Research

As an educator and aspiring professor, Spencer pursues research of interdisciplinary nature. Gravitating towards various fields: music/art, education/pedagogy, technology, and service, Spencer’s goal of cross-field study is to strengthen the understanding and innovate methodology for human development and leadership to better quality of life.

Spencer’s Master’s Thesis

Movement EQ, or meQ, is the name for Spencer’s Master’s Thesis software application at NYU. With this study, Spencer used object tracking technology to enhance timbre pedagogy in the music education classroom while reaching kinesthetic type learners who learn best through body motion and movement. From this, Spencer hopes to fill various gaps which technology can be used to fill in the classroom to enhance critical thinking, understanding, and creation without being distracting or redundant. To watch a demonstration of meQ in use, stream the demo video to the left. Further details, such as a literature review, methodology, and work plan can be provided via email request.

 Further Master’s Research

Spencer research is always driven by practical purposes; how can this contribution of knowledge enhance a person’s life? Spencer’s latest completed class, Advanced Musical Acoustics, tasked graduate students to accomplish just this. Watch Spencer’s presentation on studio bedroom apartment acoustics to the right for a look into how each piece of furniture in an apartment alters the reverberation of said space. The full paper can be provided via email request.

 Spencer’s Capstone

The Honors College at WCUPA provides students with 9 interdisciplinary courses focusing on civic and professional leadership development.  The 3 year program ends with a capstone project, where students must identify a problem within the community and address it.  Similar to the other Honors projects, they are all a combination of service and research. Identifying a need for a free music program in the Chester County community after their local YMCA lost funding for all music curriculum, Spencer designed a Songwriting program which paired every participating student with a collegiate volunteer, either English major focusing on lyric writing or Music major focusing on melody and harmony. This ten week program ended with students, many of which never performing before, singing and playing their original music. The full paper providing the research component of this project can be provided via email.

Summer Undergraduate Research Institute

The Summer Undergraduate Research Institute, or SURI, is a program held at West Chester University, fostering scholarly research by pairing undergrad students with professors to complete research over the summer. Spencer was partnered with a professor of the Honors College to study how the culture of collegiate students was impacted by civic engagement in the classroom. Spencer worked with the department to analyze surveys sent to over 50 universities to access common practices and challenges. Spencer presented the research summer of 2019.

Conference Presentations

Spencer finds sharing discoveries just as important as making them, allowing others to benefit from the knowledge gleaned.  With the desire to make connections between study methodologies from his last two schools (WCU and music education/civic engagement, NYU and music technology), Spencer began exploring tasks outside these two universities. See the examples below:

 In 2017, Spencer presented at the Downingtown STEM Academy’s TEDxYouth Conference. His presentation titled “A Cappella: The Voice Behind the Change” took an interdisciplinary approach, discussing how behind every movement and revolution, there is music enhancing the idea for change. Using Under A Rest A Cappella for demonstrations, he discussed musical and performance techniques for conveying emotion, later describing how this could be applied outside of music.

 What is Music Service Learning?

Music Service Learning (MSL) is a 501c3 Non-Profit organization which aims to drive change in music education through collaboration. The organization was born as a response to the pandemic in 2020, supporting collegiate students who needed service opportunities before receiving their degree in music education, and community school teachers lacking resources to virtually support their students. Since then, MSL has expanded their organization with collaborative projects, valuing all stakeholders’ voices, whether educator, collegiate intern, or K-12 student, and providing equity, collaboration, and access to all involved.

Spencer’s Role in MSL

Spencer is a part of MSL’s Founders Executive Board, where they hold meetings weekly to manage organization projects, support collegiate interns, apply for grants and conferences, and brainstorm MSL’s future plans to reach their mission. MSL virtually presented at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) twice this year. Watch the Spring Event above to learn more about all MSL does.

Spencer also holds the position of Interdisciplinary Advisor, where he collaborates with all collegiate interns who are not music majors. With the desire to encourage musicians to contribute their gifts outside their field and those outside of music to contribute within the fields of arts, Spencer believes this idea can support the field of the arts through showcasing its versatility throughout various fields. He alongside his team presented a roundtable discussion called Product vs Process: Collaborative Ideation in Music Education, hashing out burning topics within the field of music and how its process applies to any business or organization at the B. PHL Innovation Festival in Philadelphia this month. Watch the presentation on the right.