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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/182092 |
| Date | 03 June 2011 |
| Creators | Wood, Darrell Elroy |
| Contributors | Rockabrand, Robert J. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | v, 167 leaves : ill., music ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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