Evaluative and Behavioral Correlates to Intrarehearsal Achievement in High School Bands

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships of teaching effectiveness, ensemble performance quality, and selected rehearsal procedures to various measures of intrarehearsal achievement (i.e., musical improvement exhibited by an ensemble during the course of a single rehearsal). Twenty-nine high school bands were observed in two rehearsals of a common music selection. Separate panels of experts evaluated ensemble performance quality from audio recordings and teacher effectiveness from video recordings. Rehearsal frames were identified in second-day rehearsals, and “before” and “after” rehearsal trials for each target ( N = 404) were extracted and evaluated for achievement. Selected rehearsal procedures within each frame also were measured. Results indicated no significant relationships between rehearsal effectiveness scores and any of five conceptualizations of intrarehearsal achievement. Significant, positive correlations were found between performance quality and three achievement computations, and between performance quality and rehearsal effectiveness. With one exception, none of the selected rehearsal procedures were associated with achievement differences within rehearsal frames. These findings suggest limitations of considering ensemble teacher evaluation in terms of student achievement. An ensemble’s extant skill level may contribute more to short-term rehearsal achievement than does the quality of its conductor’s rehearsing.

Evaluation of Intrarehearsal Achievement by Listeners of Varying Levels of Expertise

“…The significant difference between expert teachers’ and music majors’ evaluations warrants further consideration. Contrary to my earlier claim (Montemayor, 2014), a task that directs listeners’ attention exclusively to the results of instruction, rather than to the instruction itself, did not ameliorate evaluation differences between prospective teachers and experts. (That said, the magnitude of those differences was small, and the pattern of scores across target types and ensemble quality levels was generally quite similar among groups, thus perhaps lending confidence to the use of music majors’ RIX scores as a dependent variable in that study.)…”

“…Materials for this investigation were adopted from my previous study (Montemayor, 2014), in which 29 high school bands were audio-recorded in two rehearsals of Oak Mountain March , an unpublished 1 Grade 3 (out of 6) work for band composed by Richard E. Brown. Each ensemble’s “read-through” performances on both rehearsal days were recorded and transferred onto audio compact discs in three different presentation orders and then were evaluated by three expert directors for overall performance quality according to a 10-point scale (from 1, lowest , to 10, highest ).…”

“…No indication of target categorization or ensemble quality was provided on the form. As with my previous study (Montemayor, 2014), for each dyad, participants judged the second trial against the first according to the target that the teacher sought to achieve. A 4-point Likert-type scale was provided for evaluation, with points defined as 0, no discernible improvement ; 1, nominal improvement (further specified as “the minimal amount of progress which could be considered a ‘step in the right direction’”); 2, modest improvement ; and 3, substantial improvement.…”

“…The author noted that the before-and-after evaluation task ostensibly directed the undergraduates’ attention entirely to the results of instruction and not the instruction itself, a characteristic indicative of both experienced and expert music teachers (Bergee, 2005; Duke, 1994b; Standley & Madsen, 1991). Because of this discrepancy and because identifying possible differences in performance judgments might illuminate aspects of expert thinking in music teaching, Montemayor (2014) recommended further study on how listeners of varying levels of expertise would respond when evaluating intrarehearsal achievement in similar fashion.…”

Effects of Internal and External Focus of Attention During Novices’ Instructional Preparation on Subsequent Rehearsal Behaviors

“…Following different protocols for rehearsal preparation would logically yield concomitantly different results in both the evaluation of rehearsal leadership and in the analysis of discrete rehearsal behaviors. Still, the relationship between the perception of music teaching and the behavioral components of music instruction is not always clear (MacLeod & Nápoles, in press;Montemayor, 2014;Nápoles & MacLeod, 2013). Dichotomous comparisons of most preferred and least preferred teaching episodes have revealed empirical differences in the pace and/or content of student and teacher activity (Duke, Prickett, & Jellison, 1998;Yarbrough & Madsen, 1998).…”