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Music Performance Assessment: Noise in Judgments and Reliability of Measurements
No full textIndividual taste plays an important role in assessing music performances. Aggregating ratings from multiple evaluators is commonly applied to overcome individual biases and to obtain near-objective judgments. However, high degrees of subjectivity in the evaluation of music performances inevitability lowers the agreement between music evaluators and the reliability of aggregated ratings. The present project aims at contributing to the research on music performance assessment by designing and implementing a novel procedure, the Multi-Perspective Assessment Protocol (MPAP) in music, for reliably measuring performance quality. The approach is inspired by the Noise Framework (Kahneman et al., 2021) and Generalizability Theory (G Theory; Brennan, 2001) and results show how interrater agreement can be conceptualized and operationalized efficiently in terms of rater-related variability in numerical judgments. In particular, the Generalizability and Dependability coefficients from G Theory seem well suited for providing useful information about the necessary sample size to ensure reliable performance score estimates. Moreover, the MPAP allowed to collect and compare data from different cohorts of evaluators, assessing performance quality from complementary viewpoints: aggregate judgments from expert evaluators were strongly correlated to those from a general sample of raters without expert experience, r = .786, p < .001. The latter sample achieved similar levels of reliability but with a larger sample size. In contrast, self-assessment scores from the performing musicians were very much unrelated to any peer-evaluation ratings.. In conclusion, the present study shows how recent advancements in theoretical frameworks and psychometric methodology provide a principled approach for increasing the quality and reliability of performance evaluation data
Slow Looking at Still Art: The Effect of Manipulating Audio Context and Image Category on Mood and Engagement During an Online Slow Looking Exercise
Get PDFIn the past two decades, ‘slow looking’ has emerged as an engaging art-viewing approach used by museums around the world as part of their in-person and online programming, but there has been little empirical inquiry into the precise effects of the practice. This study represents the first such attempt, exploring reported impacts of slow looking within an online context. Specifically, the study examined the effects of two factors — audio context (control, meditation, historical) and image category (photography, representational, abstract) — on mood change and aesthetic engagement. A total of 141 participants completed the online exercise, first selecting a series of three artworks within one of the image categories and then viewing each for 3 min per work while listening to the randomly allocated audio context. Participants reported feeling significantly more pleasant and relaxed after the exercise. Representational artworks were chosen the most and also contributed to greater overall aesthetic experience scores, and the historical condition was found to lead to greater levels of cultural understanding and engagement. Future investigation within an ecologically valid setting is currently underway, examining the contribution of different live viewing elements to the slow looking experience
Religion in language and literacy education
No full textAlthough religion is an important driving force in a global context characterised by increased plurality and complexity of religious and non-religious beliefs, investigating religion in educational practice has been a peripheral concern. Viewing religion, language and literacy as historically and socio-culturally grounded and embedded phenomena, we explore three areas of applied linguistics: educational policy, teacher practices, and learning and identity construction. We show that while links between religious and language ideologies are articulated differently in educational policies depending on whether states are religious or tolerant of religious diversity, teachers’ teaching practices are shaped by existing policies as well as teachers’ identities (religious, ethnic, gender, etc.) and language ideologies. Hence, religiously oriented teachers often face and navigate the dilemmas and tensions of teaching languages, which are also felt by and affect learners learning in religious settings and in schools. In an interconnected and constantly evolving world characterised by processes of post-secularisation, technologisation, and digitalisation, transdisciplinary approaches have much to offer to the field of applied linguistics
The power of the norm: how schools interpret, use and disclose education data
No full textWhile education data is frequently collected and used in schools, critical edtech research has revealed a range of issues and harms for individuals and institutions. In this article, the authors investigate how school administrators, teachers, parents and students understand the collection, use and disclosure of school data. They foreground data justice to reveal systemic issues in Australian education, revealing a complex picture of how school data is experienced that belies the more straightforward discourse that it leads to improved learning outcomes. The authors discuss three main stumbling blocks for schools in the quest for data justice: the increasing use of standardised data and the power of the norm in assessing learning; wellbeing and teacher performance; a lack of informed and knowledgeable stakeholders; and disparities in data infrastructures that are determined by school budgets. They conclude the article by making practical suggestions to advance data justice in Australian schools
Corporatisation and financialisation of social reproduction: Care homes and childcare in the United Kingdom
Get PDFThe ownership and financial strategies of companies providing care for children or older people have become an increasingly salient concern, in both research and policy, because of their implications for the quality and availability of care services, as well as working conditions. However, analysis has tended to be sector specific. This article provides the first comparison of ownership, business models and workforces across childcare and adult social care in the United Kingdom. It reveals growing convergence in terms of the dominance of large companies and their financial strategies, which can reward investors while undermining access to care and worsening working conditions for large, low-paid workforces. We conceptualise these developments in terms of corporatisation and the related process of financialisation. They are, we argue, underpinned by the political economy of low wages for care work, which we explain using feminist social reproduction theory – highlighting the devaluation of feminised and racialised caring labour. The article identifies the need for further research to account for differences between the sectors, to map the geographies and political economies of care, and to compare these processes internationally
Electronic cigarette use among adult smokers: longitudinal associations with smoking and trait impulsivity
Get PDFObjective
The present exploratory study uses a longitudinal design to assess the associations between electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use and cigarette smoking, motivation to quit and trait impulsivity among adult smokers.
Methods
One hundred and sixteen cigarette smokers only and ninety-one dual users (smoke cigarettes and use e-cigarettes) were recruited (mean age [standard deviation] = 25.11[6.94], male = 48.3%). Participants were recruited online and 121 were followed-up at 3 months. Participants completed online questionnaires regarding socio-demographics, smoking/e-cigarette use characteristics and trait impulsivity at baseline, and they self-reported their smoking status at 3-month follow-up.
Results
The use of e-cigarettes in cigarette smokers was associated with a higher rate of stopping cigarette smoking at follow-up, relative to smokers who did not use e-cigarettes (χ2[1] = 11.03, p < 0.01). Multivariate logistic regressions controlling for age and gender showed a significant association between motivation to quit and stopping cigarette smoking at follow-up (odds ratio = 2.11, 99% Confidence Interval = 1.12–3.97, p < 0.01). There was no link between trait impulsivity and stopping cigarette smoking.
Conclusions
The data suggest that e-cigarettes may increase rates of quitting cigarette smoking
End of Life Care Policy Across the United Kingdom, Cyprus, and Romania
No full textEnd-of-life care, a critical facet of health and social care provision, addresses the complex needs of individuals in the final stages of life and extends support to their families and friends. Its formal recognition and structured development within the UK's healthcare system can be traced back to 1967, when Dame Cicely Saunders, established the first Hospice organisation, offering care to those at the end of their lives. However, the precise definition and characteristics of end-of-life care, and the concept of quality within this context, remain contested. This chapter explores the intricate landscape of end-of-life care, elucidating its historical definitions, evolving definitions, and the policy contexts in the United Kingdom, Cyprus, and Romania. It is not an exhaustive account of either, but it draws conclusions of the intricate relationships between epistemological and policy contexts in end-of-life care
Investigating the effect of cognitive load on the intentionality bias
Get PDFAccording to Rosset’s dual-process model of intention attribution, our judgements of intentionality can be guided either by an automatic process leading to intentional explanations of behaviour or by a higher-level and cognitively more demanding process enabling unintentional explanations of behaviour. Based on this model, under conditions of compromised cognitive capacity, individuals should judge more behaviour to be intentional rather than unintentional. This prediction was tested in one lab-based experiment and one online experiment. Specifically, we investigated whether increased working memory load would lead to higher intentionality endorsement of ambiguous action when controlling for individual differences in working memory. Results of both experiments indicated no effect of working memory load on intentionality endorsement. The implications of these results for the dual-process model of intention attribution are discussed
The Influence of Psychosocial Skills on the Development of Musical Abilities: Cross-Sectional Results From Secondary School Pupils in Latvia
Get PDFPsychosocial skills are variables related to human behavior, beliefs, and attitudes and shape social interactions, learning processes, academic achievements, and general goal-directed behavior. Psychosocial skills seem particularly important during the adolescent period when large changes in goal setting, learning attitudes, and ability development take place. However, it remains unclear to what degree the growth of musical abilities is influenced by psychosocial skills in musically gifted children and children who are not musically gifted. Hence, the aim of this study is to determine the impact of psychosocial skills on music listening abilities beyond demographics, musical training, and cognitive factors. At four secondary schools in Latvia (two general schools and two schools for musically gifted individuals), we tested 191 adolescents (aged 11–18 years) with an online test battery assessing musical listening abilities, cognitive ability, socio-demographics, musical training activities, and a range of psychosocial skills. Data were analyzed through a series of hierarchical regression models determining the effect of different groups of independent variables. Results indicate that, in general, psychosocial variables make a substantial contribution to musical listening abilities beyond demographics, musical training, and cognitive capacity. When students from general secondary schools and schools for the musically gifted were analyzed separately, the contribution of psychosocial skills differed noticeably, with a greater relative importance for musically gifted children. Thus, the results suggest an important role of psychosocial variables in musical giftedness education. However, the specific role of individual psychosocial variables such as grit still needs to be clarified in future studies