Music Traditions of Africa – MUS 380A/AFST 380A
PBL Assignment – worth 25% of your grade
Marked out of 100 points
Below is a summary of how you will be assessed for your group project &
presentation.
Outcome 1 – You were asked to address the issue of representation by considering
the following:
Africa and its music have endured centuries of misrepresentation,
misunderstanding, and misinformation that has distorted understanding of the
continent and its people. Assess the validity of this statement.
1. Your group should state within 500 words your assessment of this statement,
and how your project stands as an informed and sophisticated
representation of music from your sub region. I’m looking for specifics and
for you to demonstrate advanced understanding of the issues and challenges
with respect to the representation of music in Africa, and how you have
applied that knowledge to what you have created. (25 points)
2. Your group project presentation will be assessed based on the following
criteria:
a. Preparedness – the presentation was well-prepared and all members
of the group participated equally in the presentation.
b. Content – the presentation was appropriate based on the objectives of
the assignment; the group demonstrated their understanding of the
music and cultures of the region; the assessment of the problem
demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of salient issues; and
the group came up with interesting solutions.
c. Creativeness – the presentation was creative, had a strong
audio/visual component, and was compelling.
d. Use of time – The presentation was of an appropriate length, flowed
nicely, and was well organized. (30 points)
Outcome 2 – You will be marked on how effective you’ve been in making your
project a shared resource for the rest of the class.
• Have you presented the essential characteristics of music and culture from
your sub-region?
• Have you engaged a sufficient number of genres/styles/music cultures?
• Do your materials constitute a “shared resource” for the rest of the class?
• Have you drawn on appropriate scholarship or resources as sources of
knowledge? (25 points)
Peer Evaluation – you will assess one another’s contribution within your group
anonymously using a form that I will distribute to the class. This will be filled and
emailed back to me. (20 points)