Matching Items (2)
Description
The purpose of this study was to compare perceptions of success and failure, attributions of success and failure, predictions of future success, and reports of out-of-class engagement in composition among middle school band students composing in open task conditions (n = 32) and closed task conditions (n = 31). Two intact band classes at the same middle school were randomly assigned to treatment groups. Both treatment groups composed music once a week for eight weeks during their regular band time. In Treatment A (n = 32), the open task group, students were told to compose music however they wished. In Treatment B (n = 31), the closed task group, students were given specific, structured composition assignments to complete each week. At the end of each session, students were asked to complete a Composing Diary in which they reported what they did each week. Their responses were coded for evidence of perceptions of success and failure as well as out-of-class engagement in composing. At the end of eight weeks, students were given three additional measures: the Music Attributions Survey to measure attributions of success and failure on 11 different subscales; the Future Success survey to measure students' predictions of future success; and the Out-of-Class Engagement Letter to measure students' engagement with composition outside of the classroom. Results indicated that students in the open task group and students in the closed task group behaved similarly. There were no significant differences between treatment groups in terms of perceptions of success or failure as composers, predictions of future success composing music, and reports of out-of-class engagement in composition. Students who felt they failed at composing made similar attributions for their failure in both treatment groups. Students who felt they succeeded also made similar attributions for their success in both treatment groups, with one exception. Successful students in the closed task group rated Peer Influence significantly higher than the successful students in the open task group. The findings of this study suggest that understanding individual student's attributions and offering a variety of composing tasks as part of music curricula may help educators meet students' needs.
ContributorsSchwartz, Emily, 1985- (Author) / Stauffer, Sandra L (Thesis advisor) / Tobias, Evan (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Broatch, Jennifer (Committee member) / Sullivan, Jill (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Given the major investment young people make in earning and maintaining a peer reputation, our goal in this study was to explore the association between dimensions of negative and positive peer reputation in middle school and adjustment several years later, by the end of high school, among upper middle class youth. Prior research has shown negative reputations such as aggressive-disruptive and sensitive-isolated to be associated with maladjustment later in life, whereas reputations like popular and prosocial-leader have been related to positive future outcomes. However, there are contrary findings that reveal a more complex relationship between peer reputation and adjustment, showing certain “negative” reputations to be tied with better outcomes in some domains and the converse in others. Using a sample of middle school students, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to test a four-factor model of the Revised Class Play, a peer report measure on peer reputations. CFA findings supported the four-factor model with the following reputations: popular, prosocial, aggressive, and isolated. Structural equation models were used to predict 12th grade adjustment outcomes (academic achievement, psychopathology, substance use) from middle school peer reputation. Prosocial reputation in middle school was connected to higher academic achievement and fewer externalizing symptoms in 12th grade. Both prosocial and isolated peer reputation were negatively associated with alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use, whereas a popular reputation was related to higher levels of alcohol use. Middle school reputation did not predict internalizing symptoms in 12th grade. Findings are discussed in terms of adaptive and maladaptive adjustment outcomes associated with each peer reputation and implications for future research.
ContributorsCurlee, Alexandria (Author) / Luthar, Suniya (Thesis advisor) / Aiken, Leona (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016