Electronic_Music_School. Researching and Developing Design Principles for Teaching Creative Electronic Music Practices in Music Schools and Schools

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Johannes Treß
• Subject Area: General and Domain-Specific Teaching and Learning ; Musicology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 559492458

The creative use of analog and digital technology is integral to the lives of young learners, offering opportunities for personal expression, cultural participation, and musical development. While training programs in electroacoustic composition, sound design, and sound art are well established at music and art universities, there remains a significant gap in learning opportunities for children and teenagers. Music schools offer limited programs compared to traditional instrumental and singing tuition, and general education curricula rarely integrate music technology sustainably. Additionally, the pedagogical training for teachers in these creative fields is underdeveloped, with existing research focusing predominantly on tools and technology rather than providing a robust didactical framework. Accordingly, this project proposes a comparative study on researching and designing teaching creative electronic music practices through two parallel subprojects: one focused on music schools at the Zurich University of the Arts, Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology, and the other focused on general schools at the University of Education Freiburg, Institute of Music. Both subprojects will leverage existing collaborative networks with local schools, sharing goals, questions, and methods. Employing the Documentary Design Research methodology, the three-year project will combine Design-Based Research and qualitative-reconstructive research methods. Coordinated design and reconstruction iterations will take place in partner schools, with ongoing comparative analysis conducted through monthly shared workshops. The aim is to establish empirically sound teaching design principles related to key learning areas for electronic music practice. The output will include two PhD projects, papers, publications, and the development of tools and design elements. The project also supports the scientific and pedagogical development of three junior researchers with artistic profiles, alongside engaged teachers and assistants. The team combines expertise in Electronic Music, Performance Practice, Reconstructive Research as well as Educational Design-Based Research. An advisory board of experts will guide the project, complemented by three annual workshops and a final symposium to engage the international community. Ultimately, this project aims at making a substantial contribution to research on technology and music education in Switzerland and Germany. It seeks to understand schools and music schools as interconnected components of a dynamic learning ecosystem and to enhance teaching practices in creative music fields involving technology. This would allow schools to activate the pedagogical potential of artists in the field, fostering young musical creativity and talent, and enabling the inclusion and promotion of children with musical interests beyond traditional musical practices, in line with ongoing cultural transformations in arts and arts education.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Switzerland
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Germán Toro-Pérez