Graduate Program

Music

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

2010

Thesis Director

Patricia Poulter

Thesis Committee Member

Peter Hesterman

Thesis Committee Member

Gary Jensen

Abstract

This study compared the effectiveness of computer-assisted practice and peer-partner practice in treble-staff note recognition. Six 3rd-grade classes participated in 3 sessions, each including a 2-minute pre-test, a lesson on treble staff notes, a 10-minute practice drill, and a 2-minute post-test. During practice, half the students used the online Note Trainer from Ricci Adams ' Musictheory. net to practice identifying notes, while the other half practiced with a partner using flashcards of the notes of the treble staff. Results showed the computer students averaged over twice as many correct answers as the peer practice group at the end of the first session. The peer groups began to catch up in subsequent sessions, but the computer group still scored over 30% better than the peer group at the end of the third session. Computer practice was especially effective in a bilingual class, where the computer students outscored the peer group after 3 sessions by 178%.

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