Perceptions of Taught and Learned Behaviors by Methods Course Professors and Their Students

The purpose of this study was to: (1) investigate the perceptions and differences between the effective skills and behaviors music education professors taught in their classes, and (2) determine what effective skills and behaviors their students learned. Participants were undergraduate music education majors (N = 125), and their respective professors (N = 13), enrolled in music education methods courses, which included Choral Methods, Elementary General Music Methods, Secondary General Music Methods, and Instrumental Methods during the Spring 2014 semester. All participants were presented a survey listing 40 effective teaching behaviors, music skills, and personal skills/behaviors, outlined by Teachout (1997). Methods course professors and their students were asked to rate, using a three-point Likert-type scale, which skills and behaviors had been taught and which skills and behaviors had been learned and improved upon during the specific methods course. Overall, the results of this study indicated that general methods course professors rated Teaching Behaviors and Personal Skills/Behaviors higher than ensemble methods course professors. Conversely, ensemble methods course professors rated Music Skills higher than general methods course professors. In addition, for each of the three categories, Teaching Behaviors, Music Skills, and Personal Skills/Behaviors, methods course professors and their students did not agree upon the skills and behaviors that were taught, nor did they agree upon the skills and behaviors that were learned and improved. Implications for these results include the suggestion for methods course professors to specifically address the skills and behaviors they perceive are important for their students to learn.