| The purpose of this action research project was to examine collaborative learning processes as experienced in a course in the fundamentals and principles of music therapy. The research questions examined the experience from the perspective of the enrolled students and the research participants including the instructor.; Collaborative learning is a teaching methodology which recognizes that a community of knowledgeable peers socially construct knowledge, and that the authority of knowledge is shared amongst the members of that community by developing interdependent personal relationships (Bruffee, 1999). Collaborative learning has been explored in multiple disciplines throughout the latter part of the twentieth century, but not in the music therapy education literature. Yet, collaborative learning may facilitate the development of the intra- and interdependent personal skills that are essential for contemporary music therapists.; Data sources included students' written course materials, a set of three interviews for each participant, an instructor's reflexive journal, videotapes of each collaborative learning class session, weekly collaborative group process evaluations, and Myers Briggs Type Indicator profiles (Briggs & Briggs Myers, 1998) for each of the study participants.; Phenomenological analysis identified the emergent themes. Structural synthesis framed the students' responses and group interactions within contexts of personal and intellectual development in college students as discussed by Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, and Tarule (1986/1997), Erikson (1968), Perry (1970/1999), and developmental stages of student music therapists (Milgram-Luterman, 1997).; Results indicated that the students' experiences paralleled those reported in the literature; (a) collaborative learning contributed to the overall learning experience and understanding of music therapy, (b) transitional or transformational experiences were experienced, and (c) some students criticized the process for not meeting their needs. The instructor's experience reflected a first attempt at teaching collaboratively. |
