What's new in pedagogy research?(Professional Resources)

Motivating students to practice and continue in lessons is often one of the most challenging and grueling parts of teaching. We use competitions, festivals, rewards, stickers and intra-studio contests to hold their attention; and we spend hours looking for just the right piece to engage each student's interest and help him reach the next level of growth. A recently published study by Charles Schmidt, "Relations Among Motivation, Performance Achievement, and Music Experience Variables in Secondary Instrumental Music Students," (1) explored various aspects of why 300 students in grades 7-12 were motivated to practice and continue their participation in band.

A survey instrument gathered information regarding grade level, instrument, gender, years of experience in band, practice time per week, participation in private lessons, all-county band, and solo and ensemble festivals (with level of solos and ratings received). The survey also had 58 items with a 5 point Likert scale that described the students' feelings about commitment to band, self-concepts in instrumental music and various motivation variables. Examples of the items included:

 
Mastery:              I feel most successful in band when I reach my 
                        own goals. 
                      I feel most successful in band when I really 
                        improve. 
Intrinsic:            I practice my music because I enjoy a challenge. 
                      I do my assigned work in band because the music 
                        we learn is really interesting. 
Individual:           I learn the most in music when I work on my own. 
                      I do my best work in music when I work on my own. 
Cooperative:          I learn the most in music when I work with other 
                        students 
                      I like to help other people do well in band. 
Competitive:          I like trying to do better than other students 
                        in music. 
                      I work harder in music when I try to do better 
                        than other students. 
Ego:                  I feel most successful in band when I am the 
                        best. 
                      I feel most successful in band when I know more 
                        than other students. 
Approach Success:     I do my assigned work in band because I want to 
                        receive high grades from my teacher. 
                      I do my assigned work because I want my band 
                        teacher to think that I am a good musician. 
Avoid Failure:        I do my assigned work in band because I DO NOT 
                        want my teacher to think that I am a poor 
                        student. 
                      I do my assigned work in band because I DO NOT 
                        want to receive criticism from my teacher. 
Commitment to Band:   Band is a very important part of my life. 
                      I am willing to work harder on band than on 
                        anything else. 
Self-Concept:         I am an excellent music student. 
                      I am confident in my ability to perform on my 
                        instrument. (2) 

The teachers were asked to rate the performance achievement and overall effort of each student who took the survey.

The results showed that most students had strong musical self-concepts, and the highest mean scores were in mastery and cooperative orientations. The lowest mean scores were in competitive and ego orientations and commitment to band. When correlations between the motivation variables were made, Schmidt found that intrinsic orientation, self-concept and commitment to band were significantly correlated to the teachers' ratings of performance level and effort, and the students' reported practice time and ...