A WSQ-based mobile peer assessment approach to enhancing university students’ vocal music skills and learning perceptions

Peer assessment has been regarded as an effective learning strategy in art education, such as in music, dance and art design. For music education, technology-supported peer assessment makes it easier for learners to reflect on their learning performance. However, the process of reflection needs solid and systematic theoretical knowledge. In terms of vocal music, which develops students’ singing skills, it is difficult for learners to compare their own works with those of others because of a lack of sufficient theoretical knowledge. Therefore, a WSQ (watch-summary-question)-based mobile peer assessment approach was used to help learners reflect based on their theoretical knowledge with the support of WSQ learning sheets. To investigate the effectiveness of the approach, an experiment was carried out in a Chinese university. The experimental group (N = 22) learned with the WSQ approach, whereas the control group (N = 22) adopted a mobile peer assessment approach without WSQ. Vocal music skills, learning attitude and learning motivation were assessed. The experimental results indicate that the approach effectively enhanced the students’ vocal music skills but did not improve their learning motivation or attitude. In addition, a higher correlation between teacher scoring and peer scoring was found for the experimental group. Implications for practice or policy: Technology has a great potential in supporting art education and integrating technology into vocal music education should follow the rules of music education. Developing students’ reflective thinking skills in vocal music education is challenging, but attainable; it needs considered instructional design and sustained efforts from students.

Depression Symptoms Relationship With Music Use: Investigating the Role of Trait Affect, Musical Ability, Music Preferences

People across cultures often use music to evoke positive emotions and moods. Yet, some people tend to employ maladaptive strategies such as rumination, avoidant coping, or social isolation when they listen to music. The present research investigated how strongly maladaptive musical engagement is linked with depression and wellbeing in a sample of 1415 Indians (17–65 years) across four cities and two countries. Participants completed a battery of assessments on trait affect, depression, adaptive and maladaptive musical engagement strategies, music preferences, and music skills. 1329 participants were included for analysis. All nine symptoms ( r = .16, to .30) and the sum score of depression ( r = .39), as well as trait negative affect ( r = .36) were correlated with maladaptive music engagement. Six of the symptoms of depression were significant predictors of maladaptive music engagement. Among those, suicidal ideation, worthlessness, and fatigue were the most important. Maladaptive music engagement increased the odds of experiencing all the depression symptoms ( OR = 1.04 to 1.14). Trait positive affect ( r = .29) and having music as a hobby ( r = .22) correlated with adaptive music engagement. Musicians who had been playing an instrument for six years and above had lower levels of maladaptive music engagement ( d = .84). Furthermore, the results show that depression symptoms might have a bidirectional relationship with maladaptive music engagement, with suicidal thoughts being the most important symptom. The current study also validated the Healthy-Unhealthy Music Scale (HUMS; Saarikallio et al., 2015 ) in India and provides a cut-off score based on the sensitivity (.86) and specificity (.66) in identifying people at risk for depression. Overall, the results reveal that socio-demographic factors (age, gender, relationship status, occupation status, geographical location), psychological factors (trait affect, depressive symptoms), and music skills play an important role in engaging with music.

The Choir Festival as an Opportunity to Develop the Music Skills of Secondary School Students

Festiwal chórów jako okazja do rozwoju zdolności muzycznych uczniów szkół średnich Aktywny udział w chórze śpiewaczym ma ogromny wpływ na młodych ludzi: nie tylko na ich rozwój muzyczny, artystyczny i estetyczny, ale także na kształtowanie ich cech charakteru. Czy jednak młodzież jest dzisiaj zainteresowana tego rodzaju działalnością, szczególnie jeśli chodzi o prezentowanie dzieł muzyki sakralnej? Czy jest to dla nich atrakcyjne nawet w czasach, które są bardziej skoncentrowane na materializmie, osiągnięciach technicznych, konsumpcjonizmie lub prezentacji indywidualności? Prezentowany artykuł zawiera odpowiedzi na te pytania, sformułowane na podstawie wyników ankiety przeprowadzonej podczas II edycji festiwalu chórów licealnych Cantare Choraliter. Za pomocą kwestionariusza zbadano stosunek, jaki mają do muzyki (a szczególnie śpiewu chóralnego) członkowie chórów działających przy słowackich szkołach średnich.

Relationship between depression symptoms and music use: The role of trait affect, music skills, music preferences

People across cultures often use music to evoke positive emotions and moods. Yet, some people tend to employ maladaptive strategies such as rumination, avoidant, or social isolation purposes when they listen to music. This maladaptive musical engagement style is linked with depression and poorer well-being. The present research investigated the association between musical engagement strategies, symptoms of depression, trait affect, and musical expertise in a sample of 1,415 Indians (17- 65 years) across four cities and two countries. Participants completed a battery of assessments on trait affect, depression, and musical engagement and music preferences, music skills. Adaptive musical engagement was measured with the healthy music subscale (HM) and maladaptive musical engagement was measured with the unhealthy music subscale (UHM) of the healthy-unhealthy music scale (Saarikallio et al., 2015). All nine symptoms (r=.16, to .30) and sum score (r=.39) of depression, trait negative affect (r=.36) were correlated with UHM. Six symptoms (R2=.18) were predictors of UHM among those suicidal ideation, guilt, and fatigue were the strongest predictors. Engagement with UHM increased the odds of experiencing depression with mild (Odds ratios=1.05 to 1.10), moderate (Odds ratio =1.05 to 1.16), and severe symptomatology (Odds ratios = 1.05 to 1.17). Trait positive affect (r=.29), music hobby (r=.22) correlated with HM. Participants with music skills engaged in HM (d = -.26 to -.36) more than the participants without music skills. Overall the results show that musical engagement either through listening or active participation in musical activities is an indicator for the well-being of the individual. Maladaptive musical engagement is detrimental to mental health. The current study validated the HUMS scale in India, provided a cut-off score based on the sensitivity and specificity in detecting depression by a non-clinical phenomenon, and it can be useful in treating depression with the aid of music-related interventions.