Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education 

About: Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education is an academic journal published by University of Illinois Press. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Music education & Higher education. It has an ISSN identifier of 0010-9894. Over the lifetime, 762 publications have been published receiving 10673 citations. The journal is also known as: Council for Research in Music Education. Bulletin & Bulletin - Council for Research in Music Education.

Motivational and Self-Regulated Learning Components of Musical Practice

Abstract: A self-report questionnaire was administered to I 90 pianists immediately before they undertook a graded, externally assessed music performance examination in order to examine possible relationships between self-regulatory (i.e., cognitive strategy use, self-regulation) and motivational (intrinsic value, anxiety/confidence) components of learning and the quantity and content of musical practice. Factor analytic solutions were consistent with theoretical constructs. Regression analysis suggested that the quantity of practice in the month leading up to the performance examination was related to the amount of technical work the subject reported practising plus the level of anxiety they experienced immediately before entering the examination. Regression analyses also revealed a consistent pattern across three components of musical practice with a finding that subjects who reported greater amounts of practice on Informal/Creative Activities (i.e., playing by ear and improvising), Repertoire (new unlearned pieces, older familiar pieces) and Technical Work (i.e., using a warm-up routine, practising scales/arpeggios, studies, etudes and sightreading) tended to be more cognitively engaged while practising and express more intrinsic interest in learning their instrument. This finding provides preliminary evidence of the importance of certain types of cognitive engagement to efficient musical practice. Recommendations for future research include extending the study to examine relationships between a greater range of cognitive mediational processes that may influence achievement in musical performance.

Measures of Instructional Effectiveness in Music Research

Abstract: For this investigation, I reviewed 25 years of published experimental and descriptive research (1 972-1 997) involving the evaluation of music teaching in group and individual lesson settings. The Journal of Research in Music Education, the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, and the Journal of Music Therapy were the primary sources for the review, but I also included additional published articles that had been cited in the reference lists of the articles identified in these three primary journals. A total of 86 articles satisfying the criteria for inclusion were categorized according to methodology and purpose and were examined to determine both the dependent measure(s) and the unit(s) of analysis used in the evaluations of teaching. Measurements of teaching effectiveness in the research reviewed varied in specificity from frequency counts of verbal feedback to global evaluations of overall effectiveness. Although a number of studies included assessments of student attentiveness as a dependent measure, only 13 of the 86 investigations measured student achievement. In those instances in which aspects of teacher behavior were measured in relation to accomplishment of the learner, the strength of association between the behavior of the teacher and student achievement was found to be either very weak or statistically nonsignificant. All of the investigations reviewed used either the teacher or therapist, the instructional session (e.g., rehearsal, class), or a specified period of instructional activity as units of analysis. The underrepresentation of student achievement as a component dependent measure in research on music teaching and the averaging of teacher assessment data across rehearsals, classes, or lessons suggests a need to expand the research base to include the systematic measurement of teaching effectiveness in relation to the accomplishment of instructional goals.

Flow Theory and the Development of Musical Performance Skills.

Abstract: The present study adopts the theoretical and methodological approach used in "flow theory" proposed by Csikszentmihalyi (1975, 1993) to examine motivational and social factors associated with young musicians ' development of musical performance skills concurrent with, and in the context of, their everyday life experience. To achieve this aim, the study employed innovative methodology, the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), developed by Csikszentmihalyi to record young musicians ' descriptions of thoughts and activities at random moments during the course of a typical week. The experiences of three groups of young musicians aged 12-16 years who were attending two different schools in the North of England were examined: high achievers from a specialist music school (n =20), moderate achievers from a specialist music school (n-20), and young musicians from a non-specialist state school (n=20). In line with previous research, the results indicated that high achievers spent significantly more time practising during the course of the week than average achievers from both schools. Analyses of data collected using the ESM revealed a significant difference in the extent to which the young musicians in each group reported "flow" experiences when engaged in musical compared with non-musical activities. In particular, high achievers at the music school and students at the non-specialist school reported more "flow" experience when practising than the moderate achievers at the music school. The findings are discussed in terms of the implications for music education.