CAM CAP

College of Arts & Media Cooperative Assessment Project
Music & Entertainment Industry Studies Department
University of Colorado at Denver 

Assessment elements appropriate in the MEIS popular/commercial music program include:

◊ Instrumental/Vocal Technique

This involves a number of distinct considerations:

• ◊ level of physical control
• ◊ difficulty of material
• ◊ range of technical demands (is the musician drawing
     on a variety of specific technically demanding
     elements?)
• ◊ relationship between technique and expression (e.g.,
     a consistent and even tone may not be appropriate)
• ◊ relationship between sound and image (e.g., do
     technical efforts impair visual impact?)

◊ Ensemble playing

• ◊ tuning and timing
• ◊ balance (volume)
• ◊ aesthetic balance (e.g., is the musical role taken by
     the student appropriate/convincing in relation to the
     rest of the ensemble?)
• ◊ image (e.g., is there a visual dimension which
     supports the idea of ensemble playing?)

◊ The program

• ◊ variety (this is really quite a big issue: variety of
     expression, variety of tempi/rhythmic feel, technical
     demands, etc.)
• ◊ sense of progression/change/growth within the
     program
• ◊ convincing/satisfying as a whole
• ◊ of an appropriate duration

◊ Communication

• ◊ interaction with audience (who are they playing for?)
• ◊ relationship with audience, both as individuals and as
     an ensemble
• ◊ visual communication (do they use visual elements -
     image, movement - to communicate?)
• ◊ relationship between communication, material and
     technique (do these elements support (work
     together/in sympathy) or undermine (create
     conflicting/contradictory messages) the overall impact
     of the performance)

Clearly, all the above elements may be present in any ensemble-based musical performance to a lesser or greater extent. 

The following five issues:

◊ ubiquity
◊ musical diversity
◊ importance of non-musical elements
◊ team production
◊ and what might be termed 'aesthetic flux'

make the assessment of popular music performance even more complex. In the face of such complexity, it would seem appropriate to involve students in assessment procedures as much as possible. Peer group assessment is particularly suitable and often highly successful in this area. It also has an added education function in encouraging students to understand and address the many diverse elements involved in musical performance outlined above. Similarly, one might envisage an assessment process involving some level of student choice about which of the above elements are to be assessed in any given performance. Here, students would choose those assessment criteria which they felt reflect the most important characteristics of their performance. Such a procedure has the advantage of encouraging students to clearly articulate their aims.

However, whichever assessment procedure is implemented, assessors should ensure that they have addressed the following basic questions:

◊ What is the function of the assessment?

◊ Is it appropriate?

◊ Is it fair?

◊ Is it feasible?

◊ Is it based on convincing educational premises?

◊ Is it clear and well articulated?

Finally, assessors should be clear that any system of assessment is open to refinement or change. The design of an assessment process is but the first stage, and its implementation may well reveal difficulties or deficiencies. Clearly, if these are not addressed, students and teachers will be ignoring a valuable and important educational opportunity.

This project will also develop web-based reflective portfolios as an integrated component of networked learning environments for undergraduate music. It aims to promote reflective approaches for evidencing the attainment of program outcomes and to foster the skills required for life-long learning. It will also inform on the issue of portfolio-based assessment.  This assessment project investigates what the area is doing, why it is doing what it says it is doing, how the project plan and results will be used, and if the web-based assessment template is appropriate, and cost- time- and resource-effective, at the programmatic level.  The assessment will be scored, interpreted and reported.

◊ Deliverables

• ◊ The project will establish a set of program-level,
     performance area-based direct and indirect measures
     of learning in music performance, a set of good
     practices, and a description of an enabling
     environment for reaching learning and music
     performance goals in the MEIS department.
• ◊ The project will develop a prototype departmental-
     level institutional web-based portfolio template that
     will enable internal improvement and communicate to
     multiple publics.
• ◊ The project will build a persuasive argument for and
     present evidence toward a change in performance
     area assessment practices.

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About the Project

◊ Summary
◊ Background
◊ Description

Goals & Objectives

◊ Outcomes
◊ Measures

Popular Music Performance

Assessment Elements

CAM Capstone Senior Student Portfolios

◊ MEIS
◊ T/F/VP
◊ VA

CU System CAP

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