Understanding the transition from school to university in

music technology

Rationale

• The quality of the first year undergraduate experience is partly dependent on how comfortable students feel with the interface between school and university.

• This research will provide a resource that will improve student experience and the university curricula through identification of the particular learning needs of first year students.

Project Strategy

• literature review

• interviews with education bodies, teachers and lecturers

• observation of practice in schools and colleges

• analysis of current specifications and modules• student questionnaires showing correlation between pre-

university courses and undergraduate experience

• extension of research to other arts subjects• suggesting changes to university curricula and teaching

methods

Generic overview of transition

Most literature deals with general issues - not discipline-specific.

First-year experience is important for student retention.

Problems for students• study skills• time management• independent learning rather than teacher-led learning • large lectures off-putting• new learning styles• course choice

Generic recommendations

• better liaison between schools and universities

• study skills should be taught by both subject teachers and specialists

• front loading of resources for first years to enable smaller groups

Interviews with lecturers

Areas of concern• poor skills in harmony and counterpoint• poorly developed skills of music analysis • insufficient knowledge of the canon of Western classical

music

• poor concert attendance• poor sight reading ability• difficulties with notation• desire simply to play musical instruments• resistance to composing in more challenging styles

Interviews with teachers

• league tables mean focus on getting through syllabus content so that students can pass exams

• two sets of exams - AS and A2 – cuts down teaching time

• massive leap from GCSE to GCE

• no time to introduce the kinds of pedagogy that students will encounter at university

Observation of practice in schools and colleges

• students well-prepared for their A Level exams - spoon fed?

• friendly, informal groups

• teacher dependent and teacher led

no preparation for independent thinking

Curriculum 2000

A Level specifications were rewritten for Curriculum 2000.

Exam boards had to adhere to the QCA Subject Criteria.

The aims were that GCE should

• build on the requirements of the National Curriculum• encourage life-long learning• help HE institutions and employers know what has been

studied and assessed

Progression to Higher Education is not mentioned

Music outside school

93% of MT students had been involved in extra-mural activity

72% found that it had helped them with their university course

Some students blunt about shortcomings of A Level – e.g. ‘Most of the preparation I had was from my own learning because I was interested in music technology.’

University module Extra-mural activity

81% Recording

61% Audio Technology

31% Computer Composition and Sound Design

Multimedia and the Internet

Music theory

Performing, sound engineering and/or live sound, home studios

Professional work, sound engineering and/or live sound, home studios

Home studio or performing in bands

Web design

Instrumental lessons

Career aspirations of Music and MT students

BMus• narrow range of careers -

(65%) - teach or perform, (15%) ‘Don’t know’ (26%) supplied alternatives

• general air of indecision and lack of confidence

• uncertainty often linked to idea that teaching second-best to performing

Music Technology

• wide range of careers

• more positive and enthusiastic

• clearer and more ambitious ideas

Student questionnaires

For each module, the survey asked students

• which aspects were new

• which they felt most comfortable with

• which aspects they found most difficult

A comparison was made between

• A Level Music Technology and BTEC National

Diploma in Music Technology (MT)

BTEC NDs v A Level MTBTEC students are better prepared for MT degrees

BTEC students • have more guided learning hours • a wide choice of options• spend much more time in the recording studio• are taught by people from the music industry

Upsurge of popularity in MT has meant that • schools often unprepared in terms of staff and equipment• students often left to work on their own and teach themselves

A Level MT - over emphasis on sequencing at the expense of sampling and synthesis

Are there any aspects of the BMus course that

you have found difficult?

• Counterpoint, Harmony and Aural (30%)

• Analysis (22%)

• Musicology (20%)

• Composition (13%)

• Technology for music (11%).

Are there any aspects of the BMus course that

you feel particularly well-prepared for? • Performance (35%)• Counterpoint, Harmony and Aural (33%)• Analysis (24%)• Composition (18%)• Musicology (11%)

Not surprising - performance mentioned most given extra-mural activities.

More surprising 33% mentioned CHA. Mostly Edexcel

Essay writing

• Essay writing at school had not prepared students for essay writing at university

• Specific mention made of research and bibliography.

Previous research• school essays focus on comments rather than analysis,

facts rather than interpretation• advisable for students to learn study skills both from

specialists and during subject lectures

Survey showed that students were appreciative of the help that they had received with study skills

Positive aspects of the survey

Students

• enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and the enthusiasm of the staff

• were appreciative of the study skills and foundation studies introduced in the first year

• benefited from the music technology facilities.

A new type of student?

Mark Bowden - The Sixth Form College Farnborough:

Perhaps the most interesting students were those who considered music their main subject but who had never engaged with classical music - these students (by far the majority now) typically played guitar, bass or drums and ran their own bands. They often did more performing than the classical students and were far more interested in current musical issues and contemporary art music.

Joss Sanders - Hills Rd Sixth Form College, Cambridge:

The Music Technology students tend to be more creative than the classically trained music students