| The purpose of the study was to describe the current status of music appreciation courses at colleges and universities located in the southeastern region of the United States and accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). One aspect of the research was to compile a set of core instructional objectives and develop a general consensus of instructional purpose that is descriptive of common methods for teaching music appreciation courses. A review of NASM requirements for accreditation revealed that the association does not specify course objectives or primary emphasis for general music instruction for nonmusic majors. The large number of music appreciation textbooks, incorporating a variety of instructional methods and approaches, also confirmed a lack of central focus for music appreciation instruction.; Data was collected using a researcher-designed questionnaire, consisting of four parts and ten items, resulting in 77 subitems to which participating subjects responded online via SurveyMonkey.com. A population of 102 NASM-accredited institutions, located in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida, was identified. Of the 102 Directors who were contacted for this investigation, descriptive responses were obtained from 59 Directors (57.84%). Data from the questionnaire were compiled, coded, and entered on the Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS) (Norusis, 2003) using a WindowsRTM operating system for data analyses, including both descriptive and chi-square analyses.; Analyses of the questionnaire responses demonstrated that the majority of NASM schools in the southeastern United States have adopted for primary emphasis in music appreciation instruction helping students understand music elements. When asked to define the concept "to appreciate music." The majority of subjects responded with the definition---understanding the various component parts of music. The majority of NASM-accredited institutions identified 15 required course objectives for music appreciation instruction and selected two textbooks they preferred for music appreciation instruction, including. (a) The Enjoyment of Music by Joseph Machlis and Kristine Forney, and (b) Music: An Appreciation by Roger Kamien.; The majority of subjects revealed that they required two-and-one-half to three hours of in-class instructional time in music appreciation, including the direct supervision of an instructor who has an earned master's degree in music or music education. Each of the institutions participating in this study offered other fine arts courses as alternatives to music appreciation, with only three of the 59 subjects indicating that music appreciation is a required fine arts course for students prior to graduation. |
