What I Learned - Week 7

I really enjoyed reading my classmates’ reflections on how they decided to become music educators.   It’s amazing how so many people can come from such diverse backgrounds can end up all teaching music to young people.  

I found the Research Etude to be a frustrating assignment.  I was unable to have students take the survey so I was forced to ask friends of mine on Facebook to fill out my survey.  It was great of them to take the time to fill out the questionnaire, but none of the data with which I was presented was unusable.  It was fictional data, and I struggled to make sense of it.  I am also unsure that my survey was an effective way to collect the data I was looking for.  It really wasn’t until I was coding my data that I thought of a better way to ask a couple of the questions.  Unfortunately, my classmates had not caught it and I feel as though it hindered my ability to effectively analyze my data.  Additionally, I am not confident in my ability to code and analyze qualitative data.  This is one major reason that I chose a quantitative study.

For my research proposal, I went away from my topic of online music education and discussed music performance anxiety.  While reading the literature, the most obvious conclusion I made was that music performance anxiety exists at all stages of life.  I am very interested in whether or not management techniques can work at any age level.  I found the fact that in the Ryan & Andrews study, they found that the conductor had a significant impact on the anxiety level of the performers.  I think that, as music teachers, this is something we need to be aware of.  

The process of recording my video was less painful than what some of my fellow classmates went through.   I was able to get through a few of the articles for my literature review, and I felt as though I efficiently explained the reasoning and process of the study.  I am looking forward to viewing my classmates’ videos in the coming days.

I have been worried about the scope of the research proposal.  However, now that the research presentation is complete, I feel better about my chances of completing the research proposal on time and in a manner that is acceptable and appropriate.  I think the topic that I have chosen is very relevant and I am considering conducting an actual study of this manner at some point in the future.