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RESEARCH Pamela Stover, Chairperson


Research: Using Critical Thinking to Answer 21st Century Questions


As an educational historian, it is a bit out of the ordinary for me to write on 21th century educational trends and innovations. However, though my research, I have found that many of our trends and innovations are not new, but have cycled through history. I use my own research to discover how others solved similar problems in the past so that I do not re-invent the wheel every time the next “new” bandwagon parades by. My research philosophy is that research is a critical thinking tool to answer questions. Tese questions could be practical or theoretical, applying to a current teaching situation or something totally unfamiliar, but most of all the questions should be meaningful to you and to others. Good research starts with a research question and then is designed to use critical thinking to find answers and to add to our knowledge base. If you think of knowledge as a jigsaw puzzle, each research study can be a single piece and when joined together form a clear picture containing your answer.


IMEA hosts several research sessions, including a poster session, a paper reading session and featured re- search sessions. Tis year, you may find answers about the publishing process from Dr. Colleen Conway of the University of Michigan (Saturday, Jan. 29, 9:30-10:45) and about intrinsic motivation in secondary school ensembles by Al Legutki, who recently defended his dissertation at the University of Illinois (Tursday, Jan. 27, 12:45-2:00). In addition, the research poster session, Friday, Jan. 28, 11:30-12:45, is a great place to stop by and talk to the researchers about their projects. Two papers will be presented at the paper reading session on Friday, Jan. 28 from 5:00-6:15. Te Call for Research Papers has a Nov. 1 deadline, so you will need to check your IMEA conference program for the selections.


Last year, we had nine research projects presented at IMEA. Mary Lynn Doherty looked at the characteristics of successful inner-city music teachers using the Choir Academy of Chicago as her pilot study. Wesley Brewer presented a demographic study of music education professors in the United States that he co-authored with David Rickels. Clint Randles looked at a cross-cultural comparison of creative identity among pre-service music teachers, while Phillip Vermillion examined the effect of local community advocacy on attitudes toward music education. Chee-Kang Koh looked at extracurricular music and non-music participants’ motivation toward learning school music. Ling-Yao Chang compared music education in the United States and Taiwan, while Brent Talbot examined a discourse in elementary general music education. Two studies answered spe- cific pedagogical questions: Duane Warfield studied bowing using the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center Women’s String Orchestra as subjects and Margaux Bookbinder looked at the psychological and sociological implications of the changing male voice.


I look forward to the interesting research questions posed at the 2011 IMEA conference. Bring your questions, and hopefully some of our fine researchers will have some answers. I hope to see you there!


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Illinois Music Educator | Volume 71 Number 2


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