The effect of two methods of music instruction on factors in the listening experience and musical preference of fourth- and fifth-grade students

摘要

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of two methods of music instruction on two factors in the musical listening experience, identified as music description and music identification, and musical preference of fourth- and fifth-grade students. The listening experiences consisted of one which utilized descriptive writing in the music lesson and one which utilized participatory listening activities such as maps for guided listening, worksheets, and call charts. Also examined were the interactions of gender, grade level, and degree of writing presence in the regular classroom. Seven-hundred and eleven students from thirty-six intact classes in six elementary schools of three school districts were chosen for the study. The intact classes were randomly assigned to one of the two methods of instruction for a seven week experiment. The study utilized a pretest/posttest two group experimental design to answer 10 research questions. Repeated measures MANOVAS, t-test of independent samples, and two-variable correlation tests were conducted to measure mean differences, interactions, and possible relationships in the data. Results of the study indicated significant differences between method of instruction and the variables of music description and music identification. Method of instruction did not influence musical preference. Also significantly different were students' scores for music description, music identification, and musical preference between the participating 23 classroom teachers. Method of instruction, grade level, degree of writing presence, and gender did not significantly interact collectively with music description, identification, or musical preference although some areas interacted with these variables individually. Significant interactions were found between music teacher and method with regard to students' scores on tests of music description, music identification, and musical preference. Two correlational tests resulted in values that indicated no relationship between the variables of musical preference and description and musical preference and identification. However, the non-relationship of music description and musical preference was non-significant while music identification and musical preference were significantly non-related.