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2019/20 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

MUSS5731M Music, Wellbeing and its Evaluation

30 creditsClass Size: 30

Module manager: Dr Freya Bailes
Email: f.bailes@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2019/20

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

This module is designed to provide you with a contextual understanding of associations between music and wellbeing, with a particular focus on the evaluation of wellbeing in practice. The module adopts a case study approach, examining key concepts and texts thematically, considering areas such as therapy, health promotion, education, subjective wellbeing, and society. You will attend staff-led seminars, featuring case studies from the research literature, with visiting practitioners sharing case studies of their work to facilitate discussion. You are required to prepare key texts in advance of each seminar. You are expected to contribute to class discussions in order to consolidate your own reading and engagement with the course materials, while critically reflecting on your experiences of associating musical engagement with wellbeing. You will be assessed by a critical essay on a topic relating to the seminar content, and two short article critiques, one focusing on a qualitative and one on a quantitative approach to evaluating the wellbeing associated with musical practice.

Objectives

This module aims to:
• provide a contextual understanding of the physical and mental benefits and problems associated with musical participation.
• enable students to critically compare approaches taken to the evaluation of musical engagement on wellbeing.
• examine key concepts and texts thematically, considering areas such as therapy, health promotion, education, subjective wellbeing, and society.
• enable students to develop and refine their skills of critical evaluation, reasoning, and literature searching.
• encourage students to express and communicate their ideas verbally as a way to consolidate their reading and engagement with the course materials.
• enable students to recognise the limitations of the research in this area and to identify areas requiring growth and progression
• encourage students to develop, support, and communicate an argument in written work

Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to…
1. demonstrate in-depth and advanced understanding of the relationship of music to wellbeing by critically and creatively evaluating relevant literature
2. demonstrate an advanced understanding of theoretical and empirical approaches within the discipline;
3. identify the methodological and ethical challenges of researching in real world settings;
4. develop, support, and communicate extended and sophisticated arguments within evaluative work;
5. evaluate the impact of musical engagement on wellbeing.


Syllabus

This module is designed to equip students with the critical skills to evaluate the relationship between music and wellbeing. The challenges of measuring wellbeing will be studied in real-world contexts that range from community music through music education to music therapy, encompassing music’s function as cognitive stimulation and rehabilitation, its association with pro-social behaviour, and its application to the promotion of mental health. The module adopts a case study approach, examining key challenges to wellbeing evaluation by drawing on academic texts and practitioner accounts. The module is primarily taught by staff-led seminars which require students to prepare key texts in advance. Students will be expected to work in small groups and to contribute to class discussions in order to consolidate their own reading and engagement with the course materials, while reflecting on their own experiences of evaluating the wellbeing associated with musical engagement.

Teaching methods

Delivery typeNumberLength hoursStudent hours
Seminar171.5025.50
Tutorial30.501.50
Private study hours273.00
Total Contact hours27.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)300.00

Private study

Seminar preparation: 4 hours per seminar (72 hours)
Literature review and evaluation: 201

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Seminar attendance and participation
Summative feedback on written essay plan
Tutorials

Methods of assessment


Coursework
Assessment typeNotes% of formal assessment
Essay4,500-5,000 word essay70.00
Critique2,000-2,500 word article critique30.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 19/10/2018

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