The Evaluation of The Basic Skills in Violin Training by Many Facet Rasch Model

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the usefulness of the many-facet Rasch model (MFRM) in evaluating the quality of performance related to violin education in Anatolia Fine Arts High School students. The Rasch Model utilizes item response theory stating that the probability of a correct response to a task depends largely on a single parameter, the ability of the person. MFRM extends this one-parameter model to other facets, for example, rater severity, rating scale format, task difficulty levels. This paper specifically investigated the students' violin performance ability in terms of task difficulty and rater severity/leniency. 27 students selected randomly form the three different Anatolia Fine Arts High Schools from the three different regions in Turkey. Students demonstrate the violin performance during the autumn semester of the 2009-2010 school years in the "Violin Education" course. Three judges evaluated each student's violin performance using "Violin Performance Evaluation Rubric". The results of this study demonstrated that the MFRM is a powerful tool for handling polytomous data in performance assessment in Music education.