Structuring the argument of a theoretical paper A guideline and its reception by advanced undergraduate musicologists

1. Session: Music psychology pedagogy Structuring the argument of a theoretical paper A guideline and its reception by advanced undergraduate musicologists Richard Parncutt and Margit Painsi Department of Musicology, University of Graz, Austria ICMPC Bologna 2006

2. Unanswered questions • evolutionary function of music • nature of musical talent, emotion… • perceptual status of roots, tonics… • effect of music on intelligence • trance, ecstasy, peak experiences, flow • association between music and spirituality • music and integration of immigrant minorities

3. Pedagogical approaches • Teach “facts” • Beginning students? • Teach arguments • Advanced students?

4. Our aims • Guide to writing a theoretical paper • suitable for team projects • independent of discipline • produces good results • Users: • advanced undergraduate students • researchers

5. Kinds of argument and evidence • Sciences • empirical, data-oriented • Humanities • philosophical, intersubjective • Musical practice • practical experience

6. External models • Academic democracy • consensus among experts • peer-review procedure • International research processes • conferences, journals

7. “Truth”: Hermeneutic approach • Process-orientation • no clear beginning or end • any draft of a paper can be improved • Repeated interaction • theses (top-down) and evidence (bottom-up) • participants  consensus

8. Formal structure • Learn to follow instructions • cf. journal guidelines, APA Publication Manual • cf. grant applications • Practice creating an argument • exact wording of theses, logical progression • active creation of own argument as a basis for the passive critical evaluation of the arguments of others • Formalism is temporary • abilities become intuitive

9. Local context • Seminare versus Vorlesungen • Structure of “Seminare” • Student background

10. Seminare versus Vorlesungen • Seminare: active • talks • write-up • discussion • Vorlesungen (lectures): passive • assignments • tests • exam

11. Structure of our Seminare • First session • introduction to topics and subtopics • students form groups and choose topics • Next few weeks • planning documents • feedback • Until end of semester • one team presentation per week • Vacation period • write-up

12. Background of our students • Humanities • historical musicology • ethnomusicology • Sciences • music acoustics • music psychology • music sociology • Musical practice • performance • theory, composition

13. Academic teamwork • What is it? • Why train it? • Forming student teams • Roles of team members • Teamwork tips • Feedback

14. Academic teamwork • Interdisciplinary synergy • different knowledge and abilities • Increasingly common • communication technology • expansion of literature

15. Why train teamwork? • Practical reason • no time for individual presentations in seminar • Research implications • a difficult, important, general research skill • academic conflict management

16. Forming student teams • Choose partners • trust • standard • Maximize disciplinary diversity • split students with similar, unusual skills

17. Roles of team members • Content • introduction, a subtopic or conclusion • Coordination • searching for literature on a given topic • compiling contributions from others • proofreading a draft, giving comments

18. Teamwork tips • Common responsibility • share responsibility for the whole • plan to contribute more than “fair share” • address common problems • Clear agreements • plan meetings, be on time • assign flexible roles to group members • tolerate / discuss unreliability • Mutual support • give and receive constructive criticism • share literature sources • keep all members informed

19. The whole Seminar as a team:Feedback after the presentation • Aim: a foretaste of • conference question period • journal peer review • Documentation • append feedback sheets to write-up • cover letter with • main suggestions • how responded

20. Planning the presentation Planning documents • Tabular argument • Reference list • Draft of powerpoint file • Self-evaluation

21. Structure of talk and write-up • Introduction • holistic, contextualised • Main part • analytic, detailed • divided into subtopics • Conclusion • holistic, contextualised

22. Functions of structural elements • Introduction: prepare audience • motivate • general (background)  particular (examples) • explain approach • Main part: present detail • Conclusion: presentmainthesis • express and explain • place in broad context • consider implications

23. Structure of the argument Introduction: Conclusion:

24. Examples: Performance research

25. Structure of the introduction

26. Structure of each subtopic

27. Structure of the conclusion

28. Conclusion of this paper • Thesis • Application • Reception

29. Our thesis Advanced undergraduate students benefit from a formal approach to theoretical writing… …in which they practise creating and assembling the individual building blocks of a convincing argument.

30. Application • Any academic discipline with • difficult questions • uncertain answers • Any students who should • think independently and clearly

31. Student reception • Development period 2003-05 • mixed reactions • evaluations contributed to development • Complete package 2006 • general acceptance

32. Please steal! • Get info from proceedings • Tell me what happened