Institutional culture and learning I: perceptions of the learning environment and musicians' attitudes to learning

Abstract

Research in higher education has established a relationship between student approaches to learning and their perceptions of the learning environment. This study aims to make a contribution to music education literature by investigating undergraduate music students' perceptions of the learning context and their attitudes towards learning and performance. The research design included a large questionnaire survey followed up by 13 case study interviews and six focus groups. Survey participants were 170 undergraduate musicians studying in three distinctively different higher education institutions, encompassing classical, popular, jazz and Scottish traditional music genres. Findings suggest that the context of learning and the prevailing institutional culture are related to students' approaches to learning and performance. This paper focuses on findings related specifically to students' approaches to learning. Whilst statistically controlling for biases in gender and genre across the three institutions, differences were observed in students' self-assessment and perceived control over musical skills, as well as perceived relevance and pleasure obtained from engagement with musical activities. Our findings also highlight undergraduate musicians' perceptions of successful learning environments. A subsequent paper will focus on students' approaches to performance, in terms of musical self-efficacy and experiences of performance anxiety.

Institutional culture and learning II: inter-relationships between perceptions of the learning environment and undergraduate musicians' attitudes to performance

“…Conclusions and implications for education arising from the two 'institutional culture and learning' papers Overall, findings reported in the two 'institutional culture and learning' papers (Papageorgi et al 2010b; current paper) support that the context where music performance learning takes place and the institutional culture relates to students' perceptions and approaches to learning and performance. This is in line with research in other higher education settings suggesting that perceptions of the learning environment influence students' approaches to studying (Lizzio, Wilson, and Simons 2002).…”

“…Findings discussed in Papageorgi et al (2010b), suggested that they felt they had less control over coping skills for managing stage fright and everyday stress, as well as stamina, which could explain this finding. No differences between students were found in relation to group performance, suggesting that when they had support from coperformers they felt equally confident.…”

“…Following on from the first part of our investigation, reported in an earlier issue of the journal (Papageorgi et al 2010b), this paper aimed at investigating interrelationships between perceptions of the learning context and undergraduate musicians' attitudes towards performance. We focused on the fifth element presented in the conceptual model of music performance learning (attitudes towards performance Á see Figure 1) and explored the following research question:…”

“…In an article preceding this paper, entitled 'Institutional culture and learning I: interrelationships between perceptions of the learning environment and undergraduate musicians' attitudes to learning' (Papageorgi et al 2010b), we have discussed literature suggesting that higher education students are affected by: (1) the student culture, and (2) the culture of the institution (Bliss and Sandiford 2004). Recent conceptualisations of learning in higher education view it as an interactive system, within which the quality of learning achieved is the product of interactions between:…”

“…It suggests that students' perceptions of their learning environment, in light of their personal characteristics and traits, determine how situational factors influence approaches to learning and learning outcomes. As discussed in Papageorgi et al (2010b), we have adapted Biggs' (1989) model to a music learning context and conceptualised music performance learning as the manifestation of intrinsic, foundational and projectional elements (see Figure 1). …”