Fostering boys’ creativity through problem-solving in Music

James Balmer, Music Director

Fairfield Country Day School, Fairfield, Connecticut USA

Abstract

Problemsolving isaskillnecessary forstudents toacquire inorder for them tobest

succeed in their lives. This includes the students inmy ninth gradeMusicHistory

coursewhoare required to studymusic fromGregorian chant through theTwenty‐

FirstCentury.Giventhatagooddealofthiscoursemusicisnew,foreign,andremoved

from themusic towhichmost fifteen‐year‐oldboys listen, Isetout toprovideanew

learningavenueforthesestudents.WiththeuseoftheirMacBookProcomputersand

our sixCD setofmusicrecordings, I set forth severalnewchallenges to theseyoung

men.

I presented the challenge of problem solving to my students and their choices of solutions

to the first two problems involved creativity. Each student solved the first problem by

selecting a video for his research and then solved a second problem by selecting a

musical piece, or more than one, to create new music underscoring for the existing film.

First, I suggested that each boy find a film clip and learn how to download this film clip

from the original location into iMovie. Second, I suggested that each student learn how

to replace the existing music underscoring in his selected film clip with music from our

six CDs in our Music History course. Third, each student was required to learn how to

best match his new music underscoring to the film clip that he selected.

Results indicate that students found creative ways to solve the problems posed by the project, which

included selecting a film clip, transferring the film clip into iMovie, removing the existing music

underscoring from the film clip and attaching their choice(s) of new music for film underscoring. The boys

also learned how to manipulate the speed of the film so as to best align with the tempo and accents within

their new music. These skills can be employed in multiple disciplines throughout our students’ course of

studies at Fairfield, and in the years ahead at the secondary schools to which these young men will

matriculate. Students worked both individually on their own project and collectively in developing their

problem-solving skills. By developing the skills to problem-solve within this research, our

ninth grade students used their applied imagination to create their new music

underscoring for their video.

Introduction

In his definition of creativity, Ken Robinson (2009) notes:

Imagination is not the same as creativity. Creativity takes the process

of imagination to another level. My definition of creativity is “the

process of having original ideas that have value.” Imagination can be

entirely internal. You could be imaginative all day long without anyone

noticing. But you never say that someone was creative if that person

never did anything. To be creative you actually have to do

something. It involves putting your imagination to work to make

something new, to come up with new solutions to problems, even to

think of new problems or questions. You can think of creativity as

applied imagination (p. 67).

Developing problem-solving skills in students is necessary in each academic discipline.

It is critical that we as educators provide an environment whereby our students are able to

gain insight into new skills and grow in confidence to develop their abilities to problem

solve. Professor Rufus Black (2012) speaks to the ever-present need for this tenet to be

true in preparing students of today and tomorrow. Avril Loveless (2007) writes that:

Digital information and communication technologies, which can be

viewed as a set of tools for students in this twenty-first century, can be

used to support imaginative expression, and will allow students to learn

through autonomy and collaboration. These new tools, in media and

new technology environments, guide learning to be creative and

learning will occur through being creative. Creative collaborations can

be supported by digital technologies in a variety of ways, offering

opportunities for connections between learners and practitioners, and

for shared spaces for making and developing work with others (p. 12-

13).

The purpose of this research was to empower students with the skills necessary to use

technology creatively to solve several problems. I selected action research as a method

by which to evaluate how students could learn problem-solving skills, our course

repertoire, and then develop creative solutions to the problem of creating new music

underscoring for an existing film. Moreover, by using music from our Music History

course, students became engaged with multiple musical works early on in our school year

and this new familiarity provided keen awareness and knowledge of course material.

Students developed great confidence in their technology skills through their own failures

and subsequent successes in their problem solving.

I also chose the method of action research for this project, as it is community based

(Stringer 2007). I wished to provide a method for the students to develop new problem-

solving skills individually and to provide an opportunity for students to work together in

their solutions and skill development.

My research question was, “How does the use of iMovie, used to create and replace an

existing soundtrack, foster the development of creativity in problem-solving skills for a

class of ninth grade boys?”

These problem-solving skills would be developed both individually and collectively.

Prior to this research project, only two or three students had ever attempted the challenge

of downloading a short movie into iMovie, removing the existing music underscoring,

replacing the original underscoring with a new musical choice, and aligning the speed of

the film with the tempi and accents in the replacement underscoring.

As mentioned above, creativity is “the process of having original ideas that have value,”

and to be creative one needs to “put your imagination to work to make something new, to

come up with new solutions to problems, even to think of new problems or questions.

You can think of creativity as applied imagination.” (Robinson 2009, p.67) In my

research, students were asked to problem-solve by creating the new music underscoring

for their video of choice.

Literature Review

Challenges presented to our students have, and will, continue to increase in complexity,

according to Dr. Rufus Black (2012) of the University of Melbourne. Therefore, as

educators, we are responsible for fostering improvement in developing problem-solving

skills in our students of the 21st century. Regarding problem-solving skills, Black

encouraged those gathered at the IBSC Conference in Melbourne, Australia in July of

2012 to incorporate problem-solving skills into all curricula. Black also noted that the use

of technology within our classrooms can and will greatly enhance the creative process of

problem solving. Further, a study at the University of Leicester suggests “boys are more

confident in their use of music technology” and “that they are showing an increase in

interest in music as a result of this confidence.” (Comber, Hargraves, and Colley, 1993

pp. 123-134).

Given the consistent and regular improvements to existing technology, our students

serve as learners and teachers. Their adaptability to the many and frequent technological

changes allow our students to pioneer the path forward as we incorporate technology into

our creative problem solving in education. In so doing, we instill a strong sense of

confidence, sense of courage, and sense of leadership within our young men. Reichert

and Hawley (2010) note:

Students are encouraged to work together as a class or in small groups

to solve problems so there is usually no hesitation for at least one

student to volunteer an answer and for others to either support him or

add their own solution. Students are very engaged as problem solvers,

sharers of strategies or seekers of strategies (p.184).

In her article of September 2007, Avril Loveless writes:

Creativity can be regarded as not only a quality found in exceptional

individuals, but also as an essential life skill through which people can

develop their potential to use their imagination to express themselves,

and make original and valued choices in their lives. Societies of the

21st century require active participation in the fast changing

‘Knowledge Age’ in which there is an interaction between people,

communities, creative processes, knowledge domains and wider social

contexts (pp. 12-13).

When examining the role of digital technologies in the creative process, Loveless (2007)

states:

Digital information and communications technologies (ICT) can be

seen as a set of tools which can be chosen as and when they are

appropriate in the creative process. In addition, it can be argued that the

characteristics of ICT can also make a distinctive contribution to those

processes, providing new tools, media and environments for learning to

be creative and learning through being creative. (PP. 12-13).

Loveless further notes that:

ICT can be used to support imaginative expression, autonomy and

collaboration, fashioning and making, pursuing purpose, being original

and judging value. Creativity can also be promoted and extended with

the use of new technologies, where there is understanding of, and

opportunities for, the variety of creative processes in which learners can

engage (pp. 12-13).

Loveless (2007) goes on to write:

Schools and classrooms, models of access to ICT resources should

reflect characteristics of creative environments and teaching strategies

which include:

awareness of the ways in which creativity is related to knowledge across

the curriculum

Opportunities for exploration and play with materials, information and

ideas

Opportunities to take risks and make mistakes in a non-threatening

atmosphere

opportunities for reflection, resourcefulness and resilience

flexibility in time and space for the different stages of creative activity

teaching strategies which acknowledge ‘teaching for creativity’ as well

as ‘teaching creatively’ (p. 13).

In answering the question, “How are people using digital technologies creatively?”

Loveless (2007) suggests:

Many learners and teachers have established a wide range of activities

to support approaches to creativity and exploit the features of digital

technologies in processes such as: creating and making: engaging in

making meanings though fashioning processes of capture, manipulation

and transformation of media.

It is precisely this concept of “capture, manipulation and transformation of media,” which

I hoped would engage my students and thereby encourage them to create their own music

underscoring.

Founded in 1943 the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (in

Gurian & Stevens, 2012) indicates the following tenets:

“when teachers use pictures and graphics more often (even well into high school),

boys write with more detail, retain more information, and get better grades on

written work across the curriculum.

The more learning is project-driven and kinesthetic, the more boys' bodies will be

engaged in learning—causing more information to be retained, remembered, and

displayed on tests and assignments.

Goal-oriented activities are often essential for boy-learning.”

This second point speaks directly to the research I engaged in with my students at

Fairfield Country Day. Guided by procedures listed at E How Tech, students learned the

problem-solving skill of how to remove music from the background of a film and then

selected and installed their own background music from pre-existing recorded music

within our Music History Curriculum.

Research Context and Participants

This action research project was undertaken at the Fairfield Country Day School in

Fairfield, Connecticut in the United States. FCDS is a private, independent school

serving approximately 260 boys in grades Pre-Kindergarten through Nine since 1936.

The Country Day School community shares a common purpose of academic excellence.

Our curriculum is rigorously designed to stretch each boy to reach his full potential.

Technology is fully integrated across all grade levels and disciplines. We are leaders in

the application of technology in the classroom, with over 15 years’ experience, including

national recognition for our cutting-edge laptop and iPad programs.

Nineteen students, who make up my ninth grade class, formed the focus of this research.

Letters of consent were completed by parents, which included permission to use all data

collected and video footage of interviews with students, as well as the students’ projects

throughout this process. The data remained confidential within the findings and context

of this report. Projects were assigned numbers and student names were not included in

reports.

Action

Students were given a task designed to develop their creative problem-solving skills. This

task required students to replace existing video underscoring. Students viewed a sample

film clip, approximately five minutes in length, and were then given the task of selecting

one musical piece contained in our set of CDs to replace the existing underscoring.

Initial attempts at this task included “near misses” by each individual, with many

struggling to solve the steps within this problem-solving process. Students quickly

learned, however, to seek assistance from one another throughout the process. They

began to work collectively to solve the problems at hand.

Students were guided through the process of video underscoring replacement. Each

student searched for a video segment of his choice, between three and ten minutes in

length. Students then searched through our six CD set of recordings including music

from Gregorian Chant through to, and including, Twentieth Century Music. Each young

man selected his own new music for underscoring in order to best match the film clip he

had selected. Several students selected more than one video to underscore with new

music and many students employed more than one piece of music in their new

underscoring.

Data Collection

Students completed surveys before, during, and after the project. These surveys

contained multiple choice questions as well as open-ended questions, which permitted

each student to state his thoughts, reactions, concepts, and suggestions as to how best to

problem solve. Students also completed a Compass Points Activity (CPA) upon

completion of their project. The CPA allowed the students to anonymously indicate their

preferences and opinions regarding all stages of this project.

A critical friend interviewed each student upon completion of their project. During the

interview, students discussed the challenges in creating the new underscoring for an

existing film clip.

Student work was sent to iMovie through an Airport Drop box and organized by an

assigned number for my viewing of each film. Two students guided others in the process

of Air Dropping their projects into one file. I observed each anonymous submission in

private and I tallied and coded the information collected by my critical friend.

Data Analysis

My colleague delivered the completed surveys and the Compass Points Activity data to

me for analysis. Student project data were placed into an Excel spreadsheet, which

included categories of responses, both similar and different, in order to code the

information and gain valuable insight as to percentages of various responses and choices

made. Once coded into categories of similar and different choices made by each student,

graphs reflecting student choices in problem solving were created in Excel. I observed

progress, in the problem-solving skills mentioned earlier, made by each subject, as new

editions were submitted. Each student submitted up to four improved versions.

Discussion of Results

Nineteen ninth grade students completed the research project. Students were allowed to

select their own video, with restrictions around suitable content, and they were also

allowed to select their music for underscoring from our Music History course six CD

collection. As data were analysed, problem-solving skills were measured, which revealed

student thoughts and reactions before, during, and upon conclusion of their project; as

well as measuring success and accuracy within their specific underscoring replacement

project.

The problem of replacing the existing sound track began with a search for both a video

choice and at least one, music choice. Students learned how to replace the soundtrack,

how to download a video from YouTube, and how to manipulate the speed of the video

in order to best match up with the tempo and accents in their music underscoring.

Data collected in the surveys indicated that five of the students worked alone on their

project, while fourteen of the students sought out assistance from one or more classmates.

Eight of the students were excited with their project to such a degree that they chose to

select a second video and create new underscoring to both videos; while eleven percent

selected one video for their project.

 

Figure 1: Videos employed in student projects

 

 

Video adjustments employed included two students made one adjustment, seven students

made two to three adjustments, eight students made many adjustments, and finally two

students made no adjustments. At the outset, three students guided their classmates in the

skills of video adjustment. Several other students then began to assist in the guidance of

developing the skills necessary to adjust the speed of the videos. Again, students made

both individual and collaborative efforts, as they accomplished the tasks for their

projects.

 

 

Figure 2: Video Adjustments made by each student  

With regards to the selection of their new sound track for video underscoring, students

shared the following data. Prior to the beginning of the project, one student had an

obvious music choice, seven students had from one to ten choices in mind, one student

had more than ten choices, and ten students needed to complete a total search in order to

find their music selection(s) for underscoring.

 

  

Figure 3: Sound track replacement process at outset of project  

Each student chose an action-based film of some variety. Students were instructed that

their film choices needed to be suitable in content for viewing by our student body,

faculty, and parents. They were also guided to select a film segment from three to ten

minutes in duration. This length restriction was assigned in order to give each student

sufficient time to thoroughly complete his project.

Students shared their individual concerns through two surveys before, during, and

following their projects. Before the project began, only two to three students of the

nineteen had previous experience in the skills necessary for solving the replacement of

music underscoring. During the project, three students felt frustrated in their ability in

problem-solving skills. Sixteen students expressed that they felt their confidence

growing in their abilities to make the changes required through learning the problem-

solving skills.

 

 

Figure 4: Student feelings during work on project

Upon completion of the project, Nineteen students indicated that they were “more confident,

successful, happy, and smarter,” regarding their ability to accomplish the problems presented,

while completing this research.  

Student written responses indicated that problems to be solved included:

Student 1: “Aligning the speed and pulse of the song(s) to fit with the action in my

video.”

Student 2: “Selecting the best song and mood within a song to match the overall feeling

created in the video.”

Student 3: “I had trouble downloading my video into an MP format.”

Student 4: “At first my video had very poor visual quality and I needed to find the same

video with higher resolution for my project.”

Student 5: “Finding the movie to fit the music which I chose.”

Student 6: “ Slowing down the music to fit the dance moves in my video.”

Student 7: “ Replacing the original music in the film with the music I selected and

finding the best speed for the film to fit the new music.”

Student 8: “ Making the movie speed slower in each scene, so that I could fit the music

to the film.”

Student solutions to these problems included:

Student 1: “I Listened to over one hundred songs to find the best match in speed and

overall pulse to my video.”

Student 2: “I simply kept trying and I asked for other opinions.”

Student 3: “I sought help from two different classmates who were very comfortable

downloading videos.”

Student 4: “I worked harder and longer hours in total. Finally asked my Aunt, who has

had a good deal of experience working with videos.”

Student 5: “Once I found the best movie, I separated the movie into several parts, and

then slowed the movie to best fit the music.”

Student 6: “I received help from a friend to slow down the movie speed.”

Student 7: “I kept working until I found the best speed of the music to match the movie.”

Student 8: “A friend helped me slow down the movie speed by looking on YouTube for

further guidance.”

Fifteen students chose consonant, tonal music; three chose dissonant, tonal music; and

four chose consonant and dissonant tonal music.

Figure 6: Student Tonality Choices in their Music for underscoring

Within the process of selecting, downloading, replacing, and matching video speed and action to align

with the tempo of the music and accents in the music, students experienced a wide range of

Near Misses in their project. While two students were totally successful all of the time,

other students had between two and fifteen Near Misses; at one time or another within

the process of this research.

 

  

Figure 7: Near Misses by numbers of students

 

Regarding the success rate of matching the tempo of the music to the video speed and

action in their selected film, students aligned from as few as five action and music

matches in one film up to eighty action and music matches in another. Students chose to

match action moments and scene changes in their videos to match with accents and

tempo changes within their music choice(s). Several students employed more than one

musical piece for underscoring as they realized they were able to stop the videos between

scenes and begin new music with the subsequent new scene.

Students gradually increased their success with their Matching Points between the Action

and Scene changes in their Video in accordance with the Tempo and/or Accents in the

Underscoring Music, which they selected. Individual students matched from five through

and including sixteen moments in Video and Music. Other students matched as many as

eighteen, twenty-one, twenty two, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, thirty-two, and even as

many as eighty matches by one student. Several of these film clips had fewer matching

points available due to a slower pace in the action and/or very few scene changes.

Students selected music for underscoring from Music History periods including

Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Post Romantic and Nationalism, and

Twentieth century Music.

Figure 8: Period of History chosen for music underscoring Upon conclusion of this project, students participated in a Compass Points Activity,

which yielded the following results:

 

 

Figure 9: Student Reactions upon conclusion of their project

Students expressed confidence in their problem-solving skills acquired in this research.

Through the Compass Points Activity, eleven students indicated that they have the

problem-solving skills necessary to complete this research again and additionally,

incorporate some of their own iTunes as music for the underscoring. Seven students

indicated that they now possess the problem-solving skills necessary to complete this

research again and additionally, incorporate some of their own iTunes as music for

the underscoring; and, add their own original compositions to their underscoring, as

well as film the video for a new research project. Confident in their abilities to

problem-solve, these nineteen subjects indicated that they are interested in more and

varied problems to solve.

Conclusion

Based upon the success recorded in the data yielded by these projects, I believe that

problem-solving skills were developed and enhanced in the group of participants both

with autonomy and with collaboration among many students. Students gradually solved

problems both individually and collectively as they supported one another throughout this

academic process. Therefore, I recognize that this project of study is worthy of inclusion

in future course work by our ninth grade students.

Students were engaged with energy throughout the process of this research. The chance

to observe their confidence improve, as they sometimes stumbled through the hurdles

ahead of them and finally then flew over these same hurdles, was a gift to this educator.

While I did not explicitly measure creativity in this process, creativity was evident from

the outset. Students became increasingly aware that their video choice was quite

important to the success of their project, as too was their audio selection(s). Matching the

mood of the film with a piece of music which most had never heard before in their lives

was a major accomplishment. Aligning this same music to fit their film choice was their

second major accomplishment. As they downloaded the film clips, transferred this film

clip into iMovie, removed the original underscoring, attached and fit their new music

underscoring, and then aligned the speed of the action in their film with the tempo of the

music, I became increasingly aware that this project opened the minds and spirits of these

young men. Now at the end of our year together, I have witnessed first hand how each

student is more completely familiar with our course music.

Implications for practice

Based upon the success of this action research, I will continue to organize this method of

developing problem-solving skills in this ninth grade curriculum. The benefit of guiding

and then observing students work both individually and collectively as they develop their

problem-solving skills is a benefit which will enhance all subject areas in our school.

Future plans include refining the process of video manipulation with respect to the speed

of the films and audio manipulation with regard to tempo and accents within the music.

Also, I plan to include the selection of student music, both composed by the student and

music which the student listens to on a regular basis, as portions of their audio

replacement music for video underscoring.

Reflection

I am most pleased with the results of this project. As a result of using our course music in

their video underscoring, we have been able to discuss these pieces at greater depth much

more quickly than in years past. These great works of Art have become another color on

the palate of colors with regards to great music. Even now, I am startled to listen to the

unexpected student discuss these pieces of music with great ease and care for the content

of life expressed in these many pieces. Furthermore, I fully believe that one of these or a

ninth grade student in these next few years will indeed become a major music producer

scoring music for film and for television, commercials, and more. To observe them work

in this medium, I can and do marvel at their technical ease and their youthful agility with

which they play with these toys of learning. Had we been fully ready to receive these

educational gifts of technology in our youth, I truly wonder what my classmates and I

might have done and might now be doing as a result of these tools at our fingertips. In

the words of the character Buzz Lightyear… “ To infinity, and beyond!”

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank John Munro, Headmaster, and Clifford Paige, Head of Upper

School at Fairfield Country Day School for their support of my participation in this IBSC

action research project. I am also grateful for the support of my colleague John Hoover

in casting his critical eye over this work. I wish to thank Chris Littrell for his guidance

early on in this process. I am most grateful to my colleagues from around the world for

their support throughout this process. Finally, I wish to thank the young men in the Ninth

Grade at Fairfield Country Day School for their initiative, their support for one another,

and their energy in completing this project. I would specifically like to thank two young

men, Zachary Sweedler and Liam Lowsley-Williams. They led their classmates by

example in sharing their technology knowledge and skills with everyone involved.

Finally, I wish to thank my wife and colleague, Mary Nelson, for all of her support and

love throughout this research project.

References

Alton, S. (2011). Recording and Producing Audio for Media. Course Technology PTR;

Safari Books On-line.

Black, R. (2012). Practical Disciplines for the 21st Century Mind.

Melbourne, Aus. IBSC Speaker References

Cohen, P. (2010). Charting Creativity: Signposts of a Hazy Territory.

N.Y. Times.

Chris Comber, David J. Hargreaves and Ann Colley (1993) Girls, Boys, and Technology

in Music Education. British Journal of Music Education, 10, pp. 123-134 doi:

10.1017/S0265051700001583 Web Database

http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0265051700001583(Accessed October

2012)

Crowell, G. (2012). 7 Tips for Using Copyrighted Music in Professional Videos &

Slide-shows: Video and the Law, Reel SEO.

Gagne, C. (2011). Film Music. Web Database www.e-filmmusic.de Web Database

(Accessed October 2012)

Gurian, M. & Stevens, K. (2012) 10 Essential Strategies for Teaching Boys Effectively

Web Database http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol6/604-gurian.aspx (Accessed

November 2012)

Harvard Project Zero (2012) Compass Points Web Database

http://pzweb.harvard.edu/vt/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03

c_Core_routines/CompassPoints/CompassPoints_Routine.html(Accessed October

2012)

Loveless, A.M. (2007, September). Creativity, technology, and learning. Futurelab, and

Executive Summary Web Database

http://archive.futurelab.org.uk/resources/publications-reports-articles/literature-

reviews/Literature-Review382(Accessed September 2012)

McNiff, J. (2010). Action Research for Professional Development: Concise advice for

new and experienced action researchers. Dorset: September Books.

Mertler, C. (2006). Action research: Teachers as action researchers in the classroom.

Thousand Oaks, CA:Prentice Hall.

Nelson, R. (2008) Learning and working in the Collaborative Age: Edutopia

Web Database http://www.edutopia.org/randy-nelson-school-to-career-video

(Accessed September 2012)

Reichert, M. & Hawley, R. (2010). Reaching Boys, Teaching Boys. San Francisco, CA:

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Robinson, K. & Aronica, L. (2009). The Element. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam, Inc.

Stilborn, B. (2012). U is for Underscore: By Word of Beth: Writing, Reading, the Arts,

and Life. Web Database http://www.bethstilborn.com/u-is-for-underscore/

(Accessed October 2012).

Stringer, E. (2002) Action research in education. Prentice Hall Publishers

Tabor, E. (2012) How to Edit Music in IMovie E How Tech Web Database

http://www.ehow.com/how_4443779_edit-music-imovie.html

(Accessed September 2012)

Appendices:

Appendix 1: Initial Survey

1) Do you feel excited or nervous prior to beginning this Ninth Grade IBSC Music Project 2012?

2) Have you attempted to complete a project such as this prior to learning about this project?

3) Having viewed some film footage on Youtube already,

do you have a film clip in mind for your project?

4) Have you listened to some of the song choices in your Listen CD series,

from which you will choose?

5) How do you feel about using your MacBook Pro for this project, in terms of your comfort level?

6) Have you watched film clips on Youtube before beginning this project?

7) Roughly, how many film clips have you watched on Youtube,

prior to learning about this project?

8) Has this IBSC AR Project been explained to you prior to beginning this project?

9) Do you feel confident in what problem you will be creatively solving by completing this project?

10) Having answered these initial questions, do you now feel more anxious,

less anxious, or the same as when we began this survey?

Appendix 2: Survey #2

Survey #2/ Questionnaire

Re: Video/Underscoring Project

1) How did you select your Video for this project?

2) Did you stay with your first Video Choice or did you select a second or third choice

Video for this project?

3) Name each Video, which you considered using:

4) Name the Video, which you decided to use:

5) Did you make a second or third Video/Underscoring Project and if so name these

Videos:

6) Name the Music Selection(s) which you decided to fit to your Video as NEW

Underscoring:

7) Did you have more than one Musical Selection, which you used in your Video project,

please name all that you considered using

8) List the Challenges, which confronted you in this process:

9) How did you overcome these challenges and solve the problems of changing the

Underscoring to your Video?

10) If you stumbled at anytime while creating this New Underscoring, please describe

your stumbling moment(s):

11) Did you receive assistance in creating this Video/Underscoring and if so from whom

and how did they help you?

12) Now that you have completed this process, do you feel capable of solving this

problem once again and can you guide others to solve the Video/Underscoring in the

future?

13) How did you feel before you began this project?

14) How did you feel during the creation of your project?

15) How do you feel now after completing this project?

Appendix 3: Compass Points Activity

Using Blank Note Cards to remain anonymous:

Place ONE card in ONE Direction Location for each Question.

North= Gym Wall, South = Elevator Wall, East = Back Drop on Stage, West = Dining

Room

1. Before we began this project you felt: North – Frightened/Nervous, South –

Comfortable, East – Totally Uncertain, West - Anxious/Excited

Answers #1 – North – 4, South – 10, East – 0, West 4

2. As we began your possible video was: North – Fixed and Certain in your mind, South

– Totally NO Idea, East – A couple of choices, West – Needed to Search

Answers #2 – North – 8, South – 0, East = 10, West = 0

3. Musically speaking, my soundtrack replacement choice was: North – Obvious First

Choice, South – One to Ten possible choices, East – More than Ten choices,

West – Total Search

Answers #3 – North – 1, South – 6, East – 1, West – 10

4. Once I decided on my Video, I: North – made no adjustments to the video

itself South – Made 2 to 3 adjustments to the video East – Made 1 adjustment West –

made MANY adjustments

Answers #4 - North – 2, South = 7, East – 2, West – 7

5. Throughout the project, I: - North – worked completely on my own, South – received

help from ONE or more classmates

Answers: North - 5 South -13

6. Having completed this video/soundtrack project I: - North – am interested in

completing more projects with even greater refinements

South – am relieved and do not wish to complete another project of this exact nature

Answers: North - 13, South – 5

7. Having completed this video/soundtrack project I: - North – Feel Confident that I can

teach others how to complete this task South – Do not believe that I can teach this skill

to anyone East – Wish to learn more so that I can teach others how to complete this

task West - am happy with my accomplishment

Answers: North – 11, South –0, East – 1, West – 6

8. I: North – would like to complete this same task again with a new video and music

South – would like to complete this project again with new video and music from the

class and from my iTunes favorites

East - – would like to complete this project again with new video and music from the

class and from my iTunes favorites and compose my own music in Finale

West - – would like to complete this project again with new video and music from the

class and from my iTunes favorites, compose my own music in Finale and create my own

video

Answers: North = 0, South – 10, East – 0, West – 8

Composers selected for New Underscoring Music included:

Will Kemp

Josquin de Pres

Johann Sebastien Bach

George Frederic Handel

Antonio Vivaldi

Franz Josef Haydn

Franz Schubert

Johannes Brahms

Hector Berlioz

Frederic Chopin

Modeste Musorgsky

Peter Tchaikovsky

Claude Debussy

Aaron Copland

Edgar Varese

Alban Berg

Steve Reich

Igor Stravinsky