Up and Down the (Musical) Ladder: How Open-Ended Activities Promote Sophisticated Domain Discourse

• In Event: 70.065 - Roundtable Session 27
  In Roundtable Session: 70.065-7 - Novel Approaches to Studying Learning Within and Across Art Domains

Abstract

While schools struggle to integrate arts programs into their schools, they are up against the stereotype that open-ended and creative activities are less conducive to learning and engagement than more goal-oriented activities. The research presented here contends that activities grounded in an open-ended, constructionist framework that promotes the use of intuitions produces a sophisticated domain discourse that has not formally been taught. Fourth-graders (N = 36) were engaged in a music learning program using the software Impromptu in which activities were open-ended and goal-oriented. Data included video of whole-class activities and student written journals about the creation process. Findings suggest that open-ended activities are more apt to encourage a more sophisticated discourse that was not observed during goal-oriented activities.

Author

• Michael Downton, St. John's University