ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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- All Subjects: Music
Description
Jazz continues, into its second century, as one of the most important musics taught in public middle and high schools. Even so, research related to how students learn, especially in their earliest interactions with jazz culture, is limited. Weaving together interviews and observations of junior and senior high school jazz players and teachers, private studio instructors, current university students majoring in jazz, and university and college jazz faculty, I developed a composite sketch of a secondary school student learning to play jazz. Using arts-based educational research methods, including the use of narrative inquiry and literary non-fiction, the status of current jazz education and the experiences by novice jazz learners is explored. What emerges is a complex story of students and teachers negotiating the landscape of jazz in and out of early twenty-first century public schools. Suggestions for enhancing jazz experiences for all stakeholders follow, focusing on access and the preparation of future jazz teachers.
ContributorsKelly, Keith B (Author) / Stauffer, Sandra (Thesis advisor) / Tobias, Evan (Committee member) / Kocour, Michael (Committee member) / Sullivan, Jill (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This study investigates ways in which music teachers make personal sense of their professional selves and their perceptions of their places within the broader landscape of music education relative to other types of music teachers in school and community settings. A social phenomenological framework based on the writing of Alfred Schutz was used to examine how participants constructed a sense of self in their social worlds and how they both shaped and were shaped by their social worlds. Eight music teachers participated in this study and represented differing types of music teaching careers, including: public school general music teaching and ensemble directing; independent studio teaching and teaching artistry; studio lessons, classes, and ensembles at community music centers; church ensemble directing; and other combinations of music teaching jobs throughout school and community settings. Data were collected from in-depth interviews, observations of the music teachers in their various teaching roles, and artifacts related to their music teaching positions. Research questions included: Who do the participants conceive of themselves to be as music professionals and music teachers; How do they construct and enact their professional selves, including their teaching selves; How is their construction of professional self, including teaching self, supported and sustained by interactions in their social worlds; and, What implications does this have for the music profession as a whole? After developing a professional portrait of each participant, analysis revealed an overall sense of professional self and various degrees of three role-taking selves: performing, teaching, and musical. Analysis also considered sense of self in relation to social worlds, including consociates, contemporaries, predecessors, and successors, and the extent to which performing, teaching, and musical selves were balanced, harmonized, or reconciled for each participant. Social worlds proved influential in terms of participants' support for sense of self. Participants who enacted the most harmonized, reconciled senses of self appeared to have a professional self that was grounded in a strong sense of musical self, enabling them to think and act flexibly. Participants whose professional selves were dominated by a strong sense of teaching or performing self seemed confined by the structures of their social world particular to teaching or performing, lacked a sense of musical self, and were less able to think and act flexibly. Findings suggest that active construction of consociate relationships throughout varied social worlds can support a balanced, reconciled conception of self, which informs teaching practice and furthers the ability to act in entrepreneurial ways.
ContributorsBucura, Elizabeth (Author) / Stauffer, Sandra (Thesis advisor) / Landes, Heather (Committee member) / Tobias, Evan (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Sullivan, Jill (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This multiple-case study addresses the nature of the out-of-school musical engagements of four undergraduate students who were enrolled as jazz studies majors in a large school of music in the U.S. southwest. It concerns what they did musically when they were outside of school, why they did what they did, what experiences they said they learned from, and how their out-of-school engagements related to their in-school curriculum. Research on jazz education, informal learning practices in music, and the in-school and out-of-school experiences of students informed this study. Data were generated through observation, interviews, video blogs (vlogs), and SMS text messages.
Analysis of data revealed that participants engaged with music when outside of school by practicing, teaching, gigging, recording, playing music with others, attending live musical performances, socializing with other musicians, listening, and engaging with non-jazz musical styles (aside from listening). They engaged with music because of: 1) the love of music, 2) the desire for musical excellence, 3) financial considerations, 4) the aspiration to affect others positively with music, and 5) the connection with other musicians. Participants indicated that they learned by practicing, listening to recordings, attending live performances, playing paid engagements, socializing, teaching, and reading. In-school and out-of-school experience and learning had substantial but not complete overlap.
The study implies that a balance between in-school and out-of-school musical experience may help undergraduate jazz studies students to maximize their overall musical learning. It also suggests that at least some jazz studies majors are fluent in a wide variety of music learning practices that make them versatile, flexible, and employable musicians. Further implications are provided for undergraduate jazz students as well as collegiate jazz educators, the music education profession, and schools of music. Additional implications concern future research and the characterization of jazz study in academia.
Analysis of data revealed that participants engaged with music when outside of school by practicing, teaching, gigging, recording, playing music with others, attending live musical performances, socializing with other musicians, listening, and engaging with non-jazz musical styles (aside from listening). They engaged with music because of: 1) the love of music, 2) the desire for musical excellence, 3) financial considerations, 4) the aspiration to affect others positively with music, and 5) the connection with other musicians. Participants indicated that they learned by practicing, listening to recordings, attending live performances, playing paid engagements, socializing, teaching, and reading. In-school and out-of-school experience and learning had substantial but not complete overlap.
The study implies that a balance between in-school and out-of-school musical experience may help undergraduate jazz studies students to maximize their overall musical learning. It also suggests that at least some jazz studies majors are fluent in a wide variety of music learning practices that make them versatile, flexible, and employable musicians. Further implications are provided for undergraduate jazz students as well as collegiate jazz educators, the music education profession, and schools of music. Additional implications concern future research and the characterization of jazz study in academia.
ContributorsLibman, Jeffrey B (Author) / Tobias, Evan (Thesis advisor) / Kocour, Michael (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Solis, Theodore (Committee member) / Stauffer, Sandra (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Emotional competence is the capacity to handle emotional situations effectively. A teacher's emotional competence influences the choices they make both pedagogically and during student interaction. This qualitative multiple case study examines the lived experiences of four elementary general music teachers for the purposes of exploring emotional competence as related to perceptions and practices in the classroom. Research questions included: Is it possible to observe a music teacher's emotional competence in action? If it can be observed, what is the relationship between emotional competence and teaching practices, including a teacher's decisions about music, interactions with children, and his or her own emotional self-management? What is the relationship between a music teacher's self-perceived emotional competence and observed emotional competence in teaching practices? Four elementary general music teachers were observed four times within typical music teaching situations at their respective schools, and three interviews were conducted with each teacher. Teachers completed three self-report inventories drawn from the literature and revised by the researcher. An administrator and three students for each teacher were interviewed as secondary participants. Data were coded for emotional intelligence branches as outlined by Perry (2004), emotional competence skills as outlined by Saarni (1999), and "adaptive coping styles" described by Gottman (1997), and presented as individual cases. A cross-case analysis was conducted. Findings suggest that elementary general music classrooms are emotional places. Music provides students with unique emotional experiences. Effective teaching within this context has an emotional ebb and flow in which music plays a vital role. Interactions between teacher and students may result in a feedback loop in which exchanges of emotional reactions occur and where teachers may be called upon to manage their own emotional responses. When adverse situations arise, a music teacher may choose an adaptive coping style suitable for the circumstance. These choices are influenced by their knowledge, skills, and emotional competencies. Teachers' perceptions of their emotional teaching practices are not always congruent with their observed emotional teaching practices. When the knowledge and emotional abilities of music teachers are used effectively, they can have a positive influence on the emotional climate of the classroom, which may, in turn, impact learning.
ContributorsMcConkey, Michelle Stephan (Author) / Stauffer, Sandra (Thesis advisor) / Bush, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Sullivan, Jill (Committee member) / Tobias, Evan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The purpose of this multiple case study was to investigate what students in three high school music groups perceived as most meaningful about their participation. I also examined the role that context played in shaping students' perceptions, and sought potential principles underlying meaning and value in instrumental ensembles. Over the course of six months I conducted a series of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with six student wind ensemble members, five student guitar class members, and six jazz band members at three high schools in Winnipeg, Canada. I interviewed the participants' music teachers and school principals, observed rehearsals and performances, and spoke informally with parents and peers. Drawing upon praxial and place philosophies, I examined students' experiences within the context of each music group, and looked for themes across the three groups. What students perceived to be meaningful about their participation was multifaceted and related to fundamental human concerns. Students valued opportunities to achieve, to form and strengthen relationships, to construct identities as individuals and group members, to express themselves and communicate with others, and to engage with and through music. Although these dimensions were common to students in all three groups, students experienced and made sense of them differently, and thus experienced meaningful participation in multiple, variegated ways. Context played a substantial role in shaping not only the dimensions of meanings most salient to participants but also the ways that music experiences became meaningful for those involved. What students value and find meaningful about their participation in instrumental music education has been neither well documented nor thoroughly explored. This study raises questions about the ways that meaningful musical engagement might extend beyond the boundaries of school, and contributes student perspectives sorely needed in ongoing conversations concerning the relevance of music education in students' lives.
ContributorsCape, Janet (Author) / Stauffer, Sandra L (Thesis advisor) / Bush, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Sullivan, Jill (Committee member) / Tobias, Evan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
To be a versatile violinist, one needs interdependence of aural, visual and kinesthetic skills. This thesis introduces aural, visual and kinesthetic learning modalities, and explores the way each is used in the Suzuki, Paul Rolland, Orff, Kodály, and Dalcroze methods, as well as in Edwin Gordon’s Musical Learning Theory. Other methods and pedagogical approaches were consulted and influential in developing the curriculum, such as the teaching of Mimi Zweig, but were not included in this paper either because of an overlap with other methods or insufficient comparable material. This paper additionally presents a new curriculum for teaching beginning violin that incorporates aural, visual, and kinesthetic learning in a systematic and comprehensive manner. It also details a sequenced progression to learn new repertoire and develop proficiency with rhythm, solfège, reading and writing musical notation, and left- and right-hand technique.
ContributorsTang, Tee Tong (Author) / Swartz, Jonathan (Thesis advisor) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Feisst, Sabine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
The purpose of this study was to trouble existing conceptions of disability that ground music education literature and practice. I sought plausible insights into how disability is experienced in, through, and/or around music by participants who are disabled persons/persons with disabilities (DP/PwD). Insights gained might allow readers to complexify and trouble taken-for-granted assumptions about disability. Questions included: (a) How do participants experience disability in, through, and around music? (b) What plausible insights related to disability can be gained by attending to participants’ experiences of disability in, through, and around music? (c) What plausible insights related to inclusion can be gained by attending to participants’ experiences of disability in, through, and around music? The inquiry approach was grounded in Buberian relational ontology, phenomenology, interactional theories of disability, and narrative.
Seven DP/PwD participated in this study: (a) Erica, a 14-year-old diagnosed with a developmental disability of unknown etiology; (b) Duke, a drummer diagnosed with Williams syndrome; (c) Birdie, an abstract visual artist with epilepsy who used music to inform her art; (d) Daren, a b-boy/breakdancer diagnosed with Tourette syndrome, (e) Sienna, a legally blind social work college student who played banjo in a music therapy-based bluegrass band and participated in musical theatre; (f) Ice Queen, an undergraduate flute player recently diagnosed with Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); and (g) Culann, an adult counselor and music listener with ADHD and mood disorders. Data generation included conversational interviews, observations, artmaking, and serendipitous data.
Data co-generated with participants were crafted into narratives of their lifeworlds, including description of their experiences with disability in, through, and around music and in other aspects of their lives. An envisioned conversation among all participants demonstrates the shifts and complexities in the meanings of disability and unpacks different ways participants describe and understand disability and the myriad roles that music plays in their lifeworlds. The final chapter of the study offers discussions and suggestions regarding thinking about and approaching disability (i.e., interactional theories, intersectionality, and identity), inclusion (i.e., belonging, suggestions by participants, and anti-ableist pedagogy), and research/writing.
Seven DP/PwD participated in this study: (a) Erica, a 14-year-old diagnosed with a developmental disability of unknown etiology; (b) Duke, a drummer diagnosed with Williams syndrome; (c) Birdie, an abstract visual artist with epilepsy who used music to inform her art; (d) Daren, a b-boy/breakdancer diagnosed with Tourette syndrome, (e) Sienna, a legally blind social work college student who played banjo in a music therapy-based bluegrass band and participated in musical theatre; (f) Ice Queen, an undergraduate flute player recently diagnosed with Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); and (g) Culann, an adult counselor and music listener with ADHD and mood disorders. Data generation included conversational interviews, observations, artmaking, and serendipitous data.
Data co-generated with participants were crafted into narratives of their lifeworlds, including description of their experiences with disability in, through, and around music and in other aspects of their lives. An envisioned conversation among all participants demonstrates the shifts and complexities in the meanings of disability and unpacks different ways participants describe and understand disability and the myriad roles that music plays in their lifeworlds. The final chapter of the study offers discussions and suggestions regarding thinking about and approaching disability (i.e., interactional theories, intersectionality, and identity), inclusion (i.e., belonging, suggestions by participants, and anti-ableist pedagogy), and research/writing.
ContributorsRathgeber, Jesse (Author) / Stauffer, Sandra L (Thesis advisor) / Mantie, Roger (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Solís, Ted (Committee member) / Tobias, Evan S (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
The College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) began holding
national conferences in 1941, and the organization's six divisions have held biennial conferences on alternating years beginning in 1950. The CBDNA Statement of Purpose specifies, "CBDNA is committed to serving as a dynamic hub connecting individuals to communities, ideas and resources." The regional and national conferences are one of the strongest means to that end. This study presents a history and documentation of the events of the College Band Directors National Association Western/Northwestern Divisional Conference held in Reno, Nevada from 1990 to 2016. The events leading up to the first conference are reported. The details of the clinics and concerts are chronicled to provide a foundation for analyses of various trends and threads regarding number and types of ensembles that performed, types and content of clinics presented, trends in repertoire selection, details of featured composers and commissions, and a discussion of gender disparity across all of these facets.
national conferences in 1941, and the organization's six divisions have held biennial conferences on alternating years beginning in 1950. The CBDNA Statement of Purpose specifies, "CBDNA is committed to serving as a dynamic hub connecting individuals to communities, ideas and resources." The regional and national conferences are one of the strongest means to that end. This study presents a history and documentation of the events of the College Band Directors National Association Western/Northwestern Divisional Conference held in Reno, Nevada from 1990 to 2016. The events leading up to the first conference are reported. The details of the clinics and concerts are chronicled to provide a foundation for analyses of various trends and threads regarding number and types of ensembles that performed, types and content of clinics presented, trends in repertoire selection, details of featured composers and commissions, and a discussion of gender disparity across all of these facets.
ContributorsMartin, Stephen (Author) / Stauffer, Sandra (Thesis advisor) / Hill, Gary W. (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Sullivan, Jill M. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
This study compares course enrollment data for student-group equity variables for a newly developed and implemented schedule: the Equity Plan, with implemented traditional alternating day schedules. The study compares two implemented Equity Plan schedule frameworks and twenty traditional alternating day schedules over 11 years. The school-based schedule data were from two diverse New York public middle schools in the same school district, a total of 22 complete schedule data sets. Courses analyzed include health, music, physical education, and visual arts. The represented student variables were: all students, English as a new language (ENL), students with disabilities (SWDs), gender, and ethnicity. The compiled data included 255,365 rows and 13 columns for a total of 3,319,745 cells of data, representing 19,822 student schedules. Equitable course enrollment was defined as no more than a 5% difference of enrollment between student groups.The data analysis revealed that ENL students and SWDs were consistently excluded from health, music, and visual arts courses. The Equity Plan schedule was the only implemented schedule framework that has equitable course enrollment for ENL students and SWDs in health, music, physical education, and visual arts. Physical education almost always had equitable enrollment for all student groups. Females and males were equitably represented in band, while females were overrepresented in chorus and orchestra. Students grouped by American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Multiracial, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander generally had low enrollment representation in school populations and were often not equitably included in courses. ENL students and SWDs may be disproportionately excluded in many schools due to additional mandates for these groups. This identified issue may be widespread throughout the nation. The author recommends that all schools conduct an equitable course analysis using the 5% standard to determine if student groups are disproportionately being excluded from courses. Implementation of an intentional administrative strategy focusing on equitable course enrollment such as the Equity Plan schedule framework is recommended to address equity and inclusion challenges.
ContributorsBrancato, Vincent (Author) / Sullivan, Jill M (Thesis advisor) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Spindler, Lisamarie (Committee member) / Stauffer, Sandra (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
The close relationship between mathematics and music has been well documented in Western cultures since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. While many connections have been made between math and music over the centuries, it seems that many modern researchers have attempted to create interdisciplinary bridges between these disciplines by using mathematical principles to explain several essential aspects of music: harmony, melody, form, and rhythm. Using these established connections, in addition to several of my own, I have created an undergraduate level survey of Western music course for a population of mathematically inclined students. This approach makes music history comprehensible, relevant, and engaging to my target demographic.
The course is organized into three units. The first unit begins with the music of Ancient Greece and Early Christianity and concludes with music of the Renaissance (roughly 1300-1600). The second unit will cover what classical musicians call the “common practice period” (roughly 1600-1900). This span of time covers three musical eras – Baroque, Classical, and Romantic. The final unit will cover the 20th century up to the present. During this course, I introduce the students to Western music using examples, concepts, terminology, and methodology derived from the world of mathematics. These include Pythagorean mathematics, geometry, simple algebra and fractions, the golden mean, the Fibonacci sequence, matrices, set theory, and many more. I have written the chapters as scripts for an online version of the class. The writing style in the chapters is therefore informal and contrasts with the tone of the other parts of the thesis.
The course is organized into three units. The first unit begins with the music of Ancient Greece and Early Christianity and concludes with music of the Renaissance (roughly 1300-1600). The second unit will cover what classical musicians call the “common practice period” (roughly 1600-1900). This span of time covers three musical eras – Baroque, Classical, and Romantic. The final unit will cover the 20th century up to the present. During this course, I introduce the students to Western music using examples, concepts, terminology, and methodology derived from the world of mathematics. These include Pythagorean mathematics, geometry, simple algebra and fractions, the golden mean, the Fibonacci sequence, matrices, set theory, and many more. I have written the chapters as scripts for an online version of the class. The writing style in the chapters is therefore informal and contrasts with the tone of the other parts of the thesis.
ContributorsCueva, Darren Luis (Author) / Norton, Kay (Thesis advisor) / Wells, Christopher (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019