Higher Education Music Teacher Educators and Assessment: Their Understandings, Efficacy, and Satisfaction

Abstract

In this study, we report what music teacher educators (MTEs, N = 149) in higher education understand about assessment. We include their assessment pedagogy, their levels of assessment pedagogy efficacy (APE) at both programmatic (unit level) and personal levels (ProAPE and PeAPE respectively), and the relationship this efficacy has with their (MTEs) satisfaction of assessment pedagogies within their institutions. This mixed-methods study uses a convergent parallel design, with qualitative inductive coding and quantitative factor analyses, correlational analyses, and non-parametric tests. We determine that MTEs report some misunderstanding of the assessment lexicon nevertheless they hold mostly high levels of both personal and programmatic assessment pedagogy efficacy. Differences were observed between MTEs that graduated after 2008 than those who graduated prior to 2008. Findings center on higher education faculty comfort with assessment in higher education with implications for professional development and continued research in the area.