Michael Drews and Chris Dobbs, School of Engineering and Technology
Principal Investigator: Michael Drews, associate professor, Department of Music and Arts Technology, School of Engineering and Technology
Co-Principal Investigator: Chris Dobbs, technical services coordinator, Department of Music and Arts Technology, School of Engineering and Technology
Project Title: Hardware-based Teaching Strategies for Music Technology Curricula
DEI Focus
Funding Level: $5,000
Abstract: Hardware-based Teaching Strategies for Music Technology Curricula seeks to provide students with access to the modern equivalents of influential music technology designs to expand the student’s historical understanding, instrument literacy, and musical creation skills. The music manufacturing industry is producing new approximations of historical music technology including the Theremin, analog and digital synthesizers, drum machines, and other physical devices that are reflecting a renewed emphasis on hardware interaction. Music Technology struggles with the barrier of financial cost for student equity. While most of these devices are more affordable than their predecessors, ownership and experience is beyond the financial means of most students. This curriculum enhancement seeks to provide equity to music technology students in their access to essential modern hardware. To accomplish this in the framework of a music technology course, a flipped classroom is employed to allow previously synchronous lecture content to be delivered asynchronously. This frees classroom time for group discussion on the historical content and physical exploration on the modern device. Students are then provided with time outside the class to work with the hardware to become personally familiar with it, emulating and recontextualizing the work of music technology pioneers and modern creators. As this work grows through the semester, Vygotsky’s scaffolding may occur for students to create their own knowledge and workflows. This knowledge may inform the rest of the students’ coursework and career. This hardware application aims to result in an enhanced classroom experience, alternative learning activities, and expand the scholarship of music technology pedagogy.
