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Writing Samples

Book Review
Amusing Ourselves to Death - Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

 

In 1985, prominent media theorist, NeilPostman hand-wrote a book that fit in well with his overall body of work.  Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business is what Amazon.com describes as “a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment”.  

 

Although this book was written in 1985, well before the prominence of the computer, social media and the smartphone, it is very easy to read it through the lens of hindsight and place the personal computer, tablet, smartphone, Google Goggles and Apple Watch beside the television in his analysis.  Seen in this light, his book seems prophetic in many ways, but there are several inherent flaws that cause it to be problematic and ultimately undermine his final conclusions and suggestions.

Literature Review
The Use of Music Technology in Music Education

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In 2009, Dammers, a proponent of technology-based music instruction, summed up the conundrum of using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the field of music education, stating that because music performance is, by its very nature, synchronous, the use of ICT is problematic at best.  Many collegiate programs are embracing the possibilities of asynchronous online education (research rather than performance), but music programs are not generally moving in that direction.  This does not mean that technology is not being used in music education, but it does shape howit is being explored and implemented from the primary level through higher education.

 

Before examining how technology is being used in music education, it is necessary to lay out parameters for the term.  Rees defined music technology as “the systematic study of tools and techniques for music production, performance, education, and research”.  This article will deal primarily with education and research, showing how music technology – and more specifically ICT within the field of music – is being used to shape opportunities for music students of varying ages, skills, and backgrounds. It will then turn to a discussion on the importance of clearly stated objectives within the research framework and consider an inherent problem in the manner in which the findings are presented. 

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Original Research
The Relationship Between First Year Core Music Theory Courses & Combined Music GPA 
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The purpose of this study is to examine a decade of grade records from the University of Arkansas to discover whether or not a relationship exists between student grades in these paired music courses -  MUTH 1603 (Music Theory I) and MUTH 1621 (Aural Perception I) – and the final grade point average in all music courses.  The null hypothesis in this research is that the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient (r) will be zero between the MUTH 1603 grade and the final combined music GPA, and will also be zero between the MUTH 1621 grade and the final combined music GPA.  The alternative hypothesis is that there will be a positive correlation between the MUTH 1603 grade and the final combined music GPA, and as well as between the MUTH 1621 grade and the final combined music GPA.
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