Ideas to Action (I2A)

1. Ideas to Action (I2A) Using Critical Thinking to Foster Student Learning and Community Engagement Presentation for School of Music Faculty March 21, 2008

2. Introductions • I2A Team Dr. Patty Payette Dr. Cathy Bays Dr. Edna Ross Executive Director Delphi Specialist Delphi Specialist for Assessment for Critical Thinking Hannah Anthony, Program Assistant Senior

3. Ideas to Action Leadership Team • Dale Billingsley, Professor and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs • Gale Rhodes, Assistant University Provost & Director, Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning • Marianne Hutti, Associate Director, Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning

4. Ideas to Action Task Group • I2A Task Group • I2A Facilitators • Dr. Edie Tidwell • Dr. Anne Marie De Zeeuw

5. Ideas to Action Implementation Ideas to Action (I2A): Using Critical Thinking to Foster Student Learning and Community Engagement is our Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), and we need to show measurable progress to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) by April 2012.

6. I2A and “Connecting the Dots” “Our extensive consultation with all University constituencies yielded a surprisingly strong and clear call for education focused on the skills and knowledge needed to deal with real-world issues and problems, an education in which students can see the importance of the parts (the courses) to the whole (their education as citizens and workers).” [QEP Report, 2007] skills and knowledge real-world issues & problems the parts to the whole http://louisville.edu/ideastoaction/files/finalreport.pdf

7. What’s in it for us

8. Higher Education in the 21st Century • Public accountability & SLO’s: state legislatures, accrediting bodies and other stakeholders • New emphasis on intellectual, technical and practical skills • UofL’s Metropolitan Mission • Emphasis on “deep learning,” integrative learning, brain research, digital literacy, etc. • Shifts in traditional structures and divisions in the academy

9. I2A: What are the components?

10. What is Critical Thinking? “Higher-Order Thinking” “Complex Thinking” Critical Thinking = “Grappling with open-ended problems” It’s “thinking things through.”

11. Critical Thinking Definition adopted for I2A Understanding Concepts Appreciation Decisions Synthesize Application (From: Scriven and Paul, 2003)

12. How does this model help us? "In addition to the obvious act of disciplined practice, the intellectual process which must always come before a skilled performance includes analysis of elements of compositional styles and genres, historical context (both musical and cultural), and an appreciation and understanding of the needs or diversity of the intended audience with thoughtful intention of how best to reach them."

13. Thinking in creative disciplines We create and assess; we assess what we create; we assess as we create. “Critical and Creative Thinking”- p. 37

14. What is the connection between critical and creative thinking? …without development of critical capacities, raw inborn talent is easily wasted or misused. The cultivation of innate gifts must be joined with critical thinking skills and abilities if one is to achieve results worthy of high praise. For one, even in art, where creativity of the highest degree is essential, critical thinking plays a vital role. Great artists are not uncritical about art, especially about their own art. They typically have a lot to say about what they are striving to achieve and how they are trying to achieve it. And when artists or art critics reason about art, that reasoning must be subject to critical analysis an assessment. Each field of art generates a vocabulary of art-specific standards. Assessment occurs at multiple levels. But in art, as in every other domain of human achievement, critically and creativity work hand-in-glove, mutually dependent, mutually interacting, mutually influencing each other. Purple Book - p. 13 & p. 30

15. Why should we use a common Critical Thinking model? • allows students to make connections between subjects and skill sets. • units/teams of faculty design courses and instruction around common conceptualizations of CT • expectations for student performance are not vague, incomplete or narrowly defined • Paul-Elder model is comprehensive can be used within and outside of disciplinary contexts

16. A Well-Cultivated Critical Thinker: • Raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely • Gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively • Comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards • Thinks open mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as needs be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences • Communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems (Richard Paul and Linda Elder, the Foundation for Critical Thinking: http://www.criticalthinking.org/)

17. Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Model Intellectual Standards must be applied to The Elements of Thought in order to develop Intellectual Traits which will produce a well-cultivated Critical thinker

18. Intellectual Standards CLARITY Could you elaborate? Could you illustrate what you mean? Could you give me an example? ACCURACY How could we check on that? How could we find out if that is true? How could we verify or test that? PRECISION Could you be more specific? Could you give me more details? Could you be more exact? RELEVANCE How does that relate to the problem? How does that bear on the question? How does that help us with the issue? DEPTH What factors make this difficult? What are some of the complexities of this question? What are some of the difficulties we need to deal with? BREADTH Do we need to look at this from another perspective? Do we need to consider another point of view? Do we need to look at this in other ways? LOGIC Does all of this make sense together? Does your first paragraph fit in with your last one? Does what you say follow from the evidence? SIGNIFICANCE Is this the most important problem to consider? Is this the central idea to focus on? Which of these facts are most important? FAIRNESS Is my thinking justifiable in context? Am I taking into account the thinking of others? Is my purpose fair given the situation? Am I using my concepts in keeping with educated usage, or am I distorting them to get what I want? COMPLETENESS How complete are the facts related to the issue? How complete is the description? Is the description of each perspective complete? p. 8-10

19. Tidwell Example Question from a Listening Assignment: As to the composer – when and where did/do he/she live? Is he/she contemporary with the librettist or poet? Where does this music fit within an historical timeline? Which Intellectual Standards? Accuracy – Breadth – Relevance

20. p. 3-6

21. Tidwell Example Question from a Listening Assignment: As to the composer – when and where did/do he/she live? Is he/she contemporary with the librettist or poet? Where does this music fit within an historical timeline? Which Elements? Information – Concept – Point of View – Inference

22. Intellectual Humility Intellectual Courage Intellectual Empathy Intellectual Autonomy Intellectual Integrity Intellectual Perseverance Confidence in Reason Fairmindedness The Intellectual Traits p. 13-15

23. Tidwell Example Question from a Listening Assignment: As to the composer – when and where did/do he/she live? Is he/she contemporary with the librettist or poet? Where does this music fit within an historical timeline? Which trait? Intellectual Empathy This trait correlates with the ability to reconstruct accurately the viewpoints and reasoning of others and to reason from premises, assumptions, and ideas other than our own... (p. 14)

24. Pulling it all together How can the model help us sharpen our thinking about … • crafting our curriculum? • articulating course goals? • describing student learning objectives? • assessing and measuring student abilities? • making explicit the thinking and performance goals for students in very specific, measurable ways?

25. Music 141: Theory 1 • Course content/goal: Theory I is “an introduction to the principles of harmony and voice leading, coordinated with ear training, sight singing, and keyboard harmony, and incorporating a review of the rudiments of music” • Course Objective BEFORE: At the end of the semester you will be able to: 5 ) understand metric structure and notate common rhythmic patterns correctly; De Zeeuw Example

26. Music 141: Theory 1 Course Objective AFTER: ( 5 ) understandexplain metric structure and notate common rhythmic patterns correctlyprecisely De Zeeuw Example

27. Assessment Before You will demonstrate your knowledge of tonal harmony in the third-unit written test and the written final examination. Music 141 Course Assessment De Zeeuw Example

28. Assessment After You will demonstrate the accuracy, logic, and depthof your command of your knowledge of tonal harmony in the third-unit written test and the written final examination. Music 141 Course Assessment De Zeeuw Example

29. Revised Course description: Analysis II, “an analytical study of harmonic, contrapuntal, and formal procedures as found in the works of such composers as Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, etc.” We shall also revisit, in more depth, some of the basic concepts covered in Analysis I, develop some graphic analytic tools, and investigate relationships between analysis and performance. Music 348: Analysis II De Zeeuw Example

30. What IS analytical study? How can it be mastered, demonstrated, made “visible”? Revised Objectives: At the end of the semester, students will be able to: befamiliar withuse analytic terminology applicable to tonal music with accuracy and precision; recognizeaccuratelyidentify standard tonal forms and contrapuntal procedures; understand and be able toexplain and apply significant concepts such as tension/repose, stasis/motion, musical direction, means of musical unification, balance, and proportion, in order to analyze music in depth and breadth; be able to apply relevant analytical findings to performance; be able to create effective musical illustrations that communicate analytical ideasclearly and precisely for analytical papers and presentations ; and be able to communicate analytical findings clearly, logically, and in a scholarly manner, both orally and in writing. Music 348: Analysis II De Zeeuw Example

31. Goals and objectives before: The student will be expected to master a certain body of factual material pertinent to the history of Western art music. … Emphasis will be placed largely on the genres, forms, and styles of music in the period covered. These will be introduced through assigned listening examples, scores, and facsimiles … In addition to the assigned listening examples, students will be tested on non-assigned pieces that are very similar to those on the assignments. Writing assignments incorporate practice in revision and peer review, and are designed to facilitate student learning of formal writing about music…. Score and/or facsimile identification will be included on every exam, and in-class exercises in score and facsimile……. Music 361: Music Literature I Shinnick Example

32. Goals and objectives after: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to meet intellectual standards of clarity, accuracy, precision, and logic in explaining key concepts and historical facts in the history of Western art music to c. 1530. Students will understand and be able to identify and explain significant implications and developments (in genres, forms, styles, and notation) within the history of Western music to. c. 1530. Students will be able to analyze and interpret musical and historical evidence to come to logical conclusions regarding the ways developments in music theory, styles, and notation reflect cultural and historical events or issues of the period under study. Students will be able to communicate ideas clearly and use sources accurately and precisely in formal analytical writing about Western art music of these early eras. Music 361: Music Literature I Shinnick Example

33. What use is a rubric? • Rubric is a scoring guide used in subjective assessments • Defines criteria for performance • Saves time in grading and helps preserve consistency • Conveys meaningful feedback to students • Promotes self-regulated learning

34. What is the use of a rubric? • A rubric provides explicit descriptions of performance characteristics Example of one characteristic: musicianship • A rubric makes explicit expected qualities of performance Example of “accomplished” musicianship: Demonstrates accuracy in pitch and rhythm and tempo indications

35. Goals of voice study 1. Develop a vibrant and resonant tone that can encompass dynamic demands 2. Expand range 3. Improve breath management and technical security. 4. Strengthen level of musicianship. 5. Build strong intonation skill 6. Gain aspects of expression and sense of line and direction of phrase to reflect musical understanding and awareness of musical styles. 7. Gain ease with language diction in singing. 8. Be sensitive to textual content and develop interpretive skill. 9. Gain a broad knowledge of the standard vocal repertoire. 10.Become a better singer and performer. Tidwell Example

36. Sample Rubric Component Tidwell Example

37. Grading rubric before: Title (1-3), Introduction, (1-10) Thesis Statement: [construction, clarity, expression, validity, substance] (1-10) Music 361: Music Literature I Shinnick Example

38. Music 361: Music Literature I Shinnick Example

39. I2A Next Steps: • 08-09 Programs & Services • I2A Faculty Learning Community (Fall 08) • I2A Instructional Grants (Spring 2008) • I2A Website w/ resources (Jan 08) • I2A Delphi Specialist in Culminating Experiences • I2A Campus Collaborations (SPI, Civic Engagement, Student Affairs)

40. For more information Please visit: http://louisville.edu/ideastoaction