The Effect of Computer-Based Instructional Materials in a Program for Visual Diagnostic Skills Training of Instrumental Music Education Students
Sanders, William Huston
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/65966
Description
Title
The Effect of Computer-Based Instructional Materials in a Program for Visual Diagnostic Skills Training of Instrumental Music Education Students
Author(s)
Sanders, William Huston
Issue Date
1980
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Music
Language
eng
Abstract
Purpose. This study examined the effect of computerized instruction on the ability of students to perform tasks of visual error detection during instruction in instrumental music methods. The instructional materials were designed to train instrumental music teachers to identify quickly and accurately fundamentally correct and incorrect performance characteristics of instrumental music students. A computerized format of the materials was developed to coincide as closely as possible in content with the original classroom materials. The two methods were compared in an attempt to determine: (1) the relationship between student practice and student achievement, (2) the nature of student attitudes toward the respective methods, and (3) the relationship between student attitudes and achievement.
Procedures. A class of 20 music education students was divided randomly into two groups. The study utilized a posttest-only design and depended upon randomization as the means of reducing the initial bias between groups. Posttest scores were used as the measure of student achievement. Both the number of hours that students spent in practice and the number of practice items they worked were used as measures of student practice. Student attitudes were collected via survey and through tape recorded interviews with all subjects. Within each group, the interrelationships of these variables were examined. Between groups, posttest scores and attitude survey scores were compared.
Conclusions. No significant differences were found between the mean posttest scores of the two groups or between the mean attitude survey scores. An examination of the practice characteristics of the two groups revealed that the computer-based method was a considerably more efficient method of delivery for the instruction than was the classroom method. While the attitudes of the respective groups were not quantitatively different from each other as measured by the attitude survey, an analysis of the tape recorded interviews revealed significant qualitative differences in some areas. The classroom group considered much of the instructional process to be routine, tiring, or boring. The computer group expressed no such feelings with respect to the computer-based environment. Both groups experienced degrees of frustration related to the instruction. The classroom group credited the instructor/student interaction and dialogue with the relief of that frustration and with the maintenance of a positive learning environment while most computer group students felt that the availability of such interaction and dialogue would have been beneficial to them.
The results of the study suggested an optimal configuration of the instructional materials which would incorporate both the practice efficiency of the computer-based method and the positive effects of classroom interaction and discussion. Certain pieces of equipment used in the study were judged to be unsatisfactory or inadequate and replacements were recommended. Interview transcripts representative of each group were presented in an attempt to convey more accurately the nature of qualitative differences between the groups. The transcripts evidenced the considerable influence which the method of instruction brought to bear upon student attitudes and feelings. The nature of that influence and its potential impact on the future of formal education were cited as powerful mandates for extensive research concerning Educational Applications of Computers.
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