Measurement of performance in violin education

The study is carried out in order to determine the existing status in the half-year examinationsand to develop a measurement tool sample that is systematic and has high validity, reliability and functionality which would influence the education-training positively in the Departments of Musical Education (DME). The study is important in terms of developing a measurement tool which will contribute to the more objective and sound measurement of the examination performance of each student.General scanning model is employed in the study. The study has a descriptive quality in that it determines the existing status in the measurements carried out in the half-year examinations in DMEs and that it aims using a developed, highly valid, reliable and functional measurement tool in examinations.The universe of the study encompasses violin lecturers and violin students taking these courses in DMEs. The samples consist of 23 violin lecturers giving violin courses and 330 violin students taking these courses in arbitrarily chosen DMEs of such universities in educational years of 2003-2004 and 2004-2005.As a result of the analyses, a measurement tool comprising sixteen target skills determined to measure three major dimensions, namely program dimension, examination dimension and intra-term performance dimension, and eleven sub dimensions is created and applied.The following results are obtained based on these findings. Whereas the lecturers do not use in performance measurement procedure a written, standard performance measurement tools of which validity and reliability are determined, they share the view that developing and using a systematic measurement tool would be worthwhile in making the performance measurement a systematic, reliable and valid one. It is determined that the lecturers who applied this measurement tool, bear the views that this measurement tool which is determined to be highly valid and reliable allows a more valid and reliable measurement to be made.The following suggestions are made under the light of such results: the measurement tool developed in this study for the measurement of violin performance should be used in half-year examinations in DMEs. Similar performance measurement tools may be developed and applied for other individual musical tool education courses. The measurement tool created and developed in this study can also be employed in the performance measurement of the students who participate in the examinations with the violin instrument at the second level musical playing dimension in special talent examinations.