Matching Items (2)
Filtering by

Clear all filters

149895-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of high band directors in the United States toward solo and ensemble activities. Independent variables such as teaching experience, level of education, MENC region in which directors taught, personal solo and ensemble activity experience, teaching assignment, and director-centered external factors

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of high band directors in the United States toward solo and ensemble activities. Independent variables such as teaching experience, level of education, MENC region in which directors taught, personal solo and ensemble activity experience, teaching assignment, and director-centered external factors (supplemental contracts, teaching evaluations, program awards) were used to investigate potential differences in attitudinal responses. Subjects were high school band directors (N = 557) chosen through a stratified random sample by state. Participation in the study included completing an online researcher-designed questionnaire that gathered demographic information as well as information regarding directors' attitudes towards benefits from student participation in solo and ensemble activities, the importance of such activities to directors, and attitudes towards student participation in local, regional, and state solo and ensemble festivals and contests. One-way analyses of variance and two-way multivariate analyses of variance were conducted to investigate potential differences in responses according to various independent variables. Significant differences were found in responses to statements of the importance of solo and ensemble to directors and of solo and ensemble festivals and contests according to region, solo and ensemble experience, and director-centered external factors. No significant differences were found for statements of director's attitudes toward benefits of student participation in solo and ensemble activities according to any independent variables. Results indicate that directors understand and believe strongly in the benefits of solo and ensemble activities to students, but factors such as time, job demands, band program expectations, and festival and contest adjudication, format, and timing may hinder directors' inclusion of solo and ensemble activities as an integral part of their program. Further research is suggested to investigate directors' attitudes within individual states as well as ways to integrate solo and ensemble activities into daily band rehearsals.
ContributorsMeyers, Brian D (Author) / Sullivan, Jill (Thesis advisor) / Busg, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Stauffer, Sandra (Committee member) / Tobias, Evan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
153656-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Wittgenstein’s claim: anytime something is seen, it is necessarily seen as something, forms the philosophical foundation of this research. I synthesize theories and philosophies from Simondon, Maturana, Varela, Wittgenstein, Pye, Sennett, and Reddy in a research process I identify as a paradigm construction project. My personal studio practice of inventing

Wittgenstein’s claim: anytime something is seen, it is necessarily seen as something, forms the philosophical foundation of this research. I synthesize theories and philosophies from Simondon, Maturana, Varela, Wittgenstein, Pye, Sennett, and Reddy in a research process I identify as a paradigm construction project. My personal studio practice of inventing experiential media systems is a key part of this research and illustrates, with practical examples, my philosophical arguments from a range of points of observation. I see media systems as technical objects, and see technical objects as structurally determined systems, in which the structure of the system determines its organization. I identify making, the process of determining structure, as a form of structural coupling and see structural coupling as a means of knowing material. I introduce my theory of conceptual plurifunctionality as an extension to Simondon’s theory. Aspects of materiality are presented as a means of seeing material and immaterial systems, including cultural systems. I seek to answer the questions: How is structure seen as determining the organization of systems, and making seen as a process in which the resulting structures of technical objects and the maker are co-determined? How might an understanding of structure and organization be applied to the invention of contemporary experiential media systems?
ContributorsLahey, Byron (Author) / Burleson, Winslow (Thesis advisor) / Xin Wei, Sha (Committee member) / Collins, Daniel (Committee member) / Paine, Garth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015