The first purpose of this study was to determine whether a statistically significant difference is observable between the effects of instructional gaming activities techniques and the effects of traditional lecture-demonstration techniques on the cognitive achievement of undergraduate university students enrolled in introductory music studies courses. The second purpose was to determine whether students evidence a statistically significant difference in their affective perceptions of these two teaching techniques when applied to university introductory music studies.Four null hypotheses were tested:H 0/1: At the conclusion of a five week experimental period, no significant difference (at the .05 level) will be evident between the experimental group (gaming techniques) and the control group (lecture demonstration techniques) on the posttest measure of cognitive achievement.H 0/2: A delayed interval posttest administered five weeks after the conclusion of the experimental period will evidence no significant difference between the experimental and control groups on the measure of cognitive achievement.H 0/3: At the conclusion of a five week experimental period, no significant difference will be evident between the experimental and control groups on the posttest measure of students' affective perception of the teaching techniques of their respective classes.H 0/4: A delayed interval posttest administered five weeks after the conclusion of the experimental period will evidence no significant difference between the experimental and control groups on the measure of students' affective perception of the teaching techniques of their respective classes. The research population consisted of 147 students representing each of the four years of university matriculation. Both the experimental group and the control group consisted of students enrolled in one class of a 100-level introductory course in music studies for the general university student ("music appreciation"), and in two classes of a 300-level course in introductory music studies for prospective elementary classroom teachers. Five experienced university instructors taught the six classes involved. A syllabus that included nine sequenced instructional gaming activities was designed specifically for use in the experimental classes.A 2 x 2 nonequivalent control group design was adopted to facilitate pair-wise analysis of mean scores. The experimental and control groups were statistically equated on the basis of College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test verbal and mathematical mean scores and cognitive achievement pretest mean scores. Posttest and delayed interval posttest cognitive achievement adjusted mean scores and affective perception observed scores were obtained. Significance of the treatment variable was determined by means of analyses of variance and covariance.Based on statistical findings, H 0/1 was rejected at the .05 level of significance at the 100-course level. Conversely, H0 was supported at the 300-course level. In other words, at the 100-level, findings of the posttest showed that students taught by means of gaming techniques attained a significantly higher level of cognitive achievement than students taught by means of lecture-demonstration techniques. At the 300-level, findings of the posttest showed that students taught by means of gaming techniques evidenced no significant differences in cognitive achievement compared with students taught by means of lecture-demonstration techniques. H 0/2 was rejected at the .05 level of significance at both the 100- and 300-course levels, but findings differed between course levels. At the 100-level, the class taught by means of gaming activities evidenced a significantly higher level of cognitive achievement on the delayed interval posttest than the class in which lecture-demonstration techniques were applied. At the 300-level, classes in which lecture-demonstration techniques were applied evidenced a significantly higher level of cognitive achievement on the delayed interval posttest than the classes taught by means of gaming activities.H 0/3 was rejected at the .05 level of significance unilaterally at both the 100- and the 300-course levels. Gaming techniques were highly preferred (at the .001 significance level) over lecture-demonstration techniques on a posttest measure of students' affective perception.H4 was rejected at the .05 level of significance unilaterally at both the 100- and the 300-course levels. Gaming techniques were highly preferred (at the .001 significance level) over lecture-demonstration techniques on a delayed interval posttest measure of students' affective perception.The findings of this study appear to support the following conclusions:1. The gaming activities developed for this study are an effective means by which to promote cognitive learning in university introductory music studies.2. The student population of this study strongly preferred gaming activities over lecture-demonstration as the teaching technique in university introductory music studies.

Thesis (E.D.)--University of Central Florida, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-76).

This dissertation unites two contrasting phenomena, musical theorizing as practiced on YouTube and dreamlike experiences involving music, under a single rubric: virtual space. While the two phenomena are disconnected in time, geography, and culture, they are nonetheless similar in that they are spatialized in ways that contravene how we typically experience physical space, So, I develop the concept of virtual space as a means of approaching the commonalities underlying these phenomena. Building on a definition of space as a medium in which entities are positionally related, I propose a framework for analyzing virtual spaces that emphasizes a phenomenon’s subjective immersivity and objective relationality. In order to bring out the human dimension of these virtual spaces, I concentrate on the discursive, instrumental, experiential, and generative aspects of embodied virtual spaces that are entangled in social, cultural, and political networks. To that end, in the first half of the dissertation, I discuss how a community of YouTube content creators has carved out a place for practicing, teaching, and learning music theory. I detail YouTube’s affordances as a space for theorizing music and a medium of communication, showing how content creators have leveraged these to great effect in their theorizing of game music. Flitting between the general and the particular, I balance case studies of content creators and close readings of audiovisual content with sociological approaches. In spite of the platform’s self-image and the community’s political positioning, I contend that YouTube’s egalitarian promise has been left unfulfilled in the English-language, Western-centric field of YouTube music theory, which replicates or even exacerbates some of the epistemological issues and unjust social structures that pervade academia and Western society more broadly. The other half of the dissertation concerns the analytical interpretation and precise differentiation of dreamlike experiences centered on music. I demonstrate that much of the discourse on this topic comes from close readings of music as dream. As this perspective locates dreaming in an object, I argue for counterbalancing this discourse towards a dreaming subject, and thus I propose a framework with three interrelated components. First, I carefully distinguish dreaming, as a virtual and spatialized experience, from standard waking consciousness through recourse to neuroscience and phenomenology. After that, I set forth a tripartite scheme that articulates the many permutations of how we might position ourselves, other subjects, and music in this non-dreamer–dreamer dynamic. Last, I classify the various interactions between music, dreamlike experience, and analytical interpretation. Using the music of Fryderyk Chopin as my example, I show that, though this music has accrued much historical and cultural meaning through being read as dreamlike, we have much to gain from the analytical insights unique to our subjective, dreamlike experiences with this music.

Thesis (M.Mus.)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The research for this thesis is presented in the form of a practical guideline for parents and educators in the Western Cape area. The important role of music in early childhood is emphasised throughout. Research, guidance and practical activities for the music education and development of the toddler and preschooler, are presented. The author answers and discusses the questions frequently asked by parents concerning musical education for their children, namely why, when and how, in the five chapters of the thesis. The importance of music education for children (the question concerning why) is discussed and emphasised by means of eleven different reasons supported by research. In Chapter 2, the important role of the parent as the child’s first music educator and prenatal stimulation is discussed (the question concerning when). In the two chapters that follow, the author provides parents with information about basic music concepts and skills that children should be able to master at specific ages. Throughout these chapters, practical activities to illustrate these concepts and to practise the relevant skills are suggested (the how question). Guidelines are presented concerning how play with the child should be approached and handled, as well as guidelines for the child’s first formal instrumental teaching and for choosing an instrument and a music teacher. The research is concluded with a practical section containing extensive lists of songs (in categories), CDs, DVDs, books and web addresses for the use of parents needing resources and further guidance. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die navorsing vir hierdie tesis word in die vorm van ‘n praktiese handleiding vir ouers en opvoeders in die Wes-Kaap provinsie aangebied. Die belangrike rol van musiek in die voorskoolse kind se lewe word deurgaans beklemtoon. Navorsing, riglyne en praktiese aktiwiteite vir die musiekopvoeding en ontwikkeling van die voorskoolse kindword, word prakties aangebied en bespreek.Die outeur beantwoord en bespreek die vernaamste vrae wat ouers ten opsigte van musiekopvoeding vir hul kinders vra, naamlik hoekom, wanneer en hoe, in die vyf hoofstukke van die tesis. Die belangrikheid van musiekopvoeding vir kinders (die hoekom vraag) word aan die hand van elf verskillende redes en wat deur navorsing ondersteun word, bespreek. Die belangrike rol van die ouer as eerste musiekopvoeder en prenatale stimulasie word in Hoofstuk 2 bespreek (die vraag aangaande wanneer). In die twee daaropvolgende hoofstukke bied die outeur verdere inligting aan ouers oor basiese musiekkonsepte en vaardighede wat kinders op sekere ouderdomme moet kan bemeester. Praktiese aktiwiteite om hierdie konsepte te illustreer en die verlangde vaardighede te oefen (die hoe vraag) word deurgaans voorgestel. Riglyne word gegee oor hoe spel met die kind benader en hanteer moet word, asook riglyne vir die kind se eerste formele instrumentale onderrig, die keuse van ‘n instrument en van ‘n musiekonderwyser. Die navorsing word afgesluit met ‘n praktiese afdeling waarin uitgebreide lyste van liedjies (volgens verskillende kategorieë), beskikbare CD-opnames, DVD-opnames, boeke en webadresse vir ouers gegee word as bronne en as verdere riglyne.