oral, verbal, symbolic) || Learning the mechanics of music notation ||