For my forms of assessment I will use a classroom orchestra setting.
Informal Assessment- Noticing that a student is lost in the music when I have started conducting, and adjusting my strategy for making a clearer start. Another would be if a student is not using the right bowing with the rest of the ensemble to address the problem.
Formal Assessment - Having a playing exams are an important tool that I can use to to assess if a student has practiced their music. Effort and improvement are more important than pure talent. For each and every student so that they can observe their own progress.
Paper-Pencil Assessment - This is a very important tool in the music world. Written papers or essays can help students better understand a concept. Knowing about a style period will effect how a student will perform. Also sparking creativity in students to try and compose music, or even to test their knowledge through music theory worksheets.
Performance Assessment - (see formal assessment) Playing exams or ensembles performing are a crucial part in music education. Also recording the ensemble is a great way for students to hear what they are playing wrong. An example in the real world would be what you hear when you speak and what you actually sound like on a recording device are very different. Listening from the outside in will help to open up students ears, to listen to the ensemble and not just themselves.
Traditional Assessment - Tests about key signatures, clefs, theory, and parts of the instrument.
Authentic Assessment - Music is a great opportunity for students to understand life skills. For example being on time to class is important because in the music world if you are on time you are fired, being early is being successful. Critical thinking and working with others can be put to real life experiences.
Standardized Tests - I think this is the most worthless, time- consuming instrument.
Teacher developed assessment instruments- As stated previously I will base grades on their practice chart, and playing exams.
Criterion-referenced assessment - A theory test, if students don't understand a concept clearly then it will reflect in their grade.
Norm-referenced assessments - I will put a chart with each child's name on it and every time that they pass a playing assessment, I will then let that child put a star on the chart. If every assessment is completed then the student may participate in the end of year party. This will challenge each student to push one another to do better.
I agree. It would be very hard to use a standardized test in the music classroom, especially when teaching band or orchestra.
ReplyDeleteI like your point about knowing about a time period can influence performance. And it shows students that you value the potential of that influence when you assess them on it.
ReplyDeleteYour examples on authentic assessment and criterion and norm referenced assessment don't show that you get the main idea of them: authentic assessment in music might be a public concert. Look at Gretchen's blog to see what criterion and norm-referenced assessments might be in music.
Are there no standardized tests in music? Like in a music theory class, for example? As a teacher, using standardized tests saves you time because they are practical (but I agree with your sentiment--they don't really save you time if the whole thing is not worth doing!)
Don't forget to include other scholarly sources in your posts. Is there a specific music pedagogy class you take or have taken? What would a textbook from that class have to say about assessment?
I like your idea to record an ensemble for a performance assessment. When you are a musician, you really do find that when you listen to yourself play you can pick out parts where you made mistakes or did not sound as well as you could have, and by listening to these mistakes you are better able to figure out how you can improve. I'm a musician as well, and I often found that when I listened to recordings of myself, the music and my singing did not sound as well as I had initially thought they had. However, the next time I would perform I would be conscience of parts where I needed to really focus on hitting a note, for example, and I think it improved my musicianship. So, I think asking students to perform and then listen to a recording of the performance could be very beneficial to helping them improve and grow as musicians.
ReplyDeleteYour comment about the importance of paper-pencil was very intriguing. I have never thought that paper-pencil assessment could display a student's knowledge about a piece. The historical aspect and purpose/reason a song was composed/written can be crucial in the practice and performance of a piece, which makes it that much more important that the student have that knowledge. Even in m personal history, I have never had to do any form of writing for a band class. I might use this idea in the future for my band kids.
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading your post about assessments from the point of view of a music teacher. Common assessments in music may not always involve the actual playing of instruments but rather pen and paper tests about the history of music or facts about music. I like that you would assess your students on their ability to play.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to see assessments from an academic area that I have not had any experiences with. I think that it is great that all forms of assessment can be modified to fit basically any lessons. I also did not realize that music instruction would consist of more than performance assessment so I enjoyed learning that from your blog.
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