Assurance of learning quality in higher music education

Abstract

The quest for quality in higher education remains an essential and prominent issue. Society has given rise to a need for greater consistency and transparency of programme quality. However, this request may bring a certain degree of disagreement to subject areas the focus on individuality or uniqueness. How is the quality reflected in the study of music? This is the question that this study intends to address. In answering this question, in-depth interviews were conducted with seven music academics and one administrator in higher education institutions. They represent various perspectives under different contexts. This study tries to understand and analyze the position and effects of QA and assessment, perceived value of learning quality in music, and further to examine any dissonance between conventional QA issues and music study. When engaging in the study of music, there is no final answer, no authorized way, but diverse views and various debates on how students accomplish artistic goals. Musicians produce music with freedom, creativity as well as discipline, both in musical performance and composition. This poses challenges to measurement of music learning. The interviews collected perceptions, opinions and experiences about assessment and evaluation in music. In the era of accountability, academics raised many questions and continued to struggle in sorting out issues like “how to make the non-measurable components ‘visible’ to students and to the public” and “how the interpretation of musical talent, presentation of innermost feelings and artistic expressions can be measured”? Revealed by the interviewees, musicians may enjoy a great deal of flexibility in interpretation and expression beyond the indications on musical scores. Hence, “it is not easy to apply same standards across unique situations or to rate the quality of musical performance in purely objective terms”. Quality assurance (QA) can be regarded as a means for improving overall quality. However, there are different views on the formulation of QA framework for music. Music academics reiterated that “ideal QA should serve for improvement and advancement in music learning rather than solely compliance”. Henceforth, special characteristics and nature of music study should be taken into account when devising learning strategies and considering standards. It is evident that measuring performance and assuring quality have created disharmony between expectation and reality, as well as potential conflicts between professionalism and accountability. There is a general concern about “evaluating students’ music learning should not compromise the quality of their learning experiences”. In this regard, interviewees suggested and introduced students’ self-evaluation, their involvement in the QA process, peer assessment, continuous assessment and student portfolios to minimize the discord between necessary QA and quality student learning. The objective of the study will be broader than devising a framework for measuring students’ achievement of learning outcomes. It further hopes to look ahead and explore the future directions for performing arts education, to enhance its quality and nurture artists’ talents.