Kata Asztalos PhD

Photo: Regina Benkő

Dr. Kata Asztalos is a research fellow at the Kodály Institute of the Liszt Academy of Music. She graduated as a performer and teacher of singing in 2011, and received her PhD in the field of Educational Sciences in 2016 from the University of Szeged (SZTE). Dissertation title: Structure and development of musical perception from the ages of 5 to 17 years – online diagnostic measurements in kindergarten and school environments.

Her research interests include the development and structure of music abilities, transfer effects of music education, cognitive music psychology and ICT-based diagnostic testing.  As a teacher, she specialises in early childhood music education. Until 2019, she worked as an assistant professor at the Institute of Pre-School Teacher Training at the SZTE. She was a board member and vice-president of the Association of Hungarian PhD and DLA Students. She joined the Kodály Institute of the Liszt Academy of Music in 2019.

She contributed to different research and methodology programmes (Developing Diagnostic Measurement Instruments TÁMOP-3.1.9-11/1-2012-0001 Program, ”Complex Basic Programme”, EFOP -3.1.2-16-2016), and currently is a researcher in the Ability Measurement and Cognitive Psychology Group of the MTA-LFZE Active Music Learning Research Group.

She has been a guest lecturer at the University of Missouri (St. Louis, USA), Kirchliche Pädagogische Hochschule (Wien, Austria), Pädagogische Hochschule Burgenland (Eisenstadt, Austria) and in Constanta (Romania).

She earned the National Young Talent Award (2015, 2016) and the Apáczai Csere János Scholarship of National Excellence Program (2013-2014). As a supervisor, she had students receive awards at the National Scientific Students' Associations Conference in 2017 and 2019.

Main publications:

Kata Asztalos & Benő Csapó (2017): Development of musical abilities: Cross-sectional computer-based assessments in educational contexts. In: Psychology of Music 45. 5. 682–698.

Kata Asztalos (2016): Online testing of musical perception skills at the beginning of elementary school. In: Sheila, Woodward; Jeffrey, Sharkey (ed.) 32nd World Conference International Society of Music Education (ISME), Glasgow, 5-6.

Kata Asztalos (2015): Online diagnostic testing of musical abilities in Hungarian kindergartens. In: 22nd International Kodály Symposium. 3–7 August, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Kata Asztalos (2015): Technology-based assessment of musical perception abilities in primary and secondary schools. In: IAFOR International Conference on Education. 8–10 March, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Kata Asztalos & Benő Csapó (2014): Online Assessment of Musical Abilities in Hungarian Primary Schools – Results of First, Third and Fifth Grade Students. Bulletin of the International Kodály Society.

Kata Asztalos (2014): Online Diagnostic Measurement of Musical Abilities in Hungarian Schools – a cross sectional study of 1st to 11th grade students. In: Evangelos Himonides & Andrew King (Ed.) Proceedings of the Sempre MET2014 - Researching Music, Education, Technology: Critical Insights. Great Britain, International Music Education Research Center, 25–29.

Kata Asztalos (2014): Development and Structure of Musical Abilities. In: David, Forrest; Luciana, Del-Ben (ed.) 31st ISME World Conference on Music Education: Listening to the Musical Diversity of the World, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 88–89.