Across the Curriculum: Milestones to Capstones

Dr. Faun Tanenbaum Tiedge

Linfield College

January 2006

As music degree programs continue to add content and courses to meet new accreditation requirements, the continuity among music courses may be compromised.  In measuring student engagement and learning outcomes, the need to make connections in the curriculum is increasingly important.  The CMS national topic for 2006 proposes that “Education in music is every musician’s responsibility.”   One of the goals in my presentation is to encourage integrative thinking and innovative ways to help students achieve lifelong learning skills through their experiences in studying music.

My paper is derived from a series of lectures designed to encourage new ways to look at the traditional music curriculum, and to foster interdisciplinary communication across college disciplines.   I propose to accomplish the following:

1. Introduce a framework for an “Across the Curriculum” model;

2. Demonstrate how checkpoints in the curriculum become milestones for assessment;

3. Through the achievement of capstone goals, define the essential elements of a musico-cultural literacy.

In music, we ask our students to treasure the past while embracing the future.  Keeping the music curriculum relevant in a rapidly changing world shapes the final discussion in my presentation.