Melissa McCabe
Chair and Professor
Biography
Melissa C. McCabe, professor of music education, joined the Towson University Music Department faculty in 2008 as the elementary instrumental music education specialist.
Prior to her appointment at Towson University, McCabe taught as an adjunct faculty member in music education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her teaching opportunities included online music appreciation, teaching music with technology, survey of winds and percussion and elementary music methods for the classroom teacher. As a public school teacher, McCabe taught middle school band and orchestra in the Kansas City area for six years and elementary band and choir in Iowa for three years.
McCabe received a bachelor’s degree in music education from Simpson College; a master's degree in music education from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and a Ph.D. in Music Education/Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. As a doctoral student, McCabe received the Kauffman Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award, the Chancellor’s Doctoral Fellowship Award, a Graduate Teaching Assistant Superior Teaching Award, and the School of Graduate Studies Dean’s Doctoral Fellowship Award. She also served on the Social Sciences Institution Review Board as the campus student representative.
McCabe is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, Music Educators National Conference, Maryland Music Educators Association, Kansas Music Educators Association, Technology Institute for Music Educators, Association for Technology in Music Instruction, and the College Music Society.
McCabe’s early career interests in teaching and curriculum development led to her research focus which includes music teacher preparation, remote learning, and strategies for effective teaching in beginning band. She regularly makes research presentations at state, regional, and national meetings of groups such as MENC, TI:ME, and ATMI and is published in various professional journals including the Bulletin for the Council of Research in Music Education and the Missouri Journal of Research in Music Education.
Courses Taught: Woodwinds I, Woodwinds II, Teaching Instrumental Music in the Elementary Schools, Research Methods in Music Education, Graduate Instrumental Seminar, Teaching Music with Instructional Technology, Student Intern Supervision.