Christopher Hahn, pursued his early training through the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Ontario and received the Associate Diploma in performance with first-class honors. Mr. Hahn has since furthered his study of performing and teaching in Canada, the United States and France. He has earned the Licentiate Diploma in performance from Trinity College of Music in London, England, and in 2000 he received the designation Fellow of Trinity College, the highest honor given by the College. In addition, he holds an Honors Bachelor of Music from Wilfrid Laurier University in performance and music education, and a Master of Music degree in performance from Michigan State University. Christopher has served as an adjudicator for MTNA, presented workshops at the OMTA state convention and at the Glenn Gould Professional School, and has been published in American Music Teacher. He has recently been invited to join the esteemed College of Examiners of the Royal Conservatory of Music. Mr. Hahn has taught for the Community Music School at Michigan State University, the Flint Institute of Music and at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. Currently, Mr. Hahn is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in performance and pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma where he serves as a graduate teaching assistant in applied and group piano. This past year he was appointed by the faculty as lecturer in undergraduate piano literature. He is also on the faculty at Oklahoma City University where he teaches group piano.
Christopher Hahn
School of Music
University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK 73019
405.325.2081
piano88@ou.edu
The question posed for the final afternoon of the conference involved the use of evaluation in pedagogy programs. One participant said, "the very challenging demands to work with different teachers and teaching types, and different student's personalities and learning styles, makes having a standard procedure of evaluation almost impossible." The process of testing and evaluating a student's learning and development as a teacher can be a delicate topic that often is based on subjective standards or opinions rather than objective facts. In the discussion groups, various ideas were shared about ways to make the task of evaluation clearer for the teacher and the student. Also addressed were ways to deal with internships and the observation of student teachers.
The discussion groups addressed many areas, but the comments primarily focused in two categories: providing suggestions and feedback for student-teachers; and providing grade evaluations of both pedagogy courses and student-teaching.
1) Suggestions and Feedback for Student-Teachers
Situations for Observation of Teaching
The following represents a compilation of responses from the participants at the conference regarding teaching opportunities that are in place at their institutions.
Internships are being incorporated into pedagogy programs through community music schools, preparatory programs, and independent studios. It was mentioned that in some cases the pedagogy students are responsible for finding a supervising teacher. For experience in teaching the applied lesson, other colleges utilize secondary piano students. These internships give a much-needed teaching opportunity for pedagogy students, and can be individualized in many instances to fit the student-teacher's needs. Most of the internships are included as a segment of pedagogy class. Susanna Garcia from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette suggested that internship opportunities could be made available in public school systems that are adopting group piano labs into their curriculum.
The primary difficulty with internships as indicated by most discussion groups is finding time to schedule lessons and to evaluate the student-teachers. Also troublesome is that some teachers do not like being observed while they teach which poses obvious impediments to a student-teacher who wants to learn by observation.
Teaching Assistantships are incorporated at many of the colleges represented at the conference. Regarding the evaluation of assistants, many schools indicated that they require new TA's to arrive one week early for a 4-day intensive training workshop. In regard to assigning final grades for group piano situations, most institutions adopt a policy where the final will be graded by a team consisting of a faculty member and the TA responsible for the class, and any discussion regarding the final grade occurs at this time. In a smaller group piano situation, some schools use a team-teaching approach: the faculty member demonstrates for 2 weeks, then helps the TA for 2 weeks, then functions as an observer thereafter, with the TA doing the bulk of the teaching.
Observation of Pedagogy Students by the Professor
For this process, the two options most commonly discussed were live observation and the use of videotaping.
Live observation by the professor could include the following:
It is helpful to set up a 15-minute meeting immediately after the student-teaching to discuss the lesson. Some suggested having the student keep a journal to be handed in periodically or to email the professor to give feedback. At some institutions, both the professors and graduate students evaluate the undergraduates.
At Ohio University, Gail Berenson said that students were assigned a student at the lower level, and every other week she observed the lesson. From the same discussion group, Meg Gray noted that she teaches a 45-minute demonstration class each week, then observes each pedagogy student teach one student from the class every week. She is able to compare the lessons in class because the students all teach the same lesson plan each week.
Videotaping was a popular choice for observation among the groups, and some professors are able to get load credit for the time required for watching the tapes, depending on the number of students enrolled. In larger group piano situations:
Before submitting the tape to the professor, it is important that the students observe and critique the tape themselves and write a review of their teaching. Martha Hilley emphasized this by saying "although I give my comment sheet at the end of the class, I tell the students not to read my comments until they have watched their videos and made their own assessments." In order for the student to benefit even more from videotaping, Hilley stated that "two video cameras are better than one - to tape not only the teacher, but the reactions from the students as well. The student-teacher needs to learn to read the body language of the class."
Another approach to reviewing video tapes as suggested by Tim Shook from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas is having the student-teacher critique the tape according to a personalized evaluation form which highlights the areas each student feels are important to cover in a lesson. At some institutions, internship students meet as a class and together they watch a tape each week and make comments in a friendly environment. The importance of peer review and evaluation should not be overlooked, but should not be implemented during the first semester, giving the students a chance to settle into their teaching style.
2) Grade Evaluations
Many participants agreed that there is great difficulty in assigning grades to a process that is inherently subjective. Each group indicated some level of dissatisfaction with assigning grades, and instead encourages and emphasizes discussion and feedback in the classroom.
The most common evaluation of pedagogy students as indicated in the discussion groups is based on class projects. In a performance situation such as group piano, more specific definitions are needed in grading, such as correct notes and rhythms equate to a "C" (meeting acceptable standards), whereas the inclusion of articulation and musical nuance is a "B" or an "A". In each case, the ideal situation would focus away from the grade and more toward the goals of the class from both the teacher and student point of view. However, it is essential to a student's progress that a grade be assessed and awarded, as this is the only measure of a student's grasp of the material covered, and it is the only method for a teacher to ensure the assigned work is being done.
Marcia Bosits and Linda Christensen led a detailed and thorough discussion within their group, and summarized the evaluation of pedagogy as having two distinct points of view. The student-teacher feels if he/she puts forth a full effort, then he/she deserves an "A". The supervisor, however, wants to honestly reflect each student-teacher's current teaching skill and to develop strategies for improvement. This discussion group indicated in clear terms what they felt to be the best kind of evaluation, which includes motivating student-teachers to want to develop specific aspects of their teaching, and involves the pedagogy student and the teacher in pinpointing the areas for improvement.
a) Grading Courses in Piano Pedagogy
Projects
Some voiced the opinion that it is difficult to make changes to the standard class projects that are assigned to pedagogy students, or to leave some out at the inclusion of others. Popular assignments included writing reviews of teaching literature and method books. For such projects, Lori Rhoden emphasized that the key element in reviewing method books is to develop the students' ability to recognize "what is being taught?"
An extensive and broad range of projects from one group consisted of the following ideas:
Testing in Pedagogy
In the area of pedagogy, the creative mind should be fostered more than the art of recollection. In light of this, it would seem as though traditional testing does not have a place in a pedagogy course. As one participant remarked, "the pedagogy instructor teaches principles, not facts for regurgitation".
Although the common feeling among the groups was that projects are more appropriate to effective learning, the overwhelming majority of participants said that tests are given at their institution as it reinforces learning. "Take home" exams administered for completion in the final weeks of class offer a chance for reflection on what the student has learned that semester, and how he or she can apply this to future teaching. A number of teachers at the conference give oral exams in place of a final to help develop the student's ability to think on their feet. It could also be applied in a situation where the teacher becomes the student for the exam, requiring the student to be resourceful and creative in thinking up a solution to the problems encountered in the "lesson-exam".
Some Ideas for Testing
Another group had some interesting ideas to share for assigning grades that would stress the importance of playing musically:
It was pointed out that grading other faculty member's student can be a tricky situation - if necessary, have those who are weak with advanced literature perform intermediate literature.
b) Grading of Teaching
In this aspect of evaluation, a variety of opinions circulated through the discussion groups. Bosits and Christensen, as representatives of the programs at Northwestern University and Wayne State University, clearly pointed out that "we recognize grade expectations are high, and we must explain our criteria in as much detail as possible."
With the necessity of assigning a grade for each student, it should be determined what is most important for each student's development. Should the focus be on the sequencing of the lesson, the organization of the lesson, or the overall content of the lesson? Perhaps a plan can be developed for him or her at the beginning of the semester. This will allow a clearer idea of what is expected of the student and how you will help them to achieve these goals. Ann Gipson says evaluating teaching improvement is difficult and suggests giving sequential steps to the student. This will provide a grade based on improvement within the standards and guidelines that you provide rather than subjective grading based on the student's relation to other more or less experienced individuals in the class. Most groups felt that an A- was "a good grade".
The teaching process is based on trial and error while engaged in the teaching situation, and how the student assimilates information and adjusts his or her approach. Because of this, it is important to note where a student comes from and where they end up after a given period of time - this is the only fair assessment of their learning. The teachers see discussion and feedback as the cornerstone to the learning of their students, and grading is seen as generally unimportant from the teacher's standpoint with the exception of providing motivation. In the end, however, the teacher has a responsibility to give the student-teacher an indication of where they are in their field in relation to their colleagues and as such the grading element is considered important by participants of the conference.
Criteria for Grading Students Teaching in Pedagogy Courses
The group led by Michael Benson and Lori Rhoden submitted the following as a possible grading checklist:
The use of a checklist is highly recommended for grading as it will clearly show what is positive about the teaching and the issues that need to be addressed, as well as provide the student with the important criteria that is being graded.
Some questions to ponder based on comments from other discussion groups:
All conference attendees agreed on the importance of documenting grades, keeping clear grade books, reasons for assigning a poor grade if necessary, and keeping grades on file for up to two years.
What the Pedagogy Students are Saying
At the conference, many of the participants were graduate students and/or student-teachers. The design of the small-sized group discussion provided an important interaction between the teachers and the students. Not only were the teachers able to hear the concerns of other students, but it allowed the students to have a voice in shaping their future education.
As it pertained to the grading and evaluation of their courses, one student felt that the lack of specific tests was frustrating, and would like more feedback. However, teachers in the group responded with frustration at having so much important information to cover in only two semesters. They feel there is no time for tests and that group projects, presentations and observations are more effective. Another student expressed disappointment that their graduate teaching assistantship experience consisted of no feedback due to the fact that she had only been observed once.
The students at various programs around the country gave a brief sketch of their current pedagogy class situation and how they are graded:
Summary
Most attendees could relate to the topic of grading in pedagogy classes and internships. In academia, grading is a necessity that is deemed important by students and administrators alike. Yet most professors and teachers, especially in a discipline as subjective as the arts, felt it represents an inappropriate measure of achievement. Professors and supervisors must be sensitive to all learning styles in the classroom and should grade students according to individual progress in their teaching. A more personalized approach can be helpful in planning what each semester's goals will be based on the experience of each student-teacher.
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