The use of music

Adele Atkinson

in curriculum evaluation

This article outlines the importance of curriculum evaluation and discusses some reasons for it. In particular, it is concerned with the role of reflection. The article further examines how music can be used as an aid to evaluate a course.

INTRODUCTION

Why evaluate a curriculum? One reason is to find out if it works (Gag+ 1967, cited in Stenhouse 1975).

Braskamp and Brandenburgh (1984) were referring to the evaluation of teacher

effectiveness when they said that, because students were primary receivers of the education process, they provided an important perspec- tive. The same might equally be said of their importance in evaluating the curriculum. Although in the author’s experience using students to evaluate curricula is not new, accord- ing to Jenkins (1986) what students learn and how they perceive the curriculum is often inade- quately considered by college staff, if at all. This may be because teachers often feel threatened by student evaluations and question their validity (Schwab & Karns 1986), because while students can give information on teaching methods, fairness and the teacher’s enthusiasm, they cannot be expected to comment on the teacher’s

Ad&la Atkinson BA RGN RNT Lecturer, Burns and Plastic Surgery Nursing, St. George’s and Roehampton College of Health Studies, Downshire House Site, Roehampton Lane, London SW15 4HR, UK (Reprint requests to AA) Manuscript accepted 13 November 1992

competence, the accuracy of the content or the depth and scope of the session (Bell et al 1984); or possibly because students’ evaluations may reflect their own learning difficulties rather than the style or expertise of the teacher (Moore 1989; Palchik et al 1988).

It makes sense if both students (the recipients) and teachers (the people who develop and teach the curriculum) are involved in its evaluation. Only then can it be seen whether the curriculum works.

This article presents a way of evaluating a course through music using both students and the teacher together in a non-threatening way. It first discusses curriculum evaluation, examining what it is and why it is necessary, it touches on reflection in terms of evaluation and then looks at evaluation using music.

EVALUATION

Evaluation is a continuing process concerned with making judgements (Cohen & Manion 1983). It should be planned, systematic and focus on specific areas of concern to ensure that difficult areas are addressed (Moore 1989). Har- len (1980) states that evaluation should look at areas that have been of value to the student/ teacher. If both areas are addressed then an overall view of the curriculum can be seen, encompassing both the positive and negative

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points to make sure that the best learning experiences are and will be available. Evaluation involves both formal and informal strategies, can be formative or summative (Popham 1975), can be seen as being both qualitative and quantitative (Quinn, 1988) and can evaluate either process or product (Wells 1987), or both (Stenhouse 1975).

A good definition was put forward by Mac- Donald (‘1975, cited by Harlen 1980, ~60):

Evaluation is the process of conceiving, obtain- ing and communicating information for the guidance of education decision-making with regard to a specified programme.

This encompasses both qualitative and quantita- tive, formative and summative evaluation and leaves the making of judgements based on the evaluative material to educational managers or curriculum management teams.

Adelman and Adler (1982) believe that judge- ments of the worthiness and effectiveness of the ‘educational intentions’ should also be exam- ined. Whatever definition is used, this and the subsequent evaluation strategies should reflect both the college’s philosophy and standards (Van Ort et al 1986). With the introduction of the National Health Service (NHS) reforms (HMSO 1989), there will be more competition between colleges to attract students to courses: providers (colleges) will be more accountable for their courses and evaluation strategies will become more important.

THE PURPOSE OF EVALUATION

The overall reason for evaluating the curricu- lum in nursing education is to improve student learning and hence patient/client care (ENB 1987). Specific reasons may include:

1. Quality: As consumers, students ask for the best from nurse teachers (Wood & Matthewman 1988) and hence from courses. This is especially true in today’s climate of NHS reforms which concentrate on quality and cost effectiveness (HMSO 1989)‘

Accountability: According to the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing and Midwifery (UKCC) every nurse is account- able for his practice and must ensure high standards are maintained (UKCC 1989). Nurse teachers and educational managers are no exception. They are accountable not only as professionals to the UKCC, but also as teachers and managers to their students and as employees to the organisation they work for (Cohen & Manion 1983). It is important to ensure that high standards of courses are maintained. Development: It is possible to construct and interpret a view of what actually hap- pens in a learning programme and compare this with the curriculum intentions (Wells 1987). This comparison will prevent stagnation and allow the curri- culum to develop.

EVALUATION AS REFLECTION

Reflection is the response by the student to an experience (Boud et al 1985). It consists of active, careful, ongoing inspection of ideas, beliefs or knowledge gained from that experi- ence (Dewey, 1933, cited in Stenhouse 1975). The experience could be a course or part of a course.

Reflection is also an integral part of adult learning, and this ability to reflect is one factor that differentiates adult learning from pedagogy (Mezirow 1981). Since nurses are adults it is appropriate to use methods that highlight this fact. Mezirow (1981) identifies two main levels of reflectivity. He terms the first one consciousness: the ability to become aware how we feel about an incident (affective reflectivity); assessing the effectiveness of thoughts and actions (discrimi- nant reflectivity) and becoming aware of value judgement (judgmental reflectivity). The second Mezirow calls critical consciousness and describes this as a critiquing of the aware con- sciousness - critical reflection.

Nursing education assumes that students will learn from their experiences in both the clinical areas and the classroom (Saylor 1990). But how

NUKSE EDUCATION TODAY 135

do we know? In the last few years nurse teachers have encouraged nurses to become reflective practitioners by developing in students the art of critical reflection (Glen 1991). If reflection means looking back over experiences and critically analysing them, then nurse teachers must encourage this process to help nurses reflect over their practices.

Evaluation and reflection have much in common, but while evaluation is a process carried out in relation to factors outside the students’ control (teaching methods, course cur- riculum requirements etc.), reflection is internal and personal and can only be carried out by the individual themselves and focuses on specific events critical to the individual.

Because reflection deals with incidents that are meaningful to the students and focuses on what they have learned from that incident, it could be used for formative evaluation concentrating on what students have or have not learned and strategies the teacher could employ to facilitate further learning.

Mezirow (1981) suggests that the educator should help the adult student to develop the art of reflection. One way of helping this process is to help students reflect through evaluation (Lat- timer 1991, Skilbeck 1984). This could be done through the use of music.

EVALUATION USING MUSIC

Music prompts the memory, and captures know- ledge about thoughts, feelings and intuition (Williams 1989). It can evoke powerful emotions and create atmosphere (O’Loughlin 1986).

The author used this method to facilitate the evaluation of an end-of-term module at a college where she was studying for a nursing education degree. The module was of three terms, and this evaluation was made at the end of the second term. The author was experimenting with music as a medium for evaluation and so there was no prior knowledge of whether or not this would be useful. It was felt that because reflection involves examining feelings (Boud et al 1985; Mezirow 198 1) music might make expression easier.

It was used as formative evaluation to give

What aspects of the module/term do I feel need to be developed

What feelings the module evoke? * Why?

What do I remember most about the module/term? * What have I valued/not valued?

Fig 1 Reflections/questions prior to choosing a piece of music

feedback to the module facilitator about how-the module was progressing and about further learning needs (Jenkins 1986): was the module meeting students’ needs, expectations and the overall module objectives? All students and the module facilitator were asked to reflect on the term (Kogers (1983) states that the facilitator is part of the group and is also a learner) and to choose a piece of music that best described their feelings and thoughts about the term (Fig. 1).

The group (students and module facilitator) agreed the following ground rules: to focus on what has been of value, describe the general impact of the module to date and both its strengths and those limitations that could be changed; and to reflect over the following questions:

l What have I valued? l What have I found of least value? l What do I remember most about the

module?

did

N.E.T D

136 NURSE EDUCATlON TODAY

/

1. Experiencing

5. Applying (planning for the future)

\ 2. Publishing (sharing reflections)

4. Generaiising I (extracting prirkiples I - facilitator remains 3. Processing non~~luati~e) (dis~ssion of

Fig 2 Experiential learning cycle Adapted from Pfeiffer and Goodstein (1982) (cited in Burnard 1989. p8)

The experiential learning cycle described by Pfeiffer and Goodstein (1982, cited in Burnard 1989) was used as a means to facilitate the session (Fig. 2).

EXPERIENCING

In evaluating the session the group repeatedly said that reflecting on the term was fairly straightforward for all concerned; but that choosing a piece of music that described the thoughts and feelings was not. This was found to be the case in the whole group. The author spent hours looking at titles in her record collection and eventually concentrated on the words and music instead of titles. Many other students reported a similar experience.

PUBLISHING

Each student took turns to explain the thoughts and feehngs behind the music they had chosen and to play an extract from it. The author chose Graffiti Writer by Politburo. The first verse says:

You roam the streets with just one aim To paint upon a naked wall your name From every bus and every train 1 see the signs of your claim to fame - Graffiti Writer

To the author the song is all about self expres- sion and attitudes towards graffiti. The reason for the choice was that the timetable had been a blank wall and the whole group created what they wanted on it - each session being a form of graffiti. The sessions were used to express and give something of ourselves to the course. The author also found the group to be a very supportive atmosphere in which to do this.

Other examples of music included:

Hard Day’s Night by the Beatles - This represented all the hard work that went into the module with assignments and the student seminars. Things We Said Today by the Beatles - This student enjoyed the communication aspect of the module the most and learned about how to communicate more effectively using verbal and non-verbal communication skills. ~u~~~ - The music in this captured the mood of the module, the student had seen this opera and had felt a part of it just as she had in this module. A Ship Called Dignity by Deacon Blue - For this student the words of this song rep- resented going from the ordinary to free- dom. This was the educational experience the student had in this module. The free- dom was given to the student from the learning and knowledge gained from the rest of the group. Africa by Paul Simon - This music reminded the student of a holiday that she felt was more than a holiday, it was a period of self-learning. This very closely mirrored the effects that the module had for her. NessoLn L)orma sung by Pavarotti - The title means none shali sieep. This represented the hard work of the assignments and a period of happiness as they were finished and passed (this was playing aIL the time

NURSE EDUCATION TODAY 137

over the World Cup period) for this student. We are the Champions by Queen - This student felt these lyrics were very pertinent to the module. They talk about struggling and eventually achieving. This not only signified the work in the module, but that as a group the students were together for the first time and relationships were forming and people were getting to know each other. This accumulated in the group working extremely well together.

In summary the choice of music showed an appreciation of the facilitator allowing the students to choose the order of the content and who was to facilitate what session. Much had been learned from the module so far although it had appeared daunting at first. The assignments and the module had been hard work but all students felt it to be worthwhile and there had been an overall achievement for the students in terms of passing assignments and learning from the module.

PROCESSING

Course members discussed the key issues arising from the songs, using the ground rules and focusing questions as criteria for analysis. The wide-ranging choice of music reflected the indi- viduality and experiences that the group members had offered and experienced through- out the term. The value placed on the experi- ences adults bring to a group is central to adult education (Knowles 1978).

Several issues emerged. Teaching methods used on the courses were evaluated positively, although at the beginning of the module the group were unsure about teaching most of the module. Many of group members also said that watching others teach the sessions gave them new ideas to use. Much of the music centred around the work involved in one of the assess- ments (a workbook which focused on analysing the students’ communication skills). There was hard but enjoyable work involved throughout and group support came up as an issue in all the

music. Some participants found that the music and comment produced strong emotions in them - and some said they felt tearful, this may have been due to the emotion that music brings to people.

GENERALISING AND APPLYING

There was a great deal of trust within the group, which ensured a good environment for experi- mentation. This was important as the module that was evaluated was a teaching module where experimentation with different methods of teaching was important. The trust that was built up will also be helpful in that the group will be together again next year, at least for the teaching module. Being able to experiment in such a positive environment also means that group members will use those new teaching methods.

The group’s experiences agreed with the theo- ries of adult learning, for example that experien- tial methods are one of the most appropriate learning methods, that an emphasis on practical application encourages learning and that the use of reflection facilitates independence and creati- vity (Moore 1989).

EVALUATION OF THE METHOD

Limitations

Members of the group found it difficult to choose one piece of music that summed up more than one small aspect of their feelings about the term, and it may be that they should have been able to select more than one piece to give a more rounded view. This of course would have taken far more time. The difficulty may also have been that group members were unused to reflecting critically.

The method also relied on students remem- bering to bring music in, which does not always happen - in the case presented three members of the group forgot. Choosing a piece of music was found to be difficult, and, on reflection, more detailed guidelines should have been given. The group initially all looked at titles and,

138 NURSEEDU(:ATION~I‘ODAY

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Strengths

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