Volume 2. No 1 Information Technology News of the University of California, Davis October 1993

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Music Students Score High With Computer

by Catherine Curran, Planning, Strategy & Administration

D. Kern Holoman makes sure students in his Music 10 course learn the keyboard. Make that the computer keyboard.

A professor of music and conductor of the UCD Symphony Orchestra, Holoman is using the computer to introduce his students to musical concepts, musical instruments, musical history, musical texts, and musical, well, you name it.

"Masterworks -- An Interactive Guide to Music" is what Holoman calls the software program he developed to take students on a self-guided, audio-visual journey through the world of music. Students who wish to learn more about their professor's instrument of choice can do so by clicking on Bassoon. In addition to a drawing of the U-shaped woodwind, they will find references to pieces in which the bassoon is heard. Tips from Holoman's book and 1992 Book of the Month Club Selection, Evenings with the Orchestra: A Norton Guide for Concert-Goers, no doubt appear in the section titled "Going to A Concert."

"When students come to take a general education course in music, their backgrounds and abilities are mixed. Some have never even been to a concert," says Holoman.

The challenge in teaching an introductory course, Holoman notes, is finding a way to expose students to the basics without taking up too much time in the classroom.

Holoman incorporates information from "Masterworks" into his classroom lectures and often illustrates his talks by projecting screens from the software program. Students, in turn, can go to a computer to review lecture material or take a more in-depth look at topics and concepts presented. Self-paced quizzes are built into the program.

"The idea is that eventually students will have their own disks," says Holoman, who took his journey into computer learning a step farther last spring when he gave students in one course their final exam on computer.

The results looked promising, says Holoman. "Ninety percent of the scores were 95 percent or higher, which means they mastered a great deal of the material."