This project aims to strengthen the link between practical and theoretical subjects using the application MOSO (moso.as). Teachers on the project will adopt the digital platform MOSO for two different performance subjects: main instrument and ensemble performance. We hope this will help link practical performance subjects to complementary subjects in order to improve learning outcomes for the students by highlighting individual processes and when evaluating and reflecting on these processes.
MOSO is a digital platform developed by the University of Agder in collaboration with the University of Tromsø and Halmstad University in Sweden, primarily for the purpose of observation-based mentoring and supervision. During the project, the students will use MOSO to document their own input in the subject's main instrument and ensemble performance by filming or recording selected parts of their preparations, rehearsals and execution (in the form of a solo or ensemble performance). The students will then evaluate themselves and select 3–5 points of interest in the documentation, which will then be shared with their main instrument teacher. The points of interest (which are elements that the students themselves deem to be important) then serve as a basis for further work with the principal instrument teacher or ensemble coach. By critically reflecting on and evaluating the student's documented performance, the student and teacher will easily and definitively be able to draw a line between the complementary theoretical subjects underpinning the preparations and the practical execution. It will also help in documenting progress in subjects which can otherwise be difficult to quantify.
The project will be carried out in the 2022–2023 academic year as a partnership between Associate Professor Tore Bråthen and Assistant Professor Eirik Sørbø at the Department of Popular Music at the UiA. We believe that MOSO can help link a wide range of subjects as it enables the students to document their development processes across subjects and collaboration formats. It also lets them use documentation from any subject to link practical performance to their own learning. The project is an early step towards developing and adapting learning strategies and teaching methods employing such technologies in music performance education, which can be extrapolated to other disciplines.