Day 12 – Between Waking Up at 3.30 am and Doing an Awful Lot of Writing, I am Forgetting Simple Words

EDUC 5410 (and a little 5400 at the end of this section)

Assessment as Research Project?  CHECK!

Rough Draft of Final Paper?  CHECK!

I am very happy that my project is done and am looking forward to presenting it tomorrow at breakneck speed.  I hope I get to the essence of my purpose and assessment tools in the ten-minute time allotment. 

Writing the final paper was an interesting process of reflection upon this summer’s learning through the lens of the last year.  While I wrote primarily about this summer, I also included a section near the end about how I feel assessment has moved to the forefront of my mind and that the language of assessment flows much easier than it ever has before.  I looked back at how this summer’s project seemed tightly aligned to the issues of validity, reliability, and fairness which only a year ago I new very little about.  What is occurring for me is that these items are now always in my mind as I design constructs, assessment tools and learning activities.  Perhaps this is because I relate them to faces and instances where they have not been in my practice; where the climate in my room was more hierarchical than one of collaboration.  This is highlighted best in the assessment tools I have designed for my project and that I am going to try to implement in my classroom setting in September.  If embraced by the students, the amount of self-regulation in their learning will increase substantially and I feel that suddenly learning has great potential to be something that we do together. 

There were times this year when I reworked old units, particularly in Social Studies, where the level of engagement and enjoyment were at levels I had never witnessed before.  This has occurred because of the studies I have embarked upon this last year.  I relish the time when a summative assessment was written rather than multiple-choice and, when the students wrote reflections for me afterwards, admitted they liked the old way better because it was easier.  But the most incredible part was that they admitted (grudgingly) that they had learned more.  I knew at that moment that I would never be able to go back to how things were before again.  Not that they were bad, just less engaging.

Thank you both for pushing me to expand my assessment practice and design.  I am sure my students would thank you as well.  Albeit a little grudgingly. 

EDUC 5400      

I admit that I am a little verbose both in speech and in writing.  (My wife would chuckle at the “little” part.)  I have never had much difficulty in writing lots of ideas down.  So when today I experienced writing a page-and-a-half in seven hours, you can imagine my shock and frustration!  This Research Proposal is going to challenge me every step of the way. 

I can’t say this is because it is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.  I think it is more because a) it is a new concept, b) it is a new way of writing, and c) I am so tired that I am forgetting simple words and thoughts. 

So far I would have to say that the most difficult part has been summarizing the literature.  I am much better at explaining the literature in far more words punctuated by quotations that back up my explanations.  I know I have a solid Purpose Statement and Research Question but it is getting there that I am struggling most with.  I know I will, and I am thankful for Creswell and a well laid out map of how to design research proposals. 

And now I am going to take my “ontologically-realistic-epistemologically-experiential-intersubjective-research-perspectived-pragmatically-paradigmed” (at least this time) brain to bed. 

Day 11 – The Immensity of My Assessment as Research Project has Tired my Brain, But it was Worth It

EDUC 5410

As the title says, the immensity of my project left me feeling a little exhausted.  However, designing the project allowed me to prove a few things to myself. 

First, I recognized that an immediate need regarding my passion for music spurred a tremendous body of work of musical assessment development in a short time.  It showed me that with the right topic and working conditions (time) I can research and develop a large amount of what I perceive as quality material and gives me hope that a project, and maybe even a thesis, are well within my realm of possibilities.

Second, that I have the potential to be a leader in music education assessment.  If I look at the various ways practicing is assessed today, I think I may be one of the few not just designing these assessment tools but also perhaps even thinking seriously about the issue.  Though things are changing, practice logs are still too often being used as part of student grades and in essence are simply using these as a weapon to punish what is a perceived behavioural issue.  I know some of the arguments in favour of this all too well: 

1.     It is equitable as stronger and weaker players who don’t turn in practice minutes are equally penalized.

2.     It evens out the grading playing field as weaker students can increase their grades through practice sheets and in some cases receive extra credit for practicing beyond the required amounts. 

These are questionable arguments to support collecting and grading weak, quantitative evidence of practice at often a very high percentage (at times twenty percent of final report card grades).  I believe it is time that I take more initiative in getting the issue of practicing on our agendas for fine arts professional development and begin to debunk the accepted beliefs surrounding band assessment. 

Third, it confirms that my primary focus in teaching is the needs of students and helping them develop these and their own self-efficacy at the same time.  While I realize that not every student will want to work on developing their metacognitive abilities and technical skills, those who truly love making music will buy in for their own enjoyment and for the good of the ensemble as a whole. 

Finally, I believe I may have successfully created an ecological model for music assessment or at least laid the groundwork for one.  I am certain that it will go through many alterations over the next few years as I try to implement it into my practice, but the foundations are there.

Just for interest sake, I tried many different Google searches for pre-existing ecological models of music assessment and came up empty no matter how I altered the wording and limited the search.  I have no idea what the implications for this are, but perhaps it has laid the groundwork for future research in my life. 

EDUC 5400

Because yesterday's class was mostly a work day, I only have a few confusions to post today. 

The first is this: I am still struggling with how to define my worldview.  As a Christian, my beliefs overarch or are fused throughout how I look at everything.  But I realize that for the purposes of research, I have to define my worldview in terms of a philosophy so here is where I am currently at, though this may change by 100 today.

In the research proposal I am designing, I want to get to the heart of how to increase metacognition in band students so that they practice for quality and therefore increase their technical ability.  The assessment tools I designed for this are heavily dependent upon participant feedback and the answers are subjective to the individual learner.  These fit in quite well with Creswell's (2014) description of Constructivism with the exception of one point: in a sense I am starting with a theory  That is that if I am able to increase students' metacognition, their technique will improve.  Now I am not fool enough to believe this will play out exactly as I have theorized.  But that seems more deductive than inductive too me.  

In a way, what I am proposing is a very pragmatic approach to practicing as it is grounded in a sense in what works for the individual learner.  In the assessment process I am taking into account contextual variables such as socio-economic and cultural situations, and also accepting that due to individual situations, to a degree truth is what works at the time for them (Creswell, 2014).  But even hear I am not clear.  

And I am still very uncertain which method to take.  Am I looking for themes and patterns?  I sense that I am seeking "to establish the meaning of a phenomenon from the views of the participants" (Creswell, 2014, p. 19).  

At this point, all I am sure of is that I will take a qualitative approach.  

Day 10 - My Head is Full of Assessment and it Must Empty in Order to Sleep

EDUC 5410

My head is spinning from designing assessment tools but I believe I have come nearly to the end of what I must do for the Assessment as Research assignment. 

To this point I have:

1.     Provided a rationale in quasi-narrative form that recounts my experiences involving construct irrelevant variance issues in band practice assessment

2.     Defined my purpose with a statement of what information I needed to know

3.     Provided a rationale, description of the process, and time frame for each of the four assessment tools I would like to use to develop better practice habits and technical ability through increased metacognition

4.     Reflected on how I have avoided construct irrelevant variance in my current assessment tools

5.     Created an appendix with an overview Construct/Content Map as well as one exhibiting curricular details

6.     Reflected on content underrepresentation in the curriculum

7.     Designed a chart indicating what is known about the constructs

8.     And, of course, the bibliography

My only concern at this point is that I did not include enough quotes from all the articles I read regarding my constructs.  I have included a fair many, but there are a number of articles in my bibliography that I used more as information than for direct quotes.  They also gave me a broader perspective of who is all writing about the constructs I have established in this assignment. 

I also have to say that I am at a point where I need to move on to other assignments due next Tuesday.  I am more than happy to revise, but if it involves the addition of a lot of things, it may get a little long for you to mark, David!  It’s already twenty pages. J

Day 10 - Purpose Statements and Qualitative Research Questions

EDUC 5400

Below are my initial Purpose Statement and Research Question regarding the impact increased metacognition of practice skills may have on technical development of students in middle school instrumental programs.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this thematic analysis is to explore how increased metacognition through reflection upon instrumental practicing impacts technical development in Level II middle school band programs.  At this stage in the research, metacognition of instrumental practice will be defined as increased understanding of practicing processes. 

Question

How does middles school band students’ technical ability develop as a result of increased metacognition through reflecting on practicing?

Day 9 - I am Still Not Certain of What I am Other Than Confused …

EDUC 5400

My brain is full of methodologies and I can’t say I am all that much closer to deciding which methodology I am going to take on my Research Proposal.  I have come to understand that my worldview is closest to some combination of Pragmatism and Constructivism (if that’s possible) and that the methodology I presented on today (Phenomenology) is not going to work at all for what I wish to propose.  That being said, I knew that all along. 

I think what is confusing me somewhat is that there are so many similar elements within qualitative research methods that I can’t yet identify just one.  It was interesting to me that Cody indicated today the Thematic Analysis works very well if the issue being researched is metacognitive in nature.  As this is exactly one of the constructs in my Assessment as Research assignment for ED 5410, this comment perhaps gave me the clearest indication of the methodology I should choose.  What follows is a list of some of the concepts I took note of from that particular presentation and how they may play out in a Research Proposal that inquires into how increased metacognition in young music students positively affects their technical abilities.  My thoughts are represented in italics.

Thematic Analysis (Taken from C and C’s presentation):

·      A way of reporting themes or patterns within data

o   I am definitely looking for common themes/patterns that indicate if un-qualitative practice habits are holding back students.

·      Two-types: inductive and deductive

o   Inductive - these are my themes and this is what I am looking for

o   Deductive – researcher sits back, looks at data, and discovers the themes

§  Definitely more of a deductive study

·      Pitfalls:

o   Failure to analyze data – I have 43 students in one band class and 63 in the other.  This would take a lot of effort to keep up.

o   Bias in interpretation – I will have to keep this out of it. For too long, band teachers in general tend to blame lack of development on lack of practice.  It’s a neat and tidy way to explain it.  I will have to get past this myself in order to look objectively at each struggling individual.

o   Questioning inconsistency – All students will get the same questions and differentiations will be made by their responses and the results of their performance tests.

o   Making questions your themes – I am not certain how this would look yet in my head.

o   Weak or unconvincing analysis – I tend to be pretty thorough and not hand in anything I consider to be substandard.  I also wouldn’t be satisfied if I didn’t get a complete picture of what is going on because my purpose for designing this Research Proposal is to get at the heart of why some students struggle far more than others.  I know it sounds like a cliché, but it is simply to help kids succeed and enjoy their musical experience.

·      Advantages/Disadvantages

o   Flexible – I am all about flexibility.  It’s the Pragmatic side of me.

o   Labor-intensive – No doubt!  I need to put this into play in the fall while I have a PS III student to do it alongside me.

o   Can create large data sets – I have already mentioned the sizes of my bands …

o   Results are available to general, educated public – If I can get even a few parents to buy into the increased feedback and help their kids practice better at home, the band as a whole will benefit and the student(s) will have better technique as well as a more positive experience

o   Allows for social and psychological analysis of the data – I am not sure how this would look at all.

“I”- Centric Statement: “I believe increased metacognition regarding practice habits will result in stronger technical ability in students who consistently struggle in instrumental music classes.”