Abstract

This study examined how the creation and use of a prototype computer based interactive multimedia music listening environment worked in three middle school classrooms of inner – city adolescents. Central to the study was the notion that music and media are ingrained components of youth culture, yet they are often overlooked as a means of engaging this population in a school setting. This report’s focus is on the use of technology to support the development of analytical listening skills, problem – solving and cooperative learning strategies. This multimedia approach proved to be a valuable tool for engaging the students in listening to music that is new to them.

Introduction

In considering the needs and interests of urban adolescents, it became evident that in our MTV influenced society, this is not an easy population to engage within a school setting. While there are many facets that comprise that I will refer to as “youth culture,” at the root of this study is the belief that music, despite the variety of genre preferences, plays a central role in the world of an adolescent. In addition, visual stimuli play an important role, as Dimitriadis (2001) points out in his research, noting the commonality among our youth culture of linking the aural to the visual, thus validating Grossberg’s (1994) assertion that for our youth, music and media are intertwined.

If we as educators accept the premise that music is essentially an ingrained component of youth culture, how might educators take advantage of this to create richer educational experiences for the adolescent population? One possible solution might be for educators to create school music experiences that are relevant and meaningful not only to the educational experience, but to the adolescent as well. Papert (1993), in his book on technology and school reform encourages teachers to “look to the general culture as a source of ideas (p. 132)”. The basic premise underlying this research is that the general music classroom can be utilized to create a context for learning that connects to the core curriculum and address issues reflective of contemporary adolescent life. While there are many paths a music educator can take to accomplish this, one environment that might captivate them would be one that is multimedia base, allowing students to explore the world of music through contemporary media.

The purpose of this study was to design and develop in prototype form a computer based, multimedia, interactive, music listening environment for Middle School general music students, specifically grades 6 & 7. This hypermedia program was designed to increase student interest in actively listening to a variety of musical styles, while aiding in the development of their analytical listening skills. The ultimate goal is to engage and encourage this seemingly aloof and impressionably hard to motivate group of students, to explore, investigate and analyze a wide variety of music by placing them in a context that replicates real life, problem – solving musical activities.

Method

I place myself in each classroom as a participant observer in much the same capacity as I do with my Teaching Artist position for the Creative Arts Laboratory (CAL) at Teachers College, Columbia University. My role as a CAL teaching artist serves a dual purpose, I model interdisciplinary arts strategies for the classroom teacher, but I am also working with the students. As a Teaching Artist for Cal, I work with classroom teachers to integrate the arts into their core curriculum in order to, as Pogonowske (1998) proposes, help students make connections across subject areas and enhance their critical thinking skills and problem – solving abilities. A key aspect of a CAL classroom is the emphasis on peer collaboration. Students get to build on their knowledge by helping their peers. They get to take leadership roles at various times in the process, improving their self – esteem. They become eager to demonstrate what they know and oftentimes help their classmates. In transferring the CA: philosophy to the computer screen, it seemed to be beneficial to design this program in such a way that not only supports an interdisciplinary approach to the curriculum, but one that also supports cooperative learning.

The program Picture This! © 1997 was created using a hypermedia – authoring program by Oracle. It is based on the same premise as HyperCard, using stacks and cards. This program was chosen for its interactivity, multimedia and database capabilities. If I were programming this now there are probably more efficient authoring platforms available, with less of a learning curve than I had at the time, however, the focus of this research was more about testing out a concept than a specific type of software’s approach. The student’s answers are programmed onto a data card for later retrieval. I also created a pop – up notepad where the groups could keep a running dialog of their thoughts and ideas. Instead of asking the students to maintain a journal, there was a Web – based response system. This was maintained in a section of the CAL Web – site where the students could log in and answer the questions and surveys, though certain filters put in place by the NYC Board of Ed. resulted in not all of the responses getting to me.

Since this program is designed to allow for user experimentation, there aren’t necessarily right or wrong answers. The student’s responses therefore are quite subjective and not easily quantifiable. This study’s aim was to discover what happens when this software program is used in a classroom environment. What are the classroom dynamics, will the students find this approach interesting and informative, will the teachers find this approach beneficial to their class, what happens when the groups finish at different times, will the program even work? I was not only interested in seeing how they responded to the questions and problems posed within the program, but I was also interested in gaining their feedback regarding that features they might have included if they were the designers of this program.

The research participants consisted of mostly minority students from two, inner city New York City Public Middle schools. There were a total of three classes; two were ESL classes from one school with one class having many students with know behavioral problems, and the second class consisting of many students who have been in this country for less than one year. I worked with both of these classes once a week for 12 weeks. None of these student participated in any of their school’s music programs. The third class that participated in the study was a group of highly motivated students from a magnet school in technology where no formal music program existed. Due to the nature of their enrichment program cycles, I worked with this class twice a week for 12 weeks.

Before implementing the software program, there were several guided listening exercises to help the students develop the language for describing that they hear. I administered an on – line Interests questionnaire to find out what kinds of music, and video games they liked, as well as the types of performances they attended and their favorite Web – sites. The classes that met once a week participated in two units of study, while the group that met twice a week participated in three units of study with the software program. In addition to the data from the software, the students were required to answer approximately five questions for each unit. The questions might ask about a specific topic covered in the unit of it might ask about a specific software feature. At the end there was an attitude survey to gage their reaction to learning in this manner as well as some of the features incorporated in this program.

Implementation and Results

In order to capitalize on the inherently social nature of this age group, as well as the benefits of cooperative learning, the students were arranged into groups of 4 to 6 students per laptop. Where language was an issue, the classroom teacher arranged the groups so that each group would have on strong reader. Every group chose a screen name to log into the program. In each unit they were given several short, silent QuickTime movie clips to watch. They were asked to think about what might be taking place in each scene, in terms of mood, actions, and characters, as well as think about what type of music might best work with the film. They were then taken through a guided listening of four possible music choices, which led to their having to choose the piece of music they felt worked best, along with their reasons for making this choice.

After every unit there were follow up class discussions and music making activities where each group would create a score to accompany one of the films viewed in the program. Their scores were then transferred to the computer and place back into the program for them to analyze. They were also asked to describe what they were trying to achieve musically and whether or not they thought they were successful. Within the context of the program it was never indicated as to which group wrote which piece of music. Part of the listening activity became an exercise in trying to remember who played what instrument.

In all three classes the students were actively engaged. There was a minimal amount of instruction given at the start of the program since the interface was designed to be user – friendly enough to allow the students with less technological experience to figure out the program with very little difficulty. Only a handful of students, who had not had much experience with computers, needed some guidance in how to navigate through the program. These were also the students where the English Language posed the most challenge. In the one class consisting mostly of students with behavioral problems, the teachers and I observed a tremendous change in the level of engagement, once the software program was implemented. The students were discussing their choices within their groups, and several students with more advanced language skills were helping out members of other groups, in terms of translations. Through their responses within the software program, I was able to gain insight into the thinking of some of the less vocal female students in the class. It was an opportunity to share their ideas in a manner that was less threatening than a test or a paper. The teachers felt this method helped the students develop a sense of positive self – esteem.

In the class where most of the students had little experience with the English language, many of the students need translation help from the classroom teacher and teacher’s aid. While the language presented a challenge to these students, it did not frustrate them to the point of wanting to shut down the program. Quite the opposite happened in that in order for them to get through the program, they were motivated to learn the meaning of certain words and phrases. These students would call the teacher over to describe the music they had just listened to. The teacher of this class found the exploration of moods, music, action and characters to be a useful exercise for helping to develop their writing projects. After several weeks of this, when I had class discussions, instead of the teacher translating for the students, a student from each group did the translation for his/her group.

In the class where we met twice a week, the students also created stories based on the film clips they watched, which were then incorporated into their film scores. They were correctly using musical terminology to discuss their pieces and engaging in a great deal of reflection on their work. Since this group had a great deal of exposure to technology, due to the nature of their schools curriculum, they were trying to figure out ways of getting to hear their own musical choices against the films in the program. They were also the most vocal in expressing what they would add to the program.

Summary

Using this multimedia approach proved to be a valuable tool for engaging the students in listening to music that is new to them. Most of the students enjoyed listening to music this way and expressed an interest in listening to music they had never heard before. Many of the students were no longer discussing music only in terms of the beat. They were discussing moods, colors, rhythm, dynamics, and thinking about music in different ways than they had done previously. All of the classes were starting to use musical terminology in their explanations. Though this was not the main objective of this study, the Web participation aspect required a great deal of mediation on my part. There were also many unanticipated obstacles in terms of technology and lack of training for the classroom teachers.

This study affirmed for me the importance of accommodating the social dimension in classroom setting with regard to this population as a means of encouraging active learning. They learned to work together, problem solve together, think together, and listen to each other. The teachers perceived the links to their curriculum and the ways in which the use of this software can aid in the development of literacy skills. Most of all they appreciated the way in which their students were engaged in their learning.

Having the students experiment with putting music and sound effect against film to see how different moods, rhythms, and melodies affect the pacing and feel of a film, put them at the center of their learning. The students engaged in processes of critical thinking and problem solving both within the software program as well as in their own music making activities.