Reconceptualising the lecture as a short series of online video segments

In 2020, the Music School recognised the need to attract larger numbers of students and the lack of online opportunities for music students in Aotearoa. The initiative was envisioned to meet the potential student population’s needs, increase student numbers and offer new opportunities in pedagogical development for the 21st century. This pilot was born out of the following possibilities:

• Students could undertake music courses with the University of Auckland from anywhere in the world and Aotearoa.
• A first-year online course as an initial taster would encourage further study at the University of Auckland.
• Given that many post-graduate music students have busy lives (work, whānau responsibilities, and they often live outside of Auckland), an online post-graduate option would open many enrollment possibilities. The first-year course was, therefore, a testing ground for future postgraduate online developments.

The teachers worked with Ranga Auaha Ako Learning Designers to develop two online courses: Music 103: Music Fundamentals and Music 130: Introduction to Music Technology.

Every week teachers for Music 103 and 130 provide between two to three hours of core interactive lesson material, set specific repertoire and self-directed tasks for students, skills-building exercises using embedded third party software, and a live online session that includes a small practical assessment. These tasks are practical applications of the learning for that week.

Self-paced interactive lessons included:

• Videoed lecture segments with student interaction opportunities.
• Links to pertinent resources.
• Varied and rich repertoire resources.
• Opportunities to practice/experiment with learning through embedded keyboards, software, and associated programmes.

Self-directed tasks included:

• Auralia® practise and set tasks.
• Extra reading and learning.
• Guided repertoire studies with student interaction opportunities and group discussion topics in session groups.

Live online sessions included:

• Bespoke practical assessments that directly apply the learning of the week.
• In MUS 130, this has been an excellent opportunity to support students with the practical technological requirements to work within the Music Technology field (effectively assisting students in building their own home studios).
• Session groups become like whānau groupings within the course. These are the same people every week who meet and contribute to online discussions together.

Students are provided with a clear and supportive guide through the week’s learning activities, self-directed tasks, points for discussion, group and individual music-making tasks, and repertoire for revisiting. Student feedback is gathered weekly using H5P Multipoll.

Example of H5P interactive presentation (video)

The materials for courses are rich and organised. This allows for constant reflection and adaptation with each iteration of the course(s).

From 74 surveys taken at week five, 66% of students were ‘happy’, 33% were ‘alright’, and 1% were ‘sad’. Comments suggest that students generally enjoy the experience but are also challenged by the change in culture from traditional lecture-driven to self-paced ‘flipped classroom’ teaching and learning. Although it was not explicitly stated, initial surveys indicated that some students felt ‘short-changed’ by the new paradigm. To resolve this issue, during the second offering of the courses, all Live Sessions included in-depth discussions (mini-lectures) of the week’s content. These sessions were highly effective in allowing both teachers and students the chance to speak openly and passionately about what the materials meant to them. Regular whole-class test revision workshops were also added at weeks 5, 9, and 13 (just before end-of-module tests).

Student achievement

At this time, it appears that the courses are producing some very high achievement rates. The courses require students to be committed to studying music – exploring areas of learning deeply and during their own time. This is unusual (and challenging) at the first year level. Initial data also suggests that student retention rates are far better than previous iterations of the courses. Reductions in attrition of around 40% have been observed in MUS103 and 130 (around half the number of dropouts). An interesting actuality made possible by the high quality of online resources available is that some students did extremely well in the courses – achieving As in some cases – without ever attending classes. It appears that this style of technology-supported teaching is offering an answer to the diminishing rates of attendance we have been observing across the University in recent years.

Now, after the second offering of the courses, the long-term benefits of the project are beginning to become apparent. I have been an academic for 25 years, and these are undoubtedly the highest-quality courses I’ve ever taught. What’s more, I’ve never had as much time as I do now. The hours needed to teach the courses have become radically reduced after the initial development phase, and this has profoundly improved my experience as a senior lecturer.

In future, I envisage that both MUS103 and MUS130 will experience significant growth. The courses have not yet been advertised, but a similar music theory course offered by Sydney Conservatorium boasts around 8000 enrolments per annum. A free music technology course offered by the University of Adelaide attracts more than 30,000 students worldwide. I imagine our courses will attract numbers between 400-500.

It is easy to imagine a future where ALL University courses are underpinned by teaching and learning ‘engines’ similar to those used in MUS103 and 130 – where students can navigate their way through course materials in flexible ways – ways that suit their lifestyles. The courses become the receptacles of knowledge (not the teachers). Such a ‘paradigm shift’ would free up an enormous amount of time and energy, allowing teachers to concentrate on delivering high-level relational teaching experiences. Together with smart assessment strategies, this ‘possible future’ presents a scenario where high-quality learning experiences are custom-made for each student using a number of pedagogically sound ‘modes’. It allows us to honour what we have already identified as important to us: place, culture, compassionate relationships, and academic rigour.