QCC Course Assessment Form (Short)
QCC COURSE ASSESSMENT FORM
Fall 2004, Rev. 6/15/07
Date: January 15, 2013
Department: Music
Course: MU 141 Survey of Jazz
Curriculum or Curricula: Humanities Elective in multiple curricula
PART I. STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES
For Part I, attach the summary report (Tables 1-4) from the QCC Course Objectives Form.
TABLE 1. EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT
Course: MU 141 Jazz: An Introduction
Curricula: Fulfills the liberal arts requirement in music for the AA and AS degrees, and is an approved alternative to MU 110,
as an alternative core required course.
This is an entry-level Writing Intensive course designed to develop an understanding and intelligent listening approach to jazz
music. The course examines representative works of the great performers, composers and arrangers and the development of this
particularly unique American art form through all stylistic eras, from the Civil War (and minstrelsy) through ragtime,
traditional, stride, swing, be-bop (in all of its’ iterations), cool, latin, Brazilian, third stream, “free” etc., through today’s
experimental jazz forays. The course seeks to correlate developments in American and world history (race relations, wars,
technological advances, sociological conditions and movements etc.,) with developments in jazz
performance and concepts. The course also seeks to acquaint the general education student with the great jazz pioneers and
legends of this constantly evolving musical genre
TABLE 2. CURRICULAR OBJECTIVES
Note: Include in this table curriculum-specific objectives that meet Educational Goals 1 and 2:
Curricular objectives addressed by this course:
1. Objective B: Students will demonstrate a progressive understanding of the various elements and basic interrelated processes
of creation, interpretation and execution within their discipline.
2. Objective C: In written work, discussion and creation of art, students will appropriately utilize the vocabulary of their
respective discipline.
3. Objective F: Students will be able to place works of art and/or major performances in historical and stylistic contexts and
demonstrate appreciation of the cultural milieu in which they were created.
TABLE 3. GENERAL EDUCATION OBJECTIVES
Gen ed
objective’s ID
number from
list (1-10)
General educational objectives addressed by this course: Select from preceding list.
(1.) communicate effectively through reading, writing listening and speaking
(2.) use analytical reasoning to identify issues or problems and evaluate evidence in order to make informed
decisions
(5.) integrate knowledge and skills in their program of study
(10.) apply aesthetic and intellectual criteria in the evaluation or creation of works in the humanities or the arts
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TABLE 4: COURSE OBJECTIVES AND STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Course objectives
Learning outcomes
1. Students will demonstrate
knowledge of the definition of terms
used to describe the elements of
music.
a. Students will accurately define common terms used to describe elements
associated with time in music: e.g., beat,, rhythm, meter, tempo,
syncopation, etc.
b. Students will accurately define common terms used to describe elements
with pitch in music: e.g., note, interval, scale, key, chord, harmony, etc
2. Students will demonstrate
a. Students will identify the use of the various elements of music associated
recognition of the different elements with time in music (see above) in recorded examples of jazz.
of music in recorded examples
b Students will identify the use of the various elements of music associated
with pitch in music (see above) in recorded examples of jazz.
c. Students will identify the use of the various elements of music associated
with harmony in music (see above) in recorded examples of jazz.
3.Students will analyze the historical a. Students will understand and accurately describe the development of jazz
and sociological conditions that
as a distinctly American musical art form, with special emphasis on how
influenced the creation of jazz as a
the relationship of historical events, racial relations, economic, social and
distinctly American musical art form technical (r)evolutions each affected the development and characteristics of
throughout its’ history
the most important styles of jazz performance, improvisation, composition
and ensemble arrangements.
4. Through listening and analysis,
a. Students will identify jazz performances as belonging to a specific style
students will learn to recognize the
of jazz, (e.g., Traditional, Stride, Swing, Bebop, Cool, Latin Jazz, Funk,
style characteristics of music
Third Stream, Free etc.), when that style was most popular in the
performed as recorded during
chronological history of the United States and whether or not that style of
different historical periods of the
jazz has survived as a viable performance style alongside its’ successors.
history of jazz (1865-today)
5. Students will demonstrate
recognition of, and will differentiate
and distinguish between outstanding
jazz artists, and will demonstrate
recognition of their legacies
6. Students will demonstrate aural
recognition of the most common
types of jazz song structures and will
be able to differentiate and
distinguish between them
a. Students will identify outstanding jazz instrumentalists, vocalists,
composers and arrangers as being exemplary of a specific style of jazz, and
what their major contributions were to the advancement of the art of jazz
music.
7. Students will assess musical
greatness
a. Students will evaluate and struggle—from knowledge gained!— with
musical greatness as it may involve such important and much discussed
topics as “non-tonic beginnings of some ‘brilliant’ songs”, “breaking all
the rules to find a ‘new order’,” “finding new harmonic/rhythmic/melodic
ways of musical expression”, “combining jazz with ‘classical’ elements” or
“free jazz” with no parameters? etc.
a. Students will analyze, describe (and even compose lyrics for) the 12 bar
“Blues” form, as well as analyzing and understanding the 32 bar (AABA)
“American” Song Form and the Great American Song Book.
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PART II. ASSIGNMENT DESIGN: ALIGNING OUTCOMES, ACTIVITIES, AND
ASSESSMENT TOOLS
For the assessment project, you will be designing one course assignment, which will address at least one general
educational objective, one curricular objective (if applicable), and one or more of the course objectives. Please
identify these in the following table:
TABLE 5: OBJECTIVES ADDRESSED IN ASSESSMENT ASSIGNMENT
Course Objective(s) selected for assessment: (select from Table 4)
1. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the definition of terms commonly used to describe the elements of
music.
2. Students will demonstrate recognition of the different elements of music in recorded examples
3.Students will analyze the historical and sociological conditions that influenced the creation of jazz as a
distinctly American musical art form throughout its’ history
4. Through listening and analysis, students will learn to recognize the style characteristics of music performed as
recorded during different historical periods of the history of jazz (1865-today)
5. Students will demonstrate recognition of, and will differentiate and distinguish between outstanding jazz
artists, and will demonstrate recognition of their legacies
6.Students will demonstrate aural recognition of the most common types of jazz song structures and will be able
to differentiate and distinguish between them
Curricular Objective(s) selected for assessment: (select from Table 2)
1. Objective B: Students will demonstrate a progressive understanding of the various elements and basic interrelated processes
of creation, interpretation and execution within their discipline.
2. Objective C: In written work, discussion and creation of art, students will appropriately utilize the vocabulary of their
respective discipline.
3. Objective F: Students will be able to place works of art and/or major performances in historical and stylistic contexts and
demonstrate appreciation of the cultural milieu in which they were created
General Education Objective(s) addressed in thisassessment: (select from Table 3)
(2.) use analytical reasoning to identify issues or problems and evaluate evidence in order to make informed decisions
(5.) integrate knowledge and skills in their programs of study
(10.) apply aesthetic and intellectual criteria in the evaluation or creation of works in the humanities or arts
i
In the first row of Table 6 that follows, describe the assignment that has been selected/designed for this project.
In writing the description, keep in mind the course objective(s), curricular objective(s) and the general education
objective(s) identified above,
The assignment should be conceived as an instructional unit to be completed in one class session (such as a lab) or
over several class sessions. Since any one assignment is actually a complex activity, it is likely to require that
students demonstrate several types of knowledge and/or thinking processes.
Also in Table 6, please
a) identify the three to four most important student learning outcomes (1-4) you expect from this assignment
b) describe the types of activities (a – d) students will be involved with for the assignment, and
c) list the type(s) of assessment tool(s) (A-D) you plan to use to evaluate each of the student outcomes.
(Classroom assessment tools may include paper and pencil tests, performance assessments, oral questions,
portfolios, and other options.)
Note: Copies of the actual assignments (written as they will be presented to the students) should be gathered
in an Assessment Portfolio for this course.
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TABLE 6: ASSIGNMENT, OUTCOMES, ACTIVITIES, AND ASSESSMENT TOOLS
Briefly describe the assignment that will be assessed:
The exercise is divided into two parts. In part one, students will hear excerpts from four previously studied recorded jazz
performances. Each performance will be from one of the following jazz stylistic periods: Traditional, Stride, Swing and
Bebop. Students are instructed to listen for and to analyze how the different musical elements are used in each excerpt and to
match that with their understanding of the most salient stylistic elements of each of the four stylistic periods. They will then be
asked to determine which era they believe that each performance best exemplified, and why. In the second part, four more
examples, not heard previously but performed by the same jazz artists, will be played and the students will be asked to match
their analysis of musical elements and stylistic characteristics to the same jazz stylistic periods.
Desired student learning outcomes
for the assignment
(Students will…)
List in parentheses the Curricular
Objective(s) and/or General
Education Objective(s) (1-10)
associated with these desired learning
outcomes for the assignment.
Briefly describe the range of
activities student will engage in
for this assignment.
1. Students will identify the use by
performers and composers in recorded
musical examples of the various
elements of music associated with
time in music (Curric. Obj. B, C)
a. Students will listen to excerpts of
musical works not known to them
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5)
2. Students will identify the use by
performers and composers in recorded
musical examples of the various
elements of music associated with
pitch in music (Curric. Obj. B, C)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5)
3. Students will describe the
characteristics of jazz performances
through a description of the different
ways that performers, composers and
arrangers have utilized the elements of
music (Curric. Obj. B, C, F)
(Curric. Obj. B, C, D)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5,10)
A.
Student answers for part one
will be either “correct” or
“incorrect” as judged
against the actual stylistic
period in which the
performance occurred.
B.
Student answers for part two
will be either “correct” or
“incorrect” as judged
against the actual performer
featured on the recording.
b. Students will assess the treatment of
the various elements of music
associated with time in the unknown
excerpts
c. Students will assess the treatment
of the various elements of music
associated with pitch in the unknown
excerpts
d. Students will compare their hearing
of the treatment of these musical
elements in the unknown excerpts
with with their understanding and
knowledge of the characteristic ways
these elements were treated in part one
and in part two
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5,10)
4. Through listening and analysis,
students will learn to recognize the
style characteristics of music
performed as recorded during
different historical periods of the
history of jazz (1865-today)
What assessment tools will be
used to measure how well
students have met each learning
outcome? (Note: a single
assessment tool may be used to
measure multiple learning
outcomes; some learning
outcomes may be measured using
multiple assessment tools.)
e. Based upon their analysis of the
performance of the musical elements
in the unknown excerpts and their
comparison of this to their knowledge
of the characteristic ways these
elements were treated in performance
by known performers students will
make informed determinations as to
what stylistic eras the excerpts come
from and who performed them
f. Students have the opportunity to
5. Students will demonstrate
correlate information and insight
recognition of, and will differentiate
gained through this assignment with
and distinguish between outstanding
jazz artists, and will demonstrate 4(10)that gained throughout the semester.
recognition of their legacies (Curric.
Obj. B, C, D)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5,10)
PART III.
ASSESSMENT
STANDARDS
(RUBRICS)
6. Students will demonstrate aural
recognition of the most common types
of jazz song structures and will be
able to differentiate and distinguish
between them( Curric. Obj. B, C, D)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5,10)
(Curric. Obj. B, C, D)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5,10)
Before the
assignment is
given, prepare a description of the standards by which students’ performance will be measured. This could be a
checklist, a descriptive holistic scale, or another form. The rubric (or a version of it) may be given to the students
with the assignment so they will know what the instructor’s expectations are for this assignment.
Please note that while individual student performance is being measured, the assessment project is collecting
performance data ONLY for the student groups as a whole.
TABLE 7: ASSESSMENT STANDARDS (RUBRICS)
Brief description of assignment: (Copy from Table 6 above)
The exercise is divided into two parts. In part one, students will hear excerpts from four previously studied recorded jazz
performances. Each performance will be from one of the following jazz stylistic periods: Traditional, Stride, Swing and
Bebop. Students are instructed to listen for and to analyze how the different musical elements are used in each excerpt and to
match that with their understanding of the most salient stylistic elements of each of the four stylistic periods. They will then be
asked to determine which era they believe that each performance best exemplified, and why. In the second part, four more
examples, not heard previously but performed by the same jazz artists, will be played and the students will be asked to match
their analysis of musical elements and stylistic characteristics to the same jazz stylistic periods.
Desired student learning
outcomes from the
assignment: (Copy from
Column 1, Table 6 above;
include Curricular and /or
General Education Objectives
addressed)
1. Students will identify the
use by performers and
composers in recorded
musical examples of the
various elements of music
associated with time in music
(Curric. Obj. B, C)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5)
2. Students will identify the
Assessment measures for
each learning outcome:
(Copy from Column 3,Table 6
above)
Standards for student performance:
 Describe the standards or rubrics for
measuring student achievement of each
outcome in the assignment.
 Give the percentage of the class that is
expected to meet these outcomes
 If needed, attach copy(s) of rubrics.
A. Student answers for part one
will be either “correct” or
“incorrect” as judged against the
actual stylistic period in which the
performance occurred.
Excellent: a) Understands the elements of music
and uses the language of music well
b) Demonstrates thoughtful and analytical listening
habits c) Exhibits understanding of the
historical/social contexts of the development of
jazz
Good: a) Good use of the language and concepts of
the elements of music.
b) Demonstrates an attempt at thoughtful and
analytical listening c) Demonstrates an attempt to
understand the historical/social contexts of the
development of jazz
Fair: a) Some use of the language and concepts of
the elements of music. b) Demonstrates some real
attempt at meaningful analytical listening.
c) Demonstrates some attempt to understand the
historical/social contexts of the development of
jazz
Poor (not passing): a) No use of the language and
concepts of the elements of music
B. Student answers for part two
will be either “correct” or
“incorrect” as judged against the
actual performer featured on the
recording
use by performers and
composers in recorded
musical examples of the
various elements of music
associated with pitch in music
(Curric. Obj. B, C)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5)
3. Students will describe the
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b) Demonstrates no attempt at meaningful
analytical listening. c) Demonstrates no attempt to
understand the historical/social contexts of the
development of jazz
characteristics of jazz
performances through a
description of the different
ways that performers,
composers and arrangers have
utilized the elements of music
Projected outcomes:
25% expected to be Excellent
40% expected to be Good
30% expected to be Fair
5% expected to be Poor
(Curric. Obj. B, C, F)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5,10)
4. Through listening and
analysis, students will learn to
recognize the style
characteristics of music
performed as recorded during
different historical periods of
the history of jazz (1865today)
(Curric. Obj. B, C, D)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5,10)
5. Students will demonstrate
recognition of, and will
differentiate and distinguish
between outstanding jazz
artists, and will demonstrate
recognition of their legacies
(Curric. Obj. B, C, D)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5,10)
6. Students will demonstrate
aural recognition of the most
common types of jazz song
structures and will be able to
differentiate and distinguish
between them( Curric. Obj. B,
C, D)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5,10)
(Curric. Obj. B, C, D)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5,10)
PART IV. ASSESSMENT RESULTS
TABLE 8: SUMMARY OF ASSESSMENT RESULTS
Use the following table to report the student results on the assessment. If you prefer, you may report outcomes
using the rubric(s), or other graphical representation. Include a comparison of the outcomes you expected (from
Table 7, Column 3) with the actual results. NOTE: A number of the pilot assessments did not include expected
success rates so there is no comparison of expected and actual outcomes in some of the examples below. However,
projecting outcomes is an important part of the assessment process; comparison between expected and actual
outcomes helps set benchmarks for student performance.
Desired student learning outcomes:
(Copy from, Column 1,Table 6 above;
include Curricular and/or General
Education Objectives addressed)
Student achievement: Describe the group achievement of each
desired outcome and the knowledge and cognitive processes
demonstrated.
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1. Students will identify the use by
performers and composers in recorded
musical examples of the various
elements of music associated with
time in music (Curric. Obj. B, C)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5)
2. Students will identify the use by
performers and composers in recorded
musical examples of the various
elements of music associated with
pitch in music (Curric. Obj. B, C)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5)
3. Students will describe the
characteristics of jazz performances
through a description of the different
ways that performers, composers and
arrangers have utilized the elements of
music (Curric. Obj. B, C, F)
Learning outcomes 1-3are not individually measurable. These
learning outcomes are used to inform the decisions made in
learning outcomes 4 and 5, which are measurable.
For learning outcome 4, students showed a 60% rate out of 57
responses.
For learning outcome 5, students showed a 54% rate out of 57
responses.
In this assignment, students used factual, conceptual and
procedural knowledge. Additionally, t;7;cognitive processes
utilized were remembering, understanding, analysis and
evaluation.
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5,10)
4. Through listening and analysis,
students will learn to recognize the
style characteristics of music
performed as recorded during different
historical periods of the history of jazz
(1865-today)
F
(Curric. Obj. B, C, D)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5,10)
5. Students will demonstrate
recognition of, and will differentiate
and distinguish between outstanding
jazz artists, and will demonstrate
recognition of their legacies (Curric.
Obj. B, C, D)
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1,2,5,10)
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TABLE 9. EVALUATION AND RESULTING ACTION PLAN
In the table below, or in a separate attachment, interpret and evaluate the assessment results, and describe the
actions to be taken as a result of the assessment. In the evaluation of achievement, take into account student
success in demonstrating the types of knowledge and the cognitive processes identified in the Course
Objectives.
A. Analysis and interpretation of assessment results:
What does this show about what and how the students learned?
This assignment showed a slightly higher than expected correct response rate for section one, but
a lower than expected correct response rate for section two. It shows that students did better with
a more general analysis and assessment of musical characteristics associated with specific jazz
stylistic periods than they were with their analysis and assessment of musical characteristics
associated with specific performers from these stylistic periods.
Apparently the assignment revealed that students were utilizing factual, conceptual and
procedural knowledge adequately, but were having difficulty evaluating this knowledge and
making judgements in terms of their understanding of style characteristics associated with
specific performers in the development of the American jazz idiom.
B. Evaluation of the assessment process:
What do the results suggest about how well the assignment and the assessment process worked
both to help students learn and to show what they have learned?
As the results indicate, this assignment was probably too comprehensive and overly ambitious for
an introductory course, and there would seem to be room for design improvement in both the
demands of the course and this particular assignment.
C. Resulting action plan:
Based on A and B, what changes, if any, do you anticipate making?
While it is clear to me that there is great value in requiring students to do the type of
focused listening I ask of them, and that there is great value in learning the historical and
societal forces that work to shape this music, it is also clear that I need to think through
and reformulate the assignment. It’s too soon to know for sure, but what occurs to me as
of this writing is that the assignment might be better meted out in smaller units, earlier
and periodically during the semester. This Assessment has been valuable in pointing out
that students have difficulty in remembering and being tested on an entire semester’s
worth of learning about the stylistic characteristics of so many distinct eras/periods only
at the end of the course, rather than on a regular periodic and cumulative basis.
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JEFF---USE THIS SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!
The course begins with an introduction of the basic elements of music, an introduction to the basic instruments and instrumental
groups used to perform jazz as well as an introduction to the notation of music as an invaluable tool in understanding the
development of the jazz idiom throughout its’ history. We then proceed, through videos, assigned readings and listening, to
examine the origins, practices and cross influences of the incredible panoply of multi-ethnic music to be heard in New Orleans
around the time of the Civil War. An examination of the tradition of “minstrelsy”, its’ music and racial overtones, the rise of “Jim
Crowe” as an icon of segregation, the end of the war and the abandonment of marching band instruments by the side of the road
(as troops rushed home) and the subsequent re-birth of horns and drums in the hands of amateurs in and around the “Big Easy”
served as a springboard for what was to become Storyville, where quite probably “jass” saw its’ first incarnation. Then, on to the
parallel development of “ragtime”, (Scott Joplin, Jellyroll Morton), a mostly composed (written out) highly syncopated, but not
yet improvised genre (mostly for piano), which was all the rage in middle class America beginning in the 1890’s), while Plessy v.
Ferguson established “separate but equal” as the American standard for the races—which was the law of the land until it was
finally overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1950 (Brown v. Bd. of Ed.)
Throughout the semester, every effort is made to explore, identify and re-acquaint students with the history of the United States,
and to see how that history in particular relates to the many substantive and stylistic changes in musical conception, personal
expression, performance practice, impact of technology, audience expectations etc., that jazz has undergone in its’ relatively short
history (1865-2013!) In addition to class discussions, there are written assignments which ask students to explore how, why and
what has changed and continues to change in the dynamic jazz environment. I addition, all students are required to attend at least
two live, pre-approved jazz performances and submit detailed Concert Reports.
QCC 12/3/04
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