RESEARCH TO PRACTICE... Wendy Sims, MMEA Research Chair


Structuring Student Practice through Technology Melissa Baughman, University of Missouri


Guiding music students to develop effective practice habits is a common difficulty for many private studio instructors. Experts have advocated for the teaching of practice strategies during lessons in order for students’ independent practice to be effective (Cooper, 2004; Kostka, 2004; Miksza, 2007). Studio instructors’ decisions about whether or not to incorporate practice strategies into their teaching can influence students’ practice behaviors outside the lesson (Barry, 2007; Koopman et al., 2007). Once these practice strategies have been incorporated into private instruction, the next step for the instructor is to facilitate the transfer of these concepts into the student’s daily practice routine. Through reflective dialogue and careful planning, teachers can determine what their students are actually doing during their practice sessions in order to guide them to more effective practice strategies.


Structuring Practice Researchers who have investigated the practice habits of music students have found that students were not taking full advantage of effective practice strategies (Koopman et al., 2007; Miksza, 2007; Rohwer & Polk, 2006). The use of repetition as a practice technique was observed in 86.7% of adolescent instrumentalists’ (N=16) practice sessions, while other effective strategies (i.e., practicing in small segments in and out of context, or focusing on musical elements) were used less often (Leon-Guerrero, 2004). According to Miksza (2007), students may need to be instructed on how to determine which strategies are most effective for them. It seems that if students are not exposed to


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different practice strategies through the lesson environment, they may have a more difficult time employing a variety of useful strategies during their practice time. Instructors should introduce their students to a variety of practice strategies during lessons and discuss which strategies work best for each individual. These strategies should then be applied to a list of practice goals so the student goes home with a structured practice plan that will elicit higher levels of student performance and build effective practice habits.


Communication Gap Students should not leave a lesson without understanding what they need to do in order to continue their learning between meetings, yet some researchers have revealed a lack of communication between students and teachers when it comes to practice strategies and goals (Barry, 2007; Koopman et al., 2007; Kostka, 2004). Instructors have been encouraged to improve their understanding of what students are thinking during practice and how students evaluate themselves (Leon-Guerrero, 2004). Yet a communication gap seems to prevail, which seems ironic in this digital age of mass communication. Perhaps a practical way to improve communication between studio instructors and students is through the technology that is already at our daily disposal. By using simple, everyday technology, studio instructors can become more informed of their students’ practice habits and better guide them to strategies that work best in the practice room. Through the use of file sharing, Smartphones, webcams, and social media, instructors could


more accurately monitor their students’ development of practice habits. I have listed several ideas for incorporating these technological tools into the lesson to inspire instructors to customize their own plans for teaching students how to practice.


File Sharing File sharing is a way for people to have instant access to the same document without having to attach a file to an email message. Programs such as Google Docs (www.googledocs.com) and Dropbox (www.dropbox.com) offer free file space, are simple to use, and easily accessible from nearly every computer, Smart phone, and tablet computer. Instructors can share a practice plan with their students via the file sharing website and the student can input his or her own commentary as they practice. For example, the instructor and student can agree upon several weekly practice goals during the lesson, then input them into a shared file. By taking lesson notes in this document during practice sessions, the students can indicate how they did or did not achieve each goal throughout the week. As an added bonus, some file sharing programs notate the date and time files are uploaded or changed, allowing instructors to see when the student practices and reflects upon the established learning goals. Because the record would be available at all times to both the instructor and the student, this could prevent students from waiting until the day before the next lesson to fill out their “practice log”. Using Internet file sharing, instructors would have continued access to a complete record of their students’ practice sessions so


MISSOURI SCHOOL MUSIC


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