Early Career Faculty Learning Community MU 103 World of Music Dr. Dave Kopplin

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Early Career Faculty Learning Community MU 103
World of Music Dr. Dave Kopplin

• MU 103 WORLD OF MUSIC
• An introductory GE class that introduces students
  to music and cultures from around the world.
• THIS CLASS, AND OTHERS LIKE it at other
  universities, have traditionally been
  lecture-based classes.
• Evidence I have collected while teaching MU 103
  at Cal Poly suggests that this method of teaching
  fosters learning an inch deep and a mile wide.
• The Study
• An important learning objective in MU 103 is to
  help students think like an ethnomusicologist.
  In 2003, I introduced a field study assignment
  in the class. The field study is an important
  procedure for an ethnomusicologist I believe it
  is also an important activity for students that
  requires them to begin to think like an
  ethnomusicologist.
• Academic year 2004/ 2005, fostered by my
  participation in the Early Career Faculty
  Learning Community, I have accelerated the
  process of retooling the course with a great deal
  of emphasis on the field study, and with this
  crucial learning objective in mind.
• The aim of this research is to see how effective
  the field study is in meeting a single learning
  objective. This year, I have gathered a
  representative sample of student works, thereby
  creating a baseline to use to determine if
  changes in the class increase student learning.

Assessing outcomes SAMPLE WORK IF A STUDENT IS
BEGINNING TO think like an ethnomusicologist,
it will be clear in their written work. What
follows are actual students samples from
Spring/2005 that demonstrate positive student
learning outcomes. Is This Music? This woman
put herself in the mindset of another culture
when she answered the question The recording
of the Australian bullroar may not sound like
music at first to a Western listener. Its form
and purpose are not easily identified. The
Australian bullroar is an instrument used by
Australian aborigines for ritualistic purposes.
Although the sound of it being played does not
conform to Western ideas of music it must be
looked at through an Australian music-culture
perspective Field Study Interview Here is
an excerpt from a student who interviewed his
grandmother. His questions elicited very useful
responses Maggie S. 80 years old
Born/raised in England living in Arcadia,
Ca. What kind of music did you listen to growing
up? Classical, Jazz, popular, our house was
always filled with music of every kind. What do
you think about the changes in music styles over
the years? There are no endings the way there
used to be. Now songs just end without any build
up or something to look forward to. They just
stop without anything special this response is
notworthy Do you find that music inspires you in
any way? Yes. It can put you in any mood you
choose and is very inspiring. It brings me out
of bad moods mostly. () Interview
Analysis Another male student was surprised when
he analyzed his interview results I expected
my grandmother age 69 to have the opposite
opinion than the one she expressed toward
hip-hop music. I expected her to not have much
respect for the style because that is the
stereotype of the older generations. But on the
contrary, I found her to have a lot of respect
for the genre because she was able to relate it
to a style that she grew up listening to
(country). She explained that both styles of
music are similar in that theyre lyrics have
connections to history. Both genres have been
known to tell stories of life and reflect on the
same level. vvvvv Making links between
musical genres, and the ability to strip away
preconceived notions about music, are essential
in an ethnomusicologists thinking. When students
discover this thinking themselves through
listening and reflection, or in a field study
interview it has more meaning to them than if
they had heard about it in a case study in a
class lecture.
RESEARCH QUESTION Does field work an integral
part of ethnomusicology research improve
student learning in an introductory world music
class?

• Sample Learning Objective for MU 103
• Students will learn to think like an
  ethnomusicologist.
• JJJJJJJJ
• Tasks and Objectives
• My Music
• Students are asked to post a brief written
  discussion item in online discussion boards on
  music that has meaning to them. Students must
  also respond to one anothers postings. Students
  learn how they, and others, create meaning in
  music, essential to learning to think like an
  ethnomusicologist.
• Geography assignment
• Students groups complete an assignment designed
  to foster cooperative learning, as well as to
  help students understand how geography influences
  culture. Ethnomusicologists must know the lay of
  the land before they go into the field.
• Is This Music?
• Students listen to musical that is not what it
  appears to be and must decide if it is music.
  Their answers are posted to discussion boards.
  Ethnomusicologist ask themselves how the culture
  they are studying thinks about music.
• Field Study Interviews
• Students are asked to interview at least three
  family members from three different generations.
  Students design their own questions, with the
  help of examples from Charles Keils My Music
  Project, and instructor. The students first
  field study.
• Interview Analysis
• Students analyze their interview results
  searching for commonalities, differences, and
  interesting themes. This is the key assignment to
  help students learn to think like
  ethnomusicologists.
• Final Group Project
• Student groups present on a world music culture.
  (Future iterations of this class will require
  field work as part of this final project).