As I look back at my sixteen years in Music Education I now realize that I was perpetually evaluating my instructional system in regard to how well my instruction was designed to teach specific skills. It became second nature to evaluate instructional systems and learning environments for individual students and for small and large ensembles. The course work for TTD 875 Evaluation of Instructional Systems helped me to identify some of the procedures that I had been applying in teaching Instrumental Music.

In an effort to identify individual students perspective on effective learning I developed a student survey. The survey was designed to get feedback from students on how they felt the learning process and environment could be improved. I designed the survey for students who were taking individual lessons from me at the the senior high. I targeted students taking individual lessons because effective lessons can directly impact a students success and ultimately whether they desire to stay in band throughout their high school years.

Applying technology in the music learning environment is becoming more applicable. I found a useful tool in the PSD 300, a CD recording/playback unit that can record live to CD. Students are now able to record themselves to a CD and immediately playback the recording. This technology also allows for the control of key and tempo. A student can use an accompaniment CD and change the key to fit their voice range. A jazz student may change the tempo of a practice CD to a slower tempo and set up a loop so they can run a solo section over and over.