The first of the six College of Liberal Arts and Sciences master teachers spoke on his use of technology in large class settings Wednesday.During a presentation to 30 people, David Stuart, associate professor of music, demonstrated his tactics to help students understand and appreciate music. The presentation was held in Martha Ellen Tye Recital Hall in the Music Building.Stuart’s lecture, “Using Technology To Engage The Senses — Experiencing Non-Western Music Skill-Building Through Technology Drill,” illustrated different aspects of using graphics, sound and video to engage the senses and make a connection to music.”Music is a part of human expression,” he said. “It’s subjective. If it was objective, then there would only be one book, one CD, one videotape.”For his music appreciation course, comprehending, understanding, appreciating and enjoying music are four things Stuart stresses in his lectures. The course focuses on various forms of music from different cultures. By using technology as an aid for teaching, Stuart said he is able to involve visualization and hearing rather than just listening as a source of learning. Using Powerpoint presentations and graphics as well as audio, students can also see what they are hearing and grasp a better understanding of what the class is all about.”I expose people to this stuff [using the technology]. I hope that hopefully somewhere down the line it will proliferate,” he said.Stuart then demonstrated the use of laser discs and video where students can listen and see the music as it is played. From watching the beat of the music to seeing a change in intervals as a different note was played, he said students are able to apply what they see and familiarize themselves with the music.With the help of Mark Knight, graduate student in mechanical engineering, Stuart was able to create a program which embedded a screen behind a graphic to put up visual cues with the music. Video clips during the demonstration included a video of a person playing the piano. The bottom of the screen displayed the structure of how the song repeated different chords or melodies simultaneously.Content in the music appreciation course has evolved over the last five or six years Stuart has taught. He said very traditional forms of music about “dead European white guys” has made way for multi-cultural, non-western music appreciation.”I love the multi-cultural thing,” he said. “Political correctness is bad. It substitutes one list of excluded things to another list of substituted things.”Marie Mayer, communications specialist for Academic Information Technologies, has been keeping her eyes open for new resources to use information technology in classrooms.”I think it’s just fascinating,” she said. “I’m impressed with how David has been using this technology. It brings in a fuller representation of how information technology assists teaching and learning.”