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  • The academic community judges trustworthiness by whether the author is an academic expert (for example a Ph.D.) in the subject, whether the source has been published by a respected journal or book press, and whether it clearly cites its own sources (for example, in footnotes, or in a bibliography).
  • In many communities of people who create and enjoy a particular kind of music , the trustworthiness of sources is judged by their status in that particular music community. Trusted insights about the music might come, for example, from someone who is widely respected within that community as a composer or performer. In such communities, personal relationships with respected musicians are also often respected as reliable resources. For example, someone who was a long-time student of a respected performer is considered a trustworthy source for explaining that performer's approach to music.
  • Some types of music also have a community of music educators who are judged in part on their academic credentials and in part on their demonstrated ability to teach others to understand, perform, or create music.
  • In some cultures , the trustworthiness of a source depends on whether it comes from within a particular cultural, ethnic, or nationality group, and therefore has an authentic insider's perspective on the meaning of the music.
  • In many reporting situations , trustworthiness is established by demonstrating that the reporter is aware of and understands the point of view of all of the major perspectives on the subject.

Organizing and internalizing the knowledge

When information is easy to understand, you don't need an inquiry to learn it; you can just look up the answer. If you're doing an inquiry, you are trying to build for yourself a new area of knowledge. Simply hearing or reading the answer will almost certainly not be enough. You can reread and revisit the resources that you found most useful, or continue to look for other useful resources. However, one of the best ways to turn information into something you can understand and use is to actually use it to do something. That is why the Create step is such an important part of an inquiry.

Create

For this inquiry, design and create a project that requires you to do something that you could not do before you studied the information in your sources. Here are some suggestions:

  • A musical composition, improvisation or performance that demonstrates what you have learned. Be prepared to discuss and show how your creation demonstrates the answer to your question. If you can use music to demonstrate more than one point of view, that is even better!
  • A presentation that compares at least two different views of the subject that you have been researching. This could be a poster, slide show, or written report.
  • A report that answers the question you asked. This can be a text, speech, video, or slide show report. Do not simply borrow explanations from your favorite sources; actively synthesize your own point of view from multiple sources. Include musical examples if possible.
  • A research guide to the specific resources that you found useful. Include a brief description of what you learned from each one, and be sure to include enough citation information (URL, doi, author and publisher, recording information, and so on) that someone else could easily locate the resource. This guide could be a written report or a slide show presentation.

Share

If you are working in a class or inquiry group, share your creations with each other. For each person in the group, allot enough time both for presentation and for discussion. The discussion following each presentation should maintain a positive and helpful atmosphere, focusing on bringing the entire group into a deeper engagement with the subject of the inquiry. The group leader or other group members may find it useful to:

  • Ask for clarification of anything they did not understand;
  • Ask for further information about any points that interest them;
  • Volunteer possible alternative explanations or points of view that the presenter did not discuss;
  • Suggest other resources that might be relevant to the inquiry question;
  • When appropriate, challenge the trustworthiness or the point of view of the resources used.

If there is time, wrap up the presentation session with a discussion comparing the inquiries. How were the inquiry questions and investigations similar or different? Were any group members inspired to take a different approach to future investigations?

If you are doing this inquiry on your own, you may still be able to find an opportunity to present your creation formally to a teacher or class, or to a group of musicians that you play with. Or consider having an informal conversation about your investigation with someone who might be interested, such as a parent, music teacher, friendly librarian, band mate, or friend or relative who is interested in music. If you focus the conversation on interesting or unexpected difficulties that you encountered, you may get some useful advice!

Reflection

Reflecting on your inquiry can help you decide what to do next in your quest to learn more about music.

    Here are some questions that may help

  • What did you learn that will help you find the most easily available and understandable resources the next time you have a question about music?
  • Was there a type of resource that is not available to you, or that you cannot seem to use successfully? Is access to this type of resource important to you right now? If so, can you think of anything you can do to gain it?
  • What did you learn about how your judgment and point of view affect the way you learn about music?
  • Did your inquiry bring up a different question that you did not have time to pursue, but that you would like to learn about next?
  • If you are working in an inquiry group or class, did the discussion suggest that there might be useful resources or points of view that you have not yet studied? Does it make sense to do a little more investigating before you finish this inquiry?

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Source:  OpenStax, Music inquiry. OpenStax CNX. Mar 18, 2013 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11455/1.4
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