Video recording of practice used in group/ensemble teaching
Feedback and reflection on practice/performance videos as preparation for exams
A group activity spanning either a shorter or longer period of time, focusing on feedback and reflection combined with practice concerts (possibly one at the beginning and one at the end of the activity, before the exam). Both fellow students and the teacher provide feedback on recordings from the practice concerts and on videos of students practicing the pieces between the concerts.
Navigate the different aspects of the activity here
Before, during and after the activity
BEFORE
The teacher
- Establishes the pedagogical and didactic framework (including the number of recordings, criteria for feedback), goals/sub-goals, deadlines, and time between each milestone
- Selects a digital platform (e.g., a Learning Management System (LMS) or similar) for conducting the activity that supports video sharing and dialogue
- Decides how feedback and recordings will be shared
The students
- May need to familiarize themselves with the digital platform chosen and where videos and feedback will be shared
DURING
The teacher
- Records the practice concerts and shares them with the students
- Provides feedback, but only after the students have given their feedback. It is important to allow students to engage in the process first, then add the teacher’s feedback afterwards.
The students
- Record videos of their practice and share them with their fellow students
- Provide each other with written or spoken feedback (e.g., audio file) on the recordings (videos of practice or performance), based on the criteria provided by the teacher
AFTER
The teacher
- Evaluates the activity and students’ outcomes together with the students
The students
- Reflect on their own participation and learning
- Evaluates the activity and students’ outcomes together with the teacher and the other students
- optional revisit recordings and feedback to review their progress
Experiences with the activity
General music students studying piano at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus/Aalborg have completed an exam preparation course in which they shared videos and gave/received feedback via Moodle (an LMS). Students reported a sense of camaraderie as they worked toward the exam together, with one student also commenting that “the distance to the teacher feels smaller”. Experiences with recording varied; some students were used to it, while others found it challenging. One student noted, “it was good for me to accept that I wasn’t going to play perfectly”. Another student initially had a strong fear of recording themselves but found it helpful to do so within a small group setting.
The teacher provided specific criteria for giving feedback, which students found “forced us to give each other feedback in a different way and provide valuable input beyond just ‘it sounds good’”. The teacher explained that the criteria were intended to “guide them in what to focus on – creating a sense of security in expressing themselves”.
As a piano teacher, Jakob Alsgaard Bahr developed this exam preparation course where students gave each other feedback—hear Jakob explain the activity, the experiences, and his reflections following its completion.