What's new in Pedagogy research? - Professional Resources

American Music Teacher, June-July, 2003 by Rebecca Grooms Johnson

What factors do you think are strong predictors of whether a student's performance will go well? Certainly, adequate amounts of effective and efficient practice are necessary, along with good mental preparation and the motivation to play well. Researchers in England recently published a study titled: "The Role of Self-Efficacy in a Musical Performance Examination: An Exploratory Structural Equation Analysis", (1) which focused on students' performances on Trinity College, London, graded performance examinations, which are similar to the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music examinations. (An earlier study by these researchers suggested that students who reported spending more time practicing organized their practice more efficiently--in other words, those who practiced more, practiced better. (2) But what factors other than practice affected the students' performances? This study explored the importance of the role of self-efficacy in the motivation to perform well. Self-efficacy was defined as "the conviction that one can successfully execute the behavior required to produce the outcomes." (3) Additional studies indicated that the best level for self-efficacy was to actually have more confidence than was justified by actual ability!

This study set out to explore the relationships between motivation, practice and performance as seen in students' performances on a graded examination. The researchers invited all the students who were taking the Trinity College exam to arrive at the test earlier than their scheduled time to complete a questionnaire immediately before playing their exam. The self-regulatory components of the questionnaire included questions on cognitive strategy use and self-regulation; the motivational components included questions about intrinsic values, anxiety and self-efficacy. The students responded to the questions with a seven-point, Likert-type scale, with (1) being "not at all true of me" and (7) being "very true of me." (4) Students were asked how they felt they compared to other students taking the examination that day, and also were required to give information about how much they practiced and what strategies they used. After the examination was completed, their performance grade was written on the survey.

After analyzing the results, the researchers wrote:

   The principal result is the strong
   association between self-efficacy
   and actual performance and the
   former's clear superiority as a predictor
   of actual performance in a
   graded external music examination....
   Performance is arguably
   the most important image-forming
   component of an individual's identity
   as a musician. Consequently, it
   is perhaps not surprising that students'
   perceptions of self-efficacy
   should play a major role in how
   they perform. However, we still do
   not understand properly the mechanisms
   whereby students come to
   believe in their own abilities to
   perform well. (5)

Reflections

This research supports what most teachers have experienced, that self-confident students who practice efficiently and effectively usually perform well. But the last sentence of the above quote presents the real problem--how do students come to believe in their own abilities to perform well? Often, the answer is obvious: They gain confidence by performing well, thus creating a positive spiral of self-reinforcing behavior. The study also found, however, a decline, over time, in the students' beliefs in their ability. (6) It often seems that as our students grow older, anxiety becomes a greater factor in their ability to perform, and a few problems during a performance can cause the student's confidence to diminish dramatically. Maintaining an acceptable level of self-confidence often becomes a matter of setting the student up to win--to ensure, after a traumatic performance experience, that the next performance is with a piece as comfortable to the student as an old shoe.

But some students lack self-confidence in performance from the very start, and adults, in particular, have great problems in this area. What is the answer? Desensitization with short, easy pieces in many informal settings can help; dropping the memory requirement can add confidence to a performance, but it also can reinforce the student's belief he or she cannot play without the music. It is a sticky problem all music teachers face, and the answers are as diverse as the students who experience it.

NOTES

(1.) McCormick, J. and McPherson, G., "The Role of Self-Efficacy in a Musical Performance Examination: An Exploratory Structural Equation Analysis," Psychology of Music. 31, (2003): 37-51.

(2.) McCormick, J. and McPherson, G., "Motivational and Self-Regulated Learning Components of Musical Practice," Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. 141 (1999): 98-102.

(3.) Bandura, A. Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: Freeman, 79.

(4.) McCormick, J. and McPherson, G., "The Role of Self-Efficacy," 42.

(5.) Ibid., 48.