THE EFFECTS OF SELEBTED FACTORS
AND INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION WITHIN
THE MUSIC CLASSHHOM ON THE

PEHFIIRMANCE ACHIEVEMENT BF SEVENTH
GRADE BEGINNING INSTRUMENTALISTS

Thesis for The Degree 0‘ PL. 3.
MICHIGAN STH'IEIIN-IVERSIIT.
MINES FRANCIS MCCARIHY

19:2

 

 

Michigan State
;- . an University

This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

The Effects of Selected Factors And Individual Instruction
Within The Music Classroom On The Performance Achievement
of Seventh Grade Beginning Instrumentalists

presented by

James Francis McCarthy

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Ph. D. degree in Music

/&fi/
Robert G. idnell

Major professor

Date LL‘ IO ”7"

 

 

 

 

ABSTRACT

THE EFFECTS OF SELECTED FACTORS AND INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION
WITHIN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM ON THE PERFORMANCE
ACHIEVEMENT OF SEVENTH GRADE BEGINNING
INSTRUMENTALISTS

BY

James F. McCarthy

This study investigated the effect of tutorial
instruction within the music classroom on the performance
achievement of male and female instrumental beginners
relative to their varying levels of I.Q., academic
achievement, attitude towards music, musical aptitude,
and personal adjustment.

The main hypothesis was that beginning instru-
mentalists of both sexes who are taught individually
within the classroom will earn significantly higher scores
on performance achievement than their counterparts under
ensemble instruction. It was further hypothesized that
students of high 1.0., grade point average, attitude

towards music, musical aptitude, and personal adjustment

James F. McCarthy

will earn significantly higher scores on performance
achievement than students of low 1.0., GPA, attitudes
towards music, musical aptitude, and personal adjustment.
Finally, it was hypothesized that a significant effect on
performance achievement would occur as a result of the
interaction between the conditions of instruction and the
five variables listed above.

Erggegure. Two groups of subjects comprising the
total enrollment of beginning instrumentalists (less three
students with prior instrumental training) from two
Lansing, Michigan schools participated in the study. Stu-
dents in the experimental group (N = 45) were dispersed
about the classroom for the purpose of self-drill, and
they exclusively received tutorial instruction and evalua-
tion only when they requested it, or when they wished to
progress to a succeeding unit (page) in their text. Later,
when a student had acquired the cognitive and aural skill
necessary for competent self-evaluation, he was allowed to
proceed from unit to unit at his own discretion.

Students in the control group (N = 45) were taught
by the "ensemble" method in which the rate of unit pro-
gression is governed for all students by the teacher, and

which is characterized by simultaneous and repetitious

James F. McCarthy

drill. Both groups used the same text, and the period
encompassing the study was one school year.

Data concerning 1.0., grade point average,
attitude towards music, musical aptitude profile, and
personal adjustment were obtained for both groups from
school records or by pre-testing. Scores on the dependent
variable, performance achievement, were obtained by
recording each student's performance on the Watkins-Farnum
Eerformange.§gg;§, and submitting those recordings to an
independent judge.

gesults. Correlation coefficients were computed
between the subject variables of 1.0., GPA, attitude
towards music, musical aptitude profile (MAP), and per-
sonal adjustment. The similarities of these relation-
ships between the experimental and control groups, the
failure of analyses of variance to establish any
significance for the small differences between paired
means, and the lack of any significant differences when
those variables were dichotomized by sex, led to the con-
clusion that the subject variables, by themselves, would
not account for differences in scores on the dependent

variable of performance achievement.

James F. McCarthy

Analysis of the data pertaining to the dependent

variable, performance achievement, yielded the following

results:

1)

2)

3)

4)

Students who received individual instruction were
superior, in terms of performance achievement, to
students receiving ensemble instruction. The
difference was statistically significant at the
.025 level of confidence.

The performance achievement for all students of
higher levels of I.Q., GPA,.MAP, and personal
adjustment was superior to students with lower
levels of similar variables. The differences were
significant at the .001, .001, .01, and .01 levels
of confidence, respectively.

The interaction of instructional conditions and

l) I.Q., 2) attitude towards music, and 3) personal
adjustment was found to be significant at the
.025, .05, and .01 levels of confidence,
respectively.

No statistical significance could be attached to
the effect on performance achievement of attitude
towards music, sex of the students, or the inter-

action of GPA levels and instructional conditions.

THE EFFECTS OF SELECTED FACTORS AND INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION
WITHIN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM ON THE PERFORMANCE
ACHIEVEMENT OF SEVENTH GRADE BEGINNING
INSTRUMENTALISTS

BY

James Francis McCarthy

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfilhment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Music

1972

To Carol and James

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writer expresses sincere appreciation for the
assistance which has been given him by each of the members
of his doctoral committee: Dr. Robert Sidnell, Chairman,
Dr. Merle Sherburn, Professor Robert Unkefer, and Professor
Richard Klausli. Special appreciation is due Dr. Sidnell
for his generous sharing of time, effort and experience
in bringing this study to its final form.

The impact of Professor Richard Klausli's intel-
lectual and personal influence on the writer can only be
acknowledged; expressions of gratitude are inadequate.

Finally, appreciation is due my wife, Carol, for

her support and forbearance.

iii

Chapter

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I O INTRO DUCT I ON 0 O O I O O O O I O O O I O O O

The Problem and Purposes of the Study . . . . .

Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Need for the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Definition of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Basic Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Delimitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Further Organization of the Study . . . . . . .

II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE . . . . . . . . .
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Types of Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Correspondence Courses . . . . . . . . . .
Grouping Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Laboratory Methods and Self-Paced Unit Plans.
Current Self-Paced Plans . . . . . . . . . .
Programmed and Computerized Instruction . . .
Individualizing Music InStruction . . . . . . .
Programmed Instruction . . . . . . . . . . .
Private vs. Class Instruction . . . . .
Individualized Music Instruction . . . . .
Subject Variables and Music Achievement . . . .
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
III. DESIGN OF THE STUDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Control Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Experimental Treatment . . . . . . . . . . .

Description of Instruments and Method of

of Gathering Data . . . . . . . . . . . .

Method of Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

iv

18

18
21
21
22
29
33
38
41
41
47
50
53
57

59

59
59
6O
61
61
63

65
71

TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont'd.)

Chapter
Irv. ANALYSISOFTHEDATA
Analysis of Subject Variable . . . . . . . . .
Analysis of Subject Variable Data: Sex
Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Analysis of Data Relative to Performance
Achievement and subject Variables . . . .
1.0. and Performance Achievement . . . . . . .
Grade Point Average and Performance
Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Attitude Towards Music and Performance
Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Musical Aptitude and Performance
Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Personal Adjustment and Performance
Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sex and Performance Achievement . . . . . . . .

_ V. SUMMARY, FINDINGS, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS,
IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . .

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Main Effect of Treatments . . . . . . . .
1.0. and Performance Achievement . . . . . .
GPA and Performance Achievement . . . . . . .
Attitude Towards Music and Performance
Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Musical Aptitude and Performance Achievement.
Personal Adjustment and Performance

Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

NOiSe O O O I O O O O O O O I 0 O O O O O O O

conCluS ions 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
Implicat ions 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 O 0
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
BIBLIOGMPHY O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 0 O O 0
APPENDIX A O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O

Page

75
75

78

79
81

84
86
89

91
94

96

96
100
102
102
105
107

107
109

110
110
111
112
113

114

124

LIST OF TABLES
Page

Means and Standard Deviations of subject
Variables for the Experimental and
contrOJ- Groups 0 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 76

Correlations of Subject Variables: Experi-
mental Group 0 O O O O O O I O O C I O 0 0 O I 77

Correlations of Subject Variables: Control
Group 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O I O O O 7 7

Performance Achievement Means and Standard
Deviations for Experimental and Control
Group 0 O O I O O O O O O O I O O O O 0 O O O 80

Correlations between Performance Achieve-
ment and Subject Variables . . . . . . . . . . 80

Analysis of Variance of Performance
Achievement by Method of Instruction and
Level of 1.0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Analysis of Variance of Performance
Achievement by Method of Instruction and
Le ve 1 Of GPA O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O 86

Analysis of Variance of Performance
Achievement by Method of Instruction and
Level of Attitude Towards Music . . . . . . . 88

Analysis of Variance of Performance

Achievement by Method of Instruction and
Level of Musical Aptitude . . . . . . . . . . 91

vi

LIST OF TABLES (cont'd.)

Table

Page
4:10. Analysis of Variance of Performance
Achievement by Method of Instruction
and Level of Personal Adjustment . . . . . . 93
4:11. Analysis of variance of Performance
Achievement by Method of Instruction
and Sex I O O I O I O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O 94

vii

LIST OF FIGURES

Page
Performance Achievement Means of
Experimental and Control Groups at Low,
Medium, and High Levels of 1.0. . . . . . . . 82
Performance Achievement Means of
Experimental and Control Groups at Low,
Medium, and High Levels of Grade Point
Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Performance Achievement Means of
Experimental and Control Groups at Low,
Medium, and High Levels of Attitude Towards
Mus ic O O O O O O I O O O O O O I I O O O O O 87
Performance Achievement Means of
Experimental and Control Groups at Low,
Medium, and High Levels of Musical
Aptitude O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 90
Performance Achievement Means of
Experimental and Control Groups at Low,
Medium, and High Levels of Personal
Adjustment 0 O O O O O O I O O O O O O O O O O 92

viii

c-

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

One of the most striking characteristics of a
classroom is the wide variations in ability and achieve-
ment demonstrated by its pupils, even within a group
possessing a common history of educational experiences.
The scenario of individual differences faced by the class-
room teacher each morning is further embellished by the
frequent shifts in attitudes and motivations within
students. Students not only differ from each other butaflso
within themselves from day to day and from situation to
situation as well.

Consequently, the ”lecture-discussion" method of
teaching common to most classrooms can be deemed an
efficient manner of broadcasting information only if the
processes of reception are ignored. .All too frequently,

teachers assume that every child receives sensory data in

the same manner. Minor,l working with children who have
learning difficulties, found a wide range of sensory
preferences, even in children whose complete sensory
equipment was intact. For some, kinesthetic experiences
were utilized to reinforce visual and aural perception,
while others were unable to shift easily from one sensory
mode to another. Given the broad categories of hereditary,
maturational, environmental, and glandular differences to
which recognizable trait variabilities can be ascribed, it
would be difficult to imagine the lecture-discussion mode
of teaching as a viable system for transferring knowledge.
Instructional programs in the United States which
attempt to shift the burden of adaptation from the student
to the teacher began to be developed in the latter decades
of the 19th Century.2 Efforts to relax the rigid con-
formity of the traditional lock-step system were given
support by the appearance, shortly after the turn of the

century, of psychometric tools and techniques which

 

1Frances Minor, "A Child Goes Forth: Ideas Invite
Involvement," Igdiyidualizing Instruction (washington,
D.C.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum DeveloP-
ment, National Education Association, 1964), p. 58.

2Chester W; Harris, ed., Encyclopedia 2; Edgga-
tiggal Research (New York: Macmillan, 1960), p. 222.

attempted to quantify the sc0pe of trait variability. The
increasing sophistication of these tools has recently
established new parameters of human competence and per-
formance. It is now clear that students differ widely not
only in intelligence but in creativity3 and in at least
eighty elements of intellect.4 It has also been demon-
strated that these inequalities increase rather than
decrease as a student moves through the grades. Among
ninth graders, reading and mathematics test scores may
range from grade three to college junior levels.5 Yet
mass teaching continues, seemingly oblivious to its
inappropriateness.
The Problem and Purposes
of the Study

This study was concerned with formulating and
evaluating a method of individual instruction which will
provide learning conditions compatible with the physio-

logical and psychological differences that individuals

 

3M. A.‘Wallach and N. Kogan, nodes 9; Thinking in

xggng Children (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
Inc., 1965).

4J. P. Guilford, The Natuge.g;_fluman Intelligence
(New York: McGraw Hill, 1967).

5R. M. Thomas and S. M. Thomas, Ingiyidugl Di -
fierenges in the Classroom (New York: David McKay Company,
Inc., 1965), p. 3.

bring to beginning instrumental music classes. More

specifically, the purpose of this study is to compare the

effects, on the performance achievement of beginning

junior high school instrumental music students, of both

individual instruction within a class and ensemble

instruction of a more traditional nature. Further objec-

tives were:

1.

to determine the effect of students' intelligence,
academic achievement, attitude towards music,
musical aptitude, and personal adjustment on their
scores for the dependent variable, performance
achievement.

to examine the differing effects on performance
achievement which may occur as a result of the
interaction between the two instructional treat-
ments and the five subject variables of intel-
ligence, academic achievement, attitude towards

music, musical aptitude, and personal adjustment.

Hypotheses

The primary hypothesis of this study is that

individual instruction in the experimental classrooms will

produce significantly higher scores on performance

achievement for beginning instrumentalists than a

traditional ensemble method of teaching in the control
classes, and that this difference will occur regardless
of the subject's sex. In addition, it is hypothesized
that students with higher levels of intelligence,
scholastic achievement, attitude toward music, musical
aptitude, and personal adjustment will attain signifi-
cantly higher performance achievement scores than students
at lower levels of the same variables. It is further
hypothesized that significant interaction effects on
performance achievement will be found occurring between
types of instruction and levels of the aforementioned
subject variables.

Investigation of these hypotheses necessitates
examination of the following null hypotheses:

1. There is no significant difference in performance
achievement between the experimental and control
groups.

2. There is no significant difference between males
and females within the experimental and control
groups, respectively, in performance achievement.

3. There is no significant difference in performance
achievement between students of low, medium, and

high I.Q.

4. There is no significant difference in performance
achievement between students of low, medium, and
high grade point average (GPA).

5. There is no significant difference in performance
achievement between students of low, medium, and
high attitude towards music.

6. There is no significant difference in performance
achievement between students of low, medium, and
high musical aptitude.

7. There is no significant difference in performance
achievement between students of low, medium, and
high personal adjustment.

8. There is no significant interaction effect on per-
formance achievement between the instructional
treatment and each of the subject variables of
intelligence, academic achievement, attitude
towards music, musical aptitude, and personal

adjustment.

Need for the Study
A fundamental premise of educational principle is
that each child should be able to develop from his current
level of achievement to another level of competency in a

manner suitable to his particular needs. Unfortunately,

music classes devoted to instrumental instruction typically
demonstrate the inequality engendered by the equal treat-
ment of students of unequal ability. The instructional
procedures found therein are best described by Froseth as
"lock-step, where all students in the class play
(rehearse) each exercise until the slower members of the
class succeed or until the teacher gives up. No doubt,
learning by imitation (i.e., once through to see how it
goes, or follow the leader) and other forms of musical
dependency and musical illiteracy can be attributed to a
lock-step approach to teaching beginning instrumental
music."6

The inefficiency of simultaneous, repetitious,
identical learning tasks for all students is patently
obvious, particularly for those of higher ability. The
latter, unable to benefit from the “overlearning”

inherent in such drill (see studies by Becker7 and

 

6James 0. Froseth, "Individualizing Instruction in
the Beginning Music Class" (unpublished paper presented at
the North-Central Division MENC Convention, Research
Section, 1971), p. 2.

7W. R. Becker, "The Effect of Overlearning,
Initial Learning Ability and Review upon the Musical Memory
of Junior High School Cornet and Trumpet Players" (unpub-
lished Ph.D. dissertation, State University of Iowa, 1962).

Rubin-Rabson,8 cited in Chapter II), must feel an
overwhelming sense of frustration resulting from their
entrapment by an instructional procedure virtually
designed to waste their time and insure their boredom.
Likewise, the student of lower intellectual or musical
ability, perhaps already imbued with the expectation of
failure, finds the pace of instruction too rigid, the
evaluatory systems employed by a teacher ineffectual and
inappropriate to his needs. He may experience frustration
and seek defense against it by turning away from the
initial excitement and aspirations characteristic of most
beginners, and may ultimately "tune-out" the source of
irritation by dropping out at his earliest Opportunity.

9 1
There is some evidence (Kruth, Bergen, O and

 

8Grace Rubin-Rabson, "Studies in the Psychology of
Memorizing Piano Music VI: A Comparison of Two Forms of
Mental Rehearsing and Keyboard Overlearning," Journal.gf

Educational Psychology, XXXII (1941), 593-602.

9E. C. Kruth, "Student Dr0p-Out in Instrumental

Music in the Secondary Schools at Oakland, California"
(unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University,
1964).

10 u -
Hal Bergen, A Study of Dr0p-Outs in Instru-
mental Music in Five Selected High Schools in Michigan"
(unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University,
1957).

Pruitt,ll cited in Chapter II) that students of the lowest
and highest ability comprise the major proportion of drop—
outs from instrumental music programs. This study will
attempt to prescribe an instructional method which is
simple in conception, easily administered, and which will
perhaps remove some cause for attrition among beginning
students by providing them with instruction tailored to
their needs.

While the literature contains an abundance of
articles deploring the undesirable attitudes engendered in
students by harmful teaching techniques, one rarely finds
any mention of the frustration and desperation experienced
by teachers. Instructors often discover that they are
unable to fulfill their best intentions of bringing
knowledge and intellectual excitement to children, par-
ticularly children far removed from the class, culture, or
race of that teacher. In a filmed documentary examination
of communication in schools produced by the BBC television
network, the too-typical, agonizing conflict between

teachers who pursue their instructional goals with

 

11Jack S. Pruitt, "A Study of Withdrawals in the

Beginning Instrumental Music Programs of Selected Schools
in the School District of Greenville, South Carolina"
(unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, New York University,
1966).

10

sincerity and dedication and students who resist the
teacher's efforts with considerable determination and
occasional cruelty was described as a "war: sometimes
cold, sometimes hot, with undeclared periods of truce or
rarer periods of peace, but always--a war."12 This con-
flict between teachers and students is presumed to be
partially caused by patterns of communication which result
from the roles adopted by the participants in the tradi-
tional lecture-discussion classroom. Such roles involving
the formal dissemination and reception of information are
often inimicable to the establishment of productive rela-
tionships. If communication is primarily between "the

teacher" and "the class,' it is likely that such a rela-
tionship will be marked by distance, suSpicion, alienation,
and occasional hostility. Conversely, if teaching is
carried out on a tutorial basis, the prime mode of com-
munication is between two individuals, and their personal

relationship may become supportive, thus defusing the

source of the conflict between the two roles.

 

12"Communication," BBC Telecast, May 12, 1972:
"The School."

11

Definition of Terms

Performance Aghievenent is the ability to perform
on the appr0priate musical instrument as measured by the
Watkinsfignnnnn_Pengonnange.§nnln.13 The test provides for
the measurement of errors in pitch, tempo, rhythm, dura-
tion, expression, slurs, rests, pauses, and repeats.

Intelligence is measured by the gninrnennon Mental
agility Tnnn, Intenmediate.nnynl.l4 (According to the
authors, the test has "been designed to provide compre-
hensive, carefully articulated assessment of the general
mental ability, or scholastic aptitude, of pupils in
American schools. Emphasis is placed upon measuring the
pupil's facility in reasoning and in dealing abstractly
with verbal, symbolic, and figural test content sampling a

broad range of cognitive abilities."15

tholastig Annieyement is defined as the success

attained by students in scholastic endeavors as evidenced

 

13John‘Watkins and Stephen Farnum, Tne watkins-
‘Ennnnm.2nn§nnmnnnn Scale (Winona, Minnesota: Hal Leonard
Music, Inc., 1965).

14Arthur Otis and Roger Lennon, Otis-Lennon.nennal

Ability Tesn, Intennegiate Leyel (New York: Harcourt,
Brace and World, Inc., 1967).

15Arthur Otis and Roger Lennon, Otis-Lennon Mental

agility Test: Mannal :0; Administration (New York:
Harcourt, Brace and‘World, Inc., 1967), p. 4.

 

 

 

12

by their respective grade point averages (GPA). These
averages were computed for all curricular courses taken
by students prior to the inception of this study, but
exclude all grades received during the experimental
period.

Attitnde Towardsiungin is defined as the cognitive
component of the students' affective behavior in music.
It is measured by the Thurstone—Chavel6 "method of equal-
appearing intervals“ scale developed by Carter.17

Musicnl Antitnde is best defined as general
musical abilities which are a product of inherited poten-
tial and environmental influences. Since all aptitude
tests are to some degree a measure of acquired learning,
an aptitude test may be distinguished from an achievement
test to the extent that the generalized function of
aptitude is maximized, and the specifically learned

course-content material is minimized.

 

l6Louis L. Thurstone and E. J. Chave, Tne

Mensnnement.nf,5ttitudes (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1929).

17warrick Carter, "Ethnic Music as a Source for
the Musical Development and Enrichment of Culturally Dif-
ferent students in General Music Classes" (unpublished
Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1970).

13

The measure of musical aptitude is the composite
score attained by all students on the Musical Aptitude
Pnofile (MAP).18 According to the author, the test is
designed to "minimize musical achievement so that the most
basic factors of musical aptitude--aura1 perception,
kinesthetic musical feeling, and musical expression--may
be adequately assessed."19

Pensnnal Adjustment is defined as feelings of
personal security, and refers to the manner and effective-
ness with which the whole individual meets his personal
needs. The measure of personal adjustment is the composing
score attained by students on the personal adjustment sec-
tion of the galifonnia.gn§n.n§ Personality, Intermediate
Leyel.20 According to the authors, the test is designed
to "detect the areas and specific types of tendencies to
think, feel, and act which reveal undesirable individual

adjustments."21

 

18Edwin Gordon, Mnsig Antitnge Profile (Boston:
HoughtoneMifflin Co., 1965).

l?1§§fl-: "The Musical Aptitude Profile," usi
.EQEEQEQ£§.£QE£DQL: 53:6 (February, 1967), 52,

20Louis Thorpe, Willis Clark,, and Ernest Tiegs,

Qalifornia Test 2; Personality (Monterey: CTB/McGraw-Hill,
1953).

2J'Louis Thorpe, Willis Clark, and Ernest Tiegs,

‘unnnn_: gnlifonnia Iegt n; Personnlity (Monterey:
CTB/McGraw-Hill, 1953), p. 2.

l4

Ingiyidnal Instnnctinn is defined as an exclusively
tutorial, one-to-one basis of instruction involving a
single teacher and student within the experimental classes.
It should not be confused with "individualized instruc-

tion, which connotates the relatiye degree to which
instruction, materials, programs, and curricula, are
adapted to groups of varying sizes.*

Ensemble Instnnction is defined as instruction
given to students within an ensemble comprised of dis-
similar wind and percussion instruments. It is charac-
terized by identical, simultaneous, and repetitious drill
instigated and concluded at the discretion of the
instructor. Instruction is usually directed to the whole

class, occasionally to a sub-section, e.g., similar

instruments, but rarely to an individual student.*

Basic Assumptions
Conclusions which may be drawn from the analysis
of data are based on the following suppositions:
1. Since only those students with no previous train-

ing in instrumental music were included in the

 

TA complete description of the individual and
ensemble instructional technique used in this study can be
found in Chapter III.

15

study, it is assumed that a pre-test on the
dependent variable of performance achievement is
neither necessary nor appr0priate, and that stu-
dents in the experimental and control groups could
be equally described as naive and unskilled in
terms of performance achievement.

2. It is assumed the indices of performance achieve-
ment, intelligence, scholastic achievement,
attitude towards music, musical aptitude, and
personal adjustment measure satisfactorily what
they purport to measure.

3. It is assumed that instruction and the factors of
intelligence, scholastic achievement, attitude
towards music, musical aptitude, and personal
adjustment bear a causal relationship to per-

formance achievement.

Delimitations
Texts. The efficacy and appropriateness of the
texts to the experimental and control methods of instruc-
tion was not examined. Texts for both groups were
identical.
Leyel 2; Subjects. This study was concerned

exclusively with seventh grade, beginning wind and

16

percussion instrumental students, and generalizations
drawn from the analysis of the data will be confined to
similar constraints.

Intonation. In accordance with the instructions
given by the authors of the Watkins-Fannum Scale, evalua-
tion of performance achievement did not include
measurement of intonation.

.Tgng Quality. Although a topic involving con-
siderable instructional effort on the part of each teacher,
judgments of tone quality were not included in the test of
performance achievement.

Ensemble Skills. Performance achievement was
measured solely on an individual basis and no attempt was
made to evaluate or compare the ensemble skills of the
experimental or control group.

Further Organization
of the Study

The preceding pages of this chapter have presented
a statement, definition and discussion of the problem and
its related aspects. The study continues in the following
order: Chapter II, a Review of the Related Literature;

Chapter III, Design of the Study: Chapter IV, Analysis of

I)

17

the Data; and Chapter V, Summary, Findings, Discussion,

Conclusions, and Recommendations.

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Introduction

". . . we are not born all exactly alike but dif-
ferent in nature, for all sorts of different jobs."1
Therefore Plato, recognizing the extent of human vari-
ability, specified its social implications and anticipated
to a remarkable degree our century's use of aptitude
batteries by pr0posing tests to measure traits important
to the military.2 Comenius also treated individual dif-
ferences at length, admonishing teachers to consider their
pupils' ages, intelligence and knowledge.3

In the eighteenth century, Rousseau believed the

child's education should not be governed by adult

 

1W. H. D. Rouse, (Translator), Great Dialognes.nn
Plato (New York: The New American Library, Mentor Books,
1956), p. 166.

21bid.

3J. A. Komensky, The Analytical Qidactic.nf

‘ggngninn (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953),
pp. 160-164.

18

l9

interests and activities, and that "the needs and
interests of the individual are above those of organized
society."4 Pestalozzi insisted that the natural curiosity
of a child should provide the motives for learning, and he
founded, in the early nineteenth century, a boys' boarding
school wherein coercion to learn was not used. Believing
that free expression would allow the natural powers of the
child to develop, he maintained that a teacher's respon-
sibility was to adapt instruction to each individual
according to his changing nature as required by the vary-
ing stages in his development.5

Thus the recognition of individual differences and
the provision of appr0priate individualized instruction--
the problem central to this study--is neither unique to
this century nor to this country.

In pre-l850 America, formal education was generally
available only to a relatively small number of people.
Most schools were therefore ungraded, and learning in the

one-room school was very much an individual

 

4s. E. Frost, Jr., History 2; Egncation (WOodbury,
New York: Barrows Educational Series, Inc., 1947),
p. 139.

5Caroll Atkinson and Eugene Maleska, The Stony n:
Egncation (New York: Bantam Books, 1962), p. 79.

20

affair.6 But the subsequent pressure of a rapidly
expanding population combined with its concentration in
the cities lead to the abandonment of low student-teacher
ratios and the adoption of more efficient and uniform
"production" techniques.
Opposition to uniformity of curriculum and stu-
dents was expressed by many educators, including Charles W}
Elliot, chairman of the Committee of Ten and former Presi-
dent of Harvard University, when he said in 1892:
Uniformity is the curse of American schools.
That any school or college has a uniform product
should be regarded as a demonstration of inferiority,
of incapacity to meet the legitimate demands of a
social order whose fundamental principle is that every
career should be open to talent. Selection of studies
for the individual, instruction addressed to the
individual . . . , and diversity of product as regard
to age and acquisitions must come to characterize the

American public school, if it is to answer the pur-
poses of a democratic society.7

Many programs proposed before and after Elliot's
remarks are referred to as "individualized." Others

exhibit the characteristics but do not bear the title.

 

6Robert G. Scanlon and John Bolvin, Indiyigually
gnescnined Instznction (Philadelphia: Research for Better
Schools, Inc., 1969), p. 2.

7Charles W. Elliot, "Shortening and Enriching the
Grammar School Course," in gnarles Elliot nng Ponnla;
Egncagion, ed. by Edward Krug (New York: Teachers College
Press, 1961), pp. 55-56.

21

All of these programs constitute a diverse family based on
differing interpretations of individualizing, justified by
varying theories, influenced by increasingly sophisticated
technology, and confounded by the ambiguity of their label.
"In fact, the term indiyidualiged instrnctional program is
used to describe such a varied assortment of curricula
that it is no longer a useful, restrictive category of
instructional methods. It likely never was."8
A survey of these programs, even excluding pre—
nineteenth century forms and those designated for such
specific subject areas as reading, reveals that attempts
to individualize instruction have been a facet of American

education almost from its inception, and that the renewed

interest has taken a bewildering array of forms.

Types of Programs
gnyyesnondenge gonrses. One of the first programs
in this country for individualized instruction was insti-
tuted in 1873, taking the form of what is contemporarily
called correspondence courses. In 1882 a systematic plan was

adopted for the study of foreign languages in which weekly

 

8Maurice Gibbons, Ingiyidnnlized Instrnction (New
York: Teachers College Press, 1971), p. 2.

22

assignments of reading and translating sent to the student
were corrected by the teacher "with notes and suggestions
adapted to his needs."9 A recent Carnegie Corporation
study showed that nearly five million students were
enrolled in correspondence courses.

Qronning Plans. The literature describes a large
number of more or less pervasive procedures and devices,
such as self-teaching materials, "enrichment" or supple-
mentary assignments, differential assignments, workbooks,
independent study, supervised study, personal programs,
administrative plans and various grouping arrangements.
Each of the categories listed above may in practice involve
superficial one-shot innovations or serious and radical
modifications of school organizations. Each may involve a
myriad of forms: Shanell catalogued thirty-five methods

of grouping practices alone in the United States, e.g.

 

9John s. Noffsinger, gnrnesnondence Sgnools
‘Lyggnmg, gnantagnas (New York: Howard MacMillan, 1926),
p. 10.

10B. H. Pearse, "The Postman is the Proctor,"

American Egngntion, III (February, 1967), 10-12.

11H. G. Shane, "The School and Individual Dif-
ferences," Ingiyidnalizing Instructio , Sixty-first Year-
book of the National Society for the Study of Education,
Part I (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1962),
pp. 20-22.

23

up-graded groups, primary-intermediate grouping, grade
level grouping, homogeneous grouping, x-y-z grouping,
intrasubject-field grouping, and departmental grouping.

The grouping of students is usually an attempt to
provide for individual differences by minimizing them
within a classroom. Homogeneous grouping is defined by
the pigtionany p; Education12 as "the classification of
pupils for the purpose of forming instructional groups
having a relatively high degree of similarity in regard to
certain factors that effect learning." In a 1932 survey
of 432 schools, Billet13 found homogeneous grouping to be
the most popular method of improving the teaching and
learning environment. Harap reported a few years later
that ability grouping was "the most common method of

adjusting learning to individual differences."14 A

 

12Carter B. Good, ed., Dictionary pf Edngation

(2nd ed.; New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959), p. 255.

13Roy 0. Billet, The ggninisnnanion and Snpepyision
.g§_flonogeneons Gnouping (Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State
University Press, 1932).

14H. Harap, ”Differentiation of Curriculum Prac-
tices and Instruction in Elementary Schools," TEE Gronping
.9; Enpils, Thirty-fifth Yearbodk of the National Society
for the Study of Education, Part I (Bloomington, Illinois:
Public School Publishing Co., 1936), p. 163.

h. i

24

comprehensive review of grouping practices and research
can be found in the book edited by Yates.15 Sponsored by
the UNESCO Institute for Education, the study reports the
results of grouping in various countries and lists seven-
teen varieties of grouping in primary and secondary
schools.

Relative to academic achievement, research dealing
with homogeneous groupings has produced qualified and con-
tradictory results. In an early critique, Rock reviewed
only studies he considered "scientific" and concluded that:

The experimental studies of groupings which have

been considered fail to show consistent, statistical

or educationally significant differences between

the achievement of pupils in homogeneous groups.l6
Likewise, Miller and Otto found that "so far as academic
achievement is concerned, there is not clear-cut evidence
that homogeneous grouping is either advantageous or dis-

advantageous."l7 They concluded "that ability grouping is

quite ineffective unless accompanied by proper changes in

 

15Alfred Yates, Q;QEELQQ.1B Egncation (New York:
Wiley and Sons, 1966).

16Robert T. Rock, "Critical Study of Current Prac-

tices in Ability Grouping," Egngational Resnangh Bnlletin,
IV (May-June, 1929), 67.

17W} Miller and M. J. Otto, "Analysis of Experi-
mental Studies in Homogeneous Grouping," The gournal.g;

Egngational Eeseargn, XXI (February, 1930), 100.

25

method. Unless adaptation of methods and materials is a
necessary correlation to ability grouping, one of the pur-
poses of the project is defeated."18 Turney's analysis of
grouping studies found that:

a) Most of the studies purporting to evaluate
ability grouping have proved nothing regarding ability
grouping but have only added evidence bearing upon the
nature and extent of individual differences, b) most
experimental attacks upon the value of ability group-
ing have failed to evaluate the chief claims for it,
i.e., the possibility of adopting content, method, or
time, and c) the true evaluation of ability grouping
must be deferred until adequate experimental attacks
have succeeded in measuring its alleged advantages.19

The failure to obtain conclusive results, the sum-

maries couched in tentative terms, and the conflict in
research findings caused Cornell to observe that "a review
of the objective results of ability grouping leaves one
convinced that we have not yet attained any unequivocal

experimental results that are capable of wide generaliza-

tion.”20 Reviewing published studies, he could

 

lalpig.

19A. H. Turney, "The Status of Ability Grouping,"

Edngapion;Administ;ation and Su er ision, XVII (January-
February, 1931), 126-127.

20E. L. Cornell, "Effects of Ability Grouping
Determinable from Published Studies," IDS Gnonping pf
Rnpils, Thirty-fifth Yearbook of the National Society for
the Study of Education, Part I (Bloomington, Illinois:
Public School Publishing Co., 1936), p. 29.

26

only conclude:

Experimental studies have in general been too
piecemeal to afford a true evaluation of the results,
but when attitudes, methods and curricula are well-
adapted to further adjustment of the school to the
child, results, both objective and subjective, may be
favorable to grouping.2

Nearly thirty years later, Goodlad observed that "studies
since the 1930's have not added precision to the conclu-
sion or clarification of the problems analyzed by
Cornell."22
More recent studies have done little to enlighten
us. Millman and Johnson analyzed more than 8000 gain
scores in English and mathematics for pupils in 327 class
sections in twenty-eight schools. The study failed to
show that the amount of gain depended on within-class
variability, and concluded that "whatever the potentiali-
ties may be for increasing achievement through narrowing

the ability range of classes, such improvement is

apparently not taking place."23 As wyndham observed, "the

 

211mg” p. 302.

22J. I. Goodlad, "Classroom Organization,"

Engyclopedia pf Edncational neseannn, ed. by C. W} Harris
(New York: MacMillan, 1960), p. 224.

23J. Millman and.M. Johnson, "Relation of Section
Variance to Achievement Gains in English and Mathematics

in Grades 7 and 8," The American Edncation gesearch, 1964,
p. 51.

VI.
5 L

a:
.

O
.~L

\
2;
MN...

Pu .Ii C. c. I C I .
.l ‘0 hi «Pu C at . C
m l n a . S

27

first general impression one gains from these studies is
that, granted their unequal experimental significance,
they raise more issues than they settle."24

Some of these issues are sociological rather than
academic in nature. In England, where most children in
"public" schools and many in state-supported grammar
schools are placed in "streams" (the English label for
ability grouping), it has been suggested that such group-
ing is responsible for a self-proving hypothesis. The
results of the vocationally important "ll-plus" examina-
tions given at the end of the fourth year of junior school
may simply reflect the consequences of four years' stream-
ing during which "A" classes get "A”-minded teachers and
therefore "A" results, while "C” classes are taught by
"C"-minded teachers whose expectations influence the
academic achievement of their students. Daniels, after a
thorough analysis of research from British and.American
sources concluded:

a) Streaming lowers rather than raises the

average level of attainment in junior schools,
b) streaming slightly reduces the level of
attainment of "bright" junior school children,

c) streaming markedly retards the educational
process of the "slower" junior children,

 

24H. S. wyndham, Ability gronping (Melbourne:
.Melbourne University Press, 1934), p. 107.

28

d) streaming artificially increases the range of
educational attainment of junior school children, and

e) widens the gap between the "bright” and
"backward."25

Douglas examined the practice of streaming from a
socio-economic basis as well as academic, and concluded
that:

Children who come from well-kept homes and who are
themselves cleaned, well-clothed and shod stand a
greater chance of being put in the upper streams than
their measured ability would seem to justify. Once
there, they are likely to stay and improve their per-
formance in succeeding years. This is in striking
contrast to the deterioration noticed in those
children of similar initial measured ability who are
placed in lower streams. In this way the validity of
the initial selection appears to be confirmed by the
subsequent performance of the children and an element
of rigidity is introduced early into the primary
school system.

The sociological questions raised in class-
conscious England have had echoes in race-conscious
America, most notably in the furor raised by the practice
of "tracking" in the Washington, D.C. public schools. As
a result, and despite nearly eighty years of practice and

forty years of study, the issues concerning the effect of

 

25J. C. Daniels, "The Effects of Streaming in the
Primary Schools,“ The pritish gournal pf Ps cholo , XXXI
(1961), 80.

26J. W. B. Douglas, 11.12 Home _ang1;_h_e_ Sgnool: A
Study pf Ability nnd Attainment in pan Many Sghools
(London: MacGibbon and Kee, 1964), p. 118.

 

29

homogeneous grouping on academic achievement are largely
unresolved and likely to remain so.

Laponatony MEtLOQS.éng.§§1£12322QHHB1E.EL§2§- In
1888 Preston Search, superintendent of schools in Pueblo,
Colorado, began a program designed to permit a child to
pace his own coverage of course material rather than await
his turn in daily recitation.27 Search later used similar
methods of organization in Los Angeles, but his ideas
failed to be accepted and lay dormant for several years.28

In California, Frederick Burk and Mary ward
initiated a new movement toward individualized instruction
in 1912-13. Burk's Individual System, as it was later
called, provided prescribed courses of study for each
student and made provisions for the testing of pupils as
their units of work were completed. Class lectures and
daily assignments were abandoned. In their place, a pro-
gram of relatively independent study was substituted, with
teachers assisting students in the location of necessary

study material. Later, a series of self-instructional

 

27Preston Search, "The Pueblo Plan of Individual
Teaching,".§gngnp;pnnl,Beyiew, VIII (June, 1894), 154-158.
28Guy M. Whipple, ed., Adapting the Scnools.np

.Lngiyidnnl Qiffenences, Twenty-fourth Yearbook of the
National Society for the Study of Education, Part II

(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1925), p. 59.

30

bulletins was published and distributed across the United
States until a ruling by the California Attorney General
st0pped their publication in that State.29

Several methods or plans for individualizing
instruction were reported in the Twenty-fourth Yearbook of
the National Society for the Study of Education. One of
the most prominent, Carleton Washborne's Winnetka Plan of
Winnetka, Illinois, divided the curriculum into two parts.
The first, dealing with essential common knowledge and
skills, was studied in intensive units each morning. The
second, stressing the self-expression of the child's own
interests and abilities, involved the free and creative
activities chosen by students each afternoon. While
allowing for group or class work, emphasis was on indi-
vidual study and progress.30 Group promotion was replaced
by individual achievement, with students taking self-
administered tests to determine their readiness for the

teacher tests.31

 

zglhisl- , pp. 59-60.

3OCarleton‘Washborn and Sidney Marland, Jr.,
Winnetka: Tne Histony'nng Signifigance.p§,nn Edugational
Expergnent (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,
1963).

31‘Whipple,__c_>.p. nit., p. 82.

31

At about the same time, Parkhurst's Dalton
Laboratory Plan32 was developed in Dalton, Massachusetts,
and like the Winnetka Plan, it owed much of its inspiration
to Frederick Burk. Properly a sociological rather than a
curricular plan, it attempted to modify the conditions
within schools by a commitment to three principles:

(1) freedom for the individual child to work on his

assignments, (2) cooperation in group life, and (3) the

budgeting of time in relation to the proportion of effort-

to-attainment. A unique feature furnished students with a

"contract" specifying the completion of a certain number
33

of assigned units within a fixed period of time. Other

programs cited in the Twenty-fourth Yearbodk include the

Indiyidualized Instrnction Plan for Anithmetic in Detroit,

 

Michigan, and the Individualination.pf‘Work in the

 

Vocational School at Madison, Wisconsin, all marked by the

attempt to center instruction more or less on the learner's

h . 4
interests while pacing it according to his abilities.3

 

32Helen Parkhurst, Education pn tne paltpn Plan
(New York: Dutton, 1922).

33Whipple,pp. git., pp. 84-87.

34Ipid., pp. 101-114.

32

Mayer-Cakes,35 adopted the Dalton Plan success-
fully and reported a gain of 25% in the pr0portion of
students who passed the state-wide examinations, but
Thompson,36 evaluating results from a more rigorously
controlled experiment, did not find any special advantage
for the Dalton Plan. A modified Dalton Plan was success-

fully administered by Underhill.37

38 describes a third individualized method

Billett
of instruction known as the Morrison Plan. The classroom
is transformed into a laboratory in which sequenced lesson
units and guide sheets for assignments are differentiated
for pupils of varying ability. The teacher's role is to
give personal guidance to the pupil's work and study
activities. The Morrison Plan was most frequently
associated with the teaching of science, and 9% of the

secondary schools in this country were reported using this

plan in 1932.

 

35G. H. Mayer-Cakes, “The Dalton Plan in a Small
High School,"‘1nn Egncation gournal, LVII (December, 1936),
244-248.

36W. H. Thompson, "Experiment with the Dalton

Plan," Ine.gpnpnnl,gf Egngationnl Researgn, XXVI (March,
1933), 493-508.

37R. J. Underhill, "Experience of Scarsdale with
Individual Instruction," new'xonk State Egncation Jo nal,
XVII (March, 1931), 677-678.

38Roy 0. Billet, The Administnation and Supep-

yisign pf agnogeneons‘gngnping (Columbus, Ohio: Ohio
State University Press, 1932).

33

.QQIIQDE Selffizngpgnunip Elnns. The development of

teaching materials, referred to as "learning packages,"
have become an integral aspect of recent organizational
programs which are, in part, indebted to the older
Winnetka and Dalton Plans. Each package, whether teacher-
initiated and prepared or developed commercially, is a
self-contained set of materials designed to teach a single
concept, idea, skill, or attitude. Specific objectives to
be learned are listed for the student and stated in
behaviorial terms. Various media, materials, and methods
are used in the accomplishment of these objectives, and
evaluation by pre-test, self-test, and post-test is
included to allow the student to measure his own progress.
Referring to UNIPAC, a set of teacher-prepared materials
developed by the IDEA Materials Center and founded by the
Charles F. Kettering Foundation, Bishop describes the
format as follows:

UNIPACs are designed to help students achieve at
their own best learning rates. Given UNIPACs, stu-
dents will be able to achieve measurable performances
under given conditions, at or above specified minimum
levels, and at rates which are individually unique to
each student.

When the student with the assistance of a teacher
selects a particular UNIPAC in his sequential learning
program, he takes a pre-test based on the behavioral
objectives in that UNIPAC. If the pre-test results

indicate that he is ready for the concepts or skills
of the UNIPAC, he selects from suggested learning

34

materials and activities in the UNIPAC those which fit
his own unique learning style. Behavioral objectives,
which are contained in his UNIPAC, guide him as he
learns. When he feels that he has achieved one
behavioral objective, he proceeds to the next one and
again selects from suggested learning materials and
activities.

When the student feels that he has achieved all of
the behavioral objectives in his UNIPAC, he takes a
self-test. If the self-test results indicate that he
is ready for teacher evaluation, the student can
request the post-test for his UNIPAC. Upon successful
completion of the post-test, the student may proceed
to this next UNIPAC or he may participate in quest
activities. If the student elects to participate in
quest, he defines a problem for in-depth or in-breadth
study, and he conducts his research in order to
achieve some level of resolution of his problem.

During the entire learning sequence the teacher
provides as many opportunities as possible for a
student-teacher and student-student interaction during
conferences and seminars. Small learning teams, made
up of from two to six students are formed whenever
feasible. The teacher monitors each student's
progress, diagnoses learning problems, prescribes
possible alternative learning materials and activities,
and evaluates each student's progress in achieving
the stated behavioral objectives.39

Perhaps the most significant example of the
commercially-prepared materials is the Individually
Prescribed Instruction (IPI) program administered by the
Learning Research and Development Center of the University
of Pittsburgh and Research for Better Schools, Inc. based

in Philadelphia.

 

39Lloyd K. Bishop, Individualining Educational

Systems (New York: Harper and Row, 1971), p. 36-37.

35

Scanlon and Bolvin define IPI as the . . . plan-
ning and conducting with each student a program of his
studies that is tailored to his learning needs and to his
characteristics as a learner. IPI takes into account such
parameters of individual differences as rate of learning,
amount of practice and, to some extent, preference for
mode of instruction."40 They further describe the func-
tion of their project as an ". . . instructional system
based on specific objectives, correlated with diagnostic
tools, teaching materials and methods. It represents one
specific way of providing for wide ranges of differences
that exist in classrooms. Certainly it typifies what can
be done to help resolve the age-old problem of providing
for each student, each day, his own program of studies."41

The IPI program is primarily involved with the
subject areas of reading, mathematics, spelling, science,
and handwriting, and attempts to plan and implement a pro-
gram adapted to the personal and learning needs for every

student. Four main considerations are postulated:

l. The rate of speed at which each child
progresses depends upon his own capacities. He

 

OScanlon and Bolvin, pp. cit., p. 2.

41Ibid., p. 1.

 

36

places himself upon the continuum by taking both
placement tests and pre-tests.

2. The curricular material is arranged in a
sequential order called continuum. The assignments
are given by a prescription to fit his individual
needs. (A prescription is an individual lesson plan
for each student each day.)

3. The student's mastery of the curriculum is
judged by curriculum-embedded tests and post-tests.
He is required to perform at a level of 85%.

4. The child works independently in most cases,
thus building up his sense of responsibility and also
his confidence in his own knowledge. He begins to
realize that learning is a process that is dependent
on his own participation and initiative.42

The saluatory effect of individualized instruction
on achievement is well-documented in research studies from
, 43 44 .
many fields by Appleby, Armstrong, Postlethwaith and

Novak,45 McCarley,46 and others. In a study of

 

421pid., p. 2.

43B. C. Appleby, "The Effects of Individualized
Reading on Certain Aspects of Literature Study with High
School Seniors" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Univer-
sity of Iowa, 1967).

44W. H. Armstrong, "An Experimental Investigation
of The Instructional Effectiveness of Published Programmed
Instructional Materials vs. Individualized Instruction in
Area Vocational-Technical Schools"(unpublished Ph.D. dis-
sertation, The Florida State University, 1967).

458. N. Postlethwaith and Joseph Novak, "The Use of
8mm Loop Films in Individualized Instruction," Annals.p§
png Ngy xOrk Academy pf Science (New York: The New York
Academy of Science, March 31, 1967).

46W} W. McCarley, "An Experimental Study to Evalu-
ate the Effectiveness of an Individualized Instructional
Method and Lecture-Discussion Method of Teaching Vocational
Agriculture Classes" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,

Michigan State University, 1968).

37

mathematics under the IPI curriculum, Glaser observed
twenty-one experimental classes in four schools, once
before the introduction of the individualized program and
four times after the program began. Control classes were
similarly observed during the school year. Besides the
superior achievement of students in the experimental
groups, Glaser reported that:

In the control class, three aspects of the com-
munication pattern appeared as follows: 1) over half
of the communications in the classroom were non-
instructional, 2) about 90 percent of the communica-
tions were teacher-oriented; half of these were
directed to the single student and half to groups of
students, and 3) where the teacher talked to one
student, it was most likely that the communication was
noninstructional; when the teacher talked to more than
one student, it was likely that the communication was
instructional.

Before the initiation of the individualized pro-
gram, the communication pattern in the experimental
classes was highly similar to this control-school
pattern. After the introduction of the individually
prescribed instruction procedure, the following
appeared: 1) over three-quarters of the communica-
tions were instructional in nature, 2) 20 percent of
the communications were teacher-initiated; of these,
three-quarters were directed to the single student,

3) about 80 percent of the communications were student
initiated; of these, three-quarters were instructional
in nature, and 4) there was a trend for the overall
number of communications to decrease in the experi-
mental-classes.47

47Robert Glaser, fignpping tne Elenenpary.§gnppl

Cnrpicnlnn pg Ingiyidual Perfonnance (Pittsburgh: Publi-
cation of the University of Pittsburgh Learning Research

and Development Center, Reprint 26, 1967), pp. 3-4.

38

Pr ra e and ggmpnterized Inspnnction. Pro-

grammed teaching by text or machine is "an attempt to
obtain the kind of behavioral control shown possible in
the laboratory."48 The concept of dividing the segments
of a course into "small, but rigorous steps, each of which
is rewarding,"49 has revolutionized some schools and had
a profound influence on the role of the teacher. Pro-
grammed methods whether "linear" or "branched“ can be
adapted to the individual by alterations in the method and
sequence of presenting those units, and by virtue of the
fact that the student, working at his own pace, either
corrects his response to each frame or has it corrected
for him. Regardless of the technique, the central element
of the system is the positive or negative reinforcement of
responses, leading to the extinction of incorrect behavior.
The convergence of computer technology and pro-
grammed learning will have perhaps the greatest single

impact on instruction in the future. Because of the

inordinant amount and types of material which can be

 

48James G. Holland, "Teaching Machines: An Appli-

cation of Principles from the Laboratory," Jonpnal,gf tne

Enperinental Analysis‘p;.§gnnyipn, III, No. 4 (October,
1960), 275-

49B. F. Skinner, The Technology 9; Teacning

(New York: Appleton Century Crofts, 1968), p. 3.

39

stored and immediately recalled for presentation, the high
degree of control over the learner, and the ease of vary-
ing the sequence of presentation, computer-assisted
instruction (CAI) provides unusual opportunities for
creating individualized instructional programs.

To a great extent, CAI is an extension of the
simpler programmed teaching machines. In that format, the
student is presented with a series of statements and ques-
tions to which he must correctly respond by pushing one of
a choice of keys. If his response is correct, the machine
informs him of that fact and presents the next question.
If he is incorrect, the machine announces the error,
presents more information, and requires the student to try
again. The computer's contributions to the system are
described by Carter:

At the System DeveloPment Corporation, we have
built an experimental computer-based schoolroom called
”CLASS" which stands for "Computer-Based Laboratory
for Automated School System." CLASS is a rather
unusual schoolroom in that each student works in a
separate small cubicle which has equipment allowing
him to receive visual and auditory instruction through
film projectors, tape recorders, or television. The
student is able to respond to the material being
presented through a special switchboard, or set of
buttons, which is connected to our Philco 2000, a
medium-sized.modern computer. The student's response
is instantly transmitted to the computer which has in
it a program for recording the response, for analyzing

it, and for determining what instructional material
should be presented next to the student. On the basis

40

of this program, the computer transmits a signal back
to the student which instructs him about the film
frame or auditory grouping to which he should next
attend. As the student progresses through the
instructional material, the computer is able to
specify the sequence of materials to meet his par-
ticular needs. That is to say, as the student responds
to the instructional items, his progress is constantly
monitored and wherever items are being missed or
trouble appears, the computer analyzes the difficulty
and presents to the student items of sequences of
material which attempt to remedy it.50

PrOperly programmed, the computer's power lies in
its ability to continually monitor and assess the student's
progress, to evaluate and modify its instruction presenta-
tion relative to that progress, and to provide a detailed
record of the student's achievement and manner of
achievement. For example, the computer will:

1. Engage in two-way communication with a student
by means of natural language messages.

2. Guide the student through a program of tasks,
helping him where he has difficulty, and accelerating
his progress where he finds little challenge.

3. Observe and record significant details of the
student's behavior, including steps undertaken in
performing tasks, time taken for particular steps, and
values of varying psychological and environmental
qualities.

4. Simulate the operation of a physical, mathe-
matical, or social process responding to variations
in parameters.

 

50Launor F. Carter, "Computers: Their Impact on
Instruction, on Educational Planning, and on the Cur-
riculum,” cited in Lloyd K. Bishop, Individualizing
Educational Systems (New York: Harper and Row, 1971),
p. 48.

41

5. Analyze and summarize performance records and
other behavioral records of individual students and
also groups of students.51

There are significant limitations to CAI learning

systems. The computer's ability to understand partial
responses and meanings is limited, and it cannot devise
on-the-spot solutions and alternatives. The most serious
impediment to the extensive use of CAI is the currently
prohibitive cost of the equipment. It is possible that
the continuing development of time-sharing facilities will

allow schools to have access to this tool, via terminals,

without the expense of an "in-house" installation.

Individualizing Music Instruction
Pnggrammed Instruction. The attempts of music
educators to individualize instruction have been largely
confined to the development of self-instructional programs
and other devices designed to promote more efficient
learning of specialized musical skills. In 1958-59,

Spohn52 assembled structured drill material for use in the

 

51E. N. Adams, "Computer-Assisted Instruction,"

anpnters and.nntgmation, II (March, 1966), 17-18.

52C. L. Spohn, "An Exploration in the Use of
Recorded Teaching Material to Develop Aural Comprehension
in College Music Classes" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,
Ohio State University, 1959).

42

teaching of melodic perception at the college level. The
results of his studies indicated that structured drill
provided to students for use outside of normal class hours
was significantly more effective than unstructured drill
in the same conditions.

Carlsen53 compared the effectiveness of linear and
branched programs with teacher-instruction in melodic
dictation. Both types of programmed learning were shown
to be more beneficial to the college students than a
comparable group taught by more conventional methods, but
no superiority could be claimed for either the linear or
the branching technique. Wardian54 andAshford55 also
found programmed materials to be a more efficient method

of teaching the fundamentals of music theory to college

 

53James C. Carlsen, ”An Investigation of Pro-
grammed Learning in Melodic Dictation by Means of a
Teaching Machine Using a Branching Technique of
Programming" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Northwestern
University, 1962).
54J.‘Wardian, "An Experiment Concerning the
Effectiveness of Programmed Learning for Use in Teaching
the Fundamental of Music" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,
Washington State University, 1968).

55T. Ashford, "The Use of Programmed Instruction
to Teach Fundamental Concepts in Music Theory," Journal.gf
Research In unsic Educatio , XIV (Fall 1966), 171-177.

43

students. Hargiss56 developed a text, after numerous
revisions, to teach the rudiments of music theory to
elementary education majors in piano classes. While stu-
dents who used the final revision for only one semester
attained the same level of proficiency as a group who
studied in a traditional class, a third group subjected
to both teacher instruction and programmed material
achieved more than either of the former groups.

Tape recorder models for use in instrumental
instruction were first devised by La Bach.57 His device,
a two-track tape recorder with microphone, relay switches
and controls, was designed to enable students to record
their practice on a given exercise, hear it played back,
and compare it with the playback of a pre-recorded model.
Unfortunately, a statistical evaluation of student pro-
gress was not attempted, but La Bach concluded that
students enjoyed using the device and that students "may
‘well" have shown significant improvement in performance

skills through its use.

 

56Genevieve Hargiss, "The Acquisition of Sight
Singing Ability in Piano Classes for Students Preparing to
be Elementary Teachers," gonrnal.pI_Reseanch.IninusIc
.EgucagIgn, X (Spring, 1962), 69-75.

57Parker La Bach, "A Device to Facilitate Learning
0f Basic Music Skill," pnlletin p; the gonncil for
lfififlgnngn.In_Mnsig Egncation, No. 4 (Winter, 1965), 7-10.

44

In a study using similar tape-recorded models and
instructions for practice, but without provision for
recording and playback, a group of elementary school
violin students who practiced with these materials were
judged by a panel of expert violinists to have superior
skill in phrasing, bowing, tempo, intonation, rhythm,
expression and tonal quality than their counterparts who
practiced normally. In a similar study, Pu0polo58 pre-
pared practice tapes for use by beginning instrumentalists.
Each tape generally consisted of a model performance or an
exercise with simple piano accompaniment, and verbal
instructions, explanations, and counting of meter before,
during and after all model performances. According to
Pu0polo, the following format was adhered to:

l. A brief reminder of problems to be encountered
preceded each tune or exercise to be practiced (new
rhythms, new notes, fingerings, chromatics, new note
values, phrasings, etc.).

2. Student listened to model performances of tune
or exercise while reading along from the score.

3. While reading from the score, student
listened to first isolated segment.

4. Student played segment very slowly, then
slightly faster, faster, and finally ”a tempo.”

 

58Vito Puopolo, "The Development and Experimental

Application of Self-Instructional Practice Materials for
Beginning Instrumentalists" (unpublished Ph.D. disserta-
tion, Michigan State University, 1970).

45

(Directed by recorded counting and piano accompani-
ment.)

5. Student was asked if he remembered to cope
with specific problems, for example, "Did you remember
to use the second valve for that F# on the third
beat?"

6. Student listened to reinforcement and com-
pared.

7. After each segment was drilled, student per-
formed entire tune or exercise, then listened to
reinforcement. (According to instructions, student
either listened to reinforcement or played in unison
with it.)59

Practice material, the weekly band assignment, was the
same for both experimental and control groups. Students
in the former group were issued cassette players and the
appropriate tape, and were assigned individual daily prac-
tice sessions by the music teacher. Control group members
were also required to practice daily, but without the use

of the tapes. After a period of ten weeks, the students

0
were tested on the watkins-Ennnnn,Perfonmange Scale6 and

 

students using the self-instructional practice tapes were
found to have achieved significantly superior results.
These and other studies involving various aspects

of performance and using such nonprogrammed technical

 

5?;p;g., pp. 37-38.

60John‘Watkins and Stephen Farnum, Ins Watkins-

.En;nnm,Perfo;nance Scale (Winona, Minnesota: Hal Leonard
Music, Inc., 1965).

 

46

. l . . .
devices as the tachistoscope,6 instructional films,62 and

oscillosc0pic transparencies63 have shown that effective,

although somewhat cumbersome and expensive methods exist
for the improvement of music instruction. Summarizing his
review of research, Duerkson states that:

Results of studies of programmed instruction and
the use of various instructional devices have at least
two important implications for the music teacher:

(a) there are some instructional programs and devices
that supplement traditional methods of class or
private instruction; (b) there are other instructional
programs and devices that are equal in effect to
traditional classroom or private instruction. Use of
these programs and devices can free instructional time
for other pursuits in which the teacher is essential.
In both cases, the pr0per use of instructional tech-
nology seems to lead to more effective instruction in
instrumental music.64

 

61R. F. Difranzo, "A Comparison of Tachistoscopic
and Conventional Methods in Teaching Grade Three Music
Sight-Playing on a Melody Wired Instrument" (unpublished
Ph.D. dissertation, University of Connecticut, 1966).

62D. M. Beley, ”The Development and Evaluation of
the Effectiveness of a Pilot Instructional Sound-film for
Teaching Beginning Trumpet Students with a Brief Survey of
the History of Trumpet Instruction and the History of
Educational Film Research“ (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,
University of Iowa, 1970).

63T. S. Small, "The Evaluation of Clarinet Tone
Through the Use of Oscilloscopic Transparencies,” gpunnal

.2§;3eseanch‘In_Mnsig Egngation, XV (Spring, 1967), 11-22.

64George Duerkson, Teacning Insgnnnental Mnsig
(Washington, D.C.: MENC, 1972), p. 6.

47

P;iyate.y§. glass Instnnctipn. Patterns of

instrumental class organization have rarely been questioned
by music educators, and the few systematic investigations
have mainly dealt with the relative effectiveness of
private or class lessons. Waa65 compared the effect of
both methods of instruction on the musical achievement and
musical aptitude of fifth and sixth grade instrumental
beginners. He found that private students attained sig-
nificantly higher scores than class students on the

Watkins-Earnnn Eerfonnance Scale, but admitted that because

 

the private students' scores appeared to be seriously
influenced by an uncontrolled band-no band variable, this
difference could have been due to the combination of band
experience and private lessons. Unfortunately his groups
were quite small, some as small as N=4, and his evaluation
of data required the use of non-parametric statistics
(Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance and the Mann-
Whitney U Test) which precluded the statistical confirma-

tion of that interaction.

 

65Loren waa, "An Experimental Study of Class and
Private Methods of Instruction in Instrumental Music"
(unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois,
1965).

48

Shugert,66 in an attempt to more rigorously control
the confounding variables which had plagued Waa's study,
evaluated the effects of class (homogeneous and hetero-

geneous) and private lessons on musical achievement

(watkins-Eannum Performance Scale and the Fannnm MusIc

 

Notation Test), musical aptitude (Seasnone Tests pg

 

nusigal Ialent) and attitude towards school music (genners

Scnogl Supjecn Rating Scale). He found:

 

1. no significant differences between class and
private students on the tests of aptitude and notation,

2. that private students were significantly
superior to class students in performance achievement,

3. no significant differences in performance
achievement between homogeneous and heterogeneous
classes.67

Shugert used'p-tests exclusively in evaluating his

 

data and could therefore make no comment on the role of
aptitude on achievement nor the interaction of lessons and
achievement. More seriously, he experienced a massive
mortality rate in the thirteen weeks of the study: only
123 students of the original 219 completed the experimental

period. One might both justifiably assume that the

 

66James Shugert, "An Experimental Investigation of
Heterogeneous Class and Private Methods of Instruction
with Beginning Instrumental Music Students" (unpublished
Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois, 1969).

Ibid.

 

49

drOp-outs represented the least successful students in the
sample, and speculate about the possible effects on per-
formance achievement had they finished the experiment and
their scores been included.
. . 68 .
In a rev1ew of Shugert 3 study, Noble questioned

the use of the watkins-Farnnn Perfonnange Scale to measure

 

performance achievement, pointing out that the test does
not measure such ensemble skills as balance, precision,
and vertical intonation. Unfortunately no studies are
available which delineate the extent, if any, to which
class instruction influences those variables. However, it
is apparent that Shugert intended only to measure the
effect of instructional conditions on individual achieve-
ment, and that Noble's charge of a biased measuring

instrument is imprecise: there is no evidence that the

watkinsfignnnnn,Perfprmance Scale fails to objectively

 

evaluate performance achievement, and studies cited by

 

68Robert Noble, "Critique: An Experimental
Investigation of Heterogeneous Class and Private Methods
of Instruction with Beginning Instrumental Music Stu-
dents,” BnlletIn pg pnp.gpnngIIHfipn Research In_nnsig
Educatipn, No. 21 (Summer, 1970), 47-51.

50

watkins,69 Farnum7o andMitchum71 indicate that the scale
indeed measures what it purports to measure. Noble's
statement should be considered a value judgment on
Shugert's decision not to include a measure designed to
evaluate the relative effect of the teaching methods on
ensemble performance. Shugert's decision was clearly a
practical one; the complexities involved in the construc-
tion and validation of an objective scale for measuring
ensemble performance is staggering, and would itself
encompass the scope of an important thesis. Subjective
analyses by a panel of judges would be limited by its very
subjectivity and/or its inability to produce quantifiable
data.

Indiyidualined_nn§Ig Instruntion. In a project to
individualize instruction within classes of beginning

instrumentalists by means of scores on an aptitude test,

 

69

John watkins, ObjectIye Measnne pg Instrumental
.Ennnpnmnngn (New York: Teacher's College Bureau of Publi-
cations, 1942).

70

Stephen Farnum, "Prediction of Success in
Instrumental Music" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,
Harvard University, 1950).

71John Mitchum, "The Wing 'Standardized Tests of
Musical Intelligence'; An Investigation of Predictability
with Selected Seventh Grade Beginning Band Students"
(unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Florida State University,
1969).

51

2
Froseth7 constructed texts designed for use in like-
instrument (homogeneous) classes with provisions for the
simultaneous performance of material written at various
levels of difficulty. The texts used by the experimental
groups allow students of high, average, and low levels of
achievement to perform lesson material simultaneously and
without the frustration caused by a pace of drill too slow
or quick for their capabilities. According to Froseth,
In order to provide more musical instruction,
traditional non-musical exercises were excluded in
favor of folk-song literature and musical sounds.
Teachers were instructed to avoid lock-step instruc-
tion and to use the flexibility of the experimental
texts to elicit musical responses for the purpose of
developing musical independence.7
Froseth also constructed supplementary texts and
exercises of folk-song literature so that the singing
voice could be used to reinforce concepts of tonality,
musical phrasing, and musical styles of articulation.

Eurhythmic activities and the use of percussion instru-

ments were used to deve10p rhythmic aptitudes.

 

72James O. Froseth, "Using MAP Scores in the
Instruction of Beginning Students in Instrumental Music,"
Jonrnal g; Research InIMusic Education, XIV (Spring, 1971),
98-101.

”mm. p. 99.

52

Describing instructional procedures, Froseth
states that:

The provision for self-initiated and self-directed
study was an important innovation employed in experi-
mental group classes. In order to facilitate varying
interests and needs, students in the experimental
group were encouraged to "play by ear,” improvise and
choose songs to practice and play from-a supplementary
book of folk songs. Specific assignments were avoided
in order to allow students to determine their own
goals and pursue their interests freely and indepen-
dently. In addition, many lesson projects made
provision for independent and self-directed study.
Self-direction was facilitated by sequencing study
material in a manner that allowed students to correct
their own errors, and, therefore, learn indepen-
dently.74

Thirty-four sixth-grade students were given the
Musical Aptitude Profile (MAP), subsequently grouped into
high, average and low categories according to their MAP
composite scores and then randomly placed into either the
experimental or control group. No other basis was used to
establish the equivalency of the groups.

One of the dependent variables, performance
achievement, was tested by means of students' recorded
performances on self-prepared and sight-read etudes con-
structed by the author and rated by two judges. The

results demonstrated the superiority of the individualized

 

74IpId.

53

instruction and the relationship of MAP scores to achieve-
ment. No significant interaction was found to exist
between instruction and aptitude.
Subject Variables and Music
Achievement

Music educators are continually intrigued by the
relationship of certain subject variables to performance
achievement. A variety of tests measuring intelligence,
aptitude, academic achievement, personality, etc. are
available, and are inevitably used to correlate students'
scores on those variables with some aspect of musical suc-
cess. Knowledge of these relationships are, unfortunately,
sometimes used to encourage or discourage an individual
planning to participate in an instrumental music program.

[Such attempts to use these criteria in selecting
students are unfortunate because, philosophical considera—
tions aside, research inevitably informs us that the
prediction of success or failure cannot be accurately made
for individuals. As Duerkson summarizes:

Studies at different levels ranging from kinder-
garten to college lead to a single conclusion: scores
on presently available standardized tests, used alone
or in combination, do not correlate well with success
or failure in instrumental music and cannot be used
as the only predictor of whether or not an individual

will succeed. Success in instrumental music has been
uncovered in several ways in these studies, but

54

however measured, correlations with standardized test
scores seldom reach 0.50. While this degree of cor-
relation is of value in research and in making predic-
tions for groups, it is not high enough to warrant
confidence in predictions for individuals. High
scores on the various tests do not assure that the
student will succeed, nor do low scores assure that
he will not. The data suggest that it is not
justifiable to bar students from instrumental music
programs solely on the basis of their scores on the
aptitude type of test.75

In a study investigating the power of musical
aptitude, general intelligence, and academic achievement
to predict drop-outs, Young76 found he was unable to
predict a student's successful completion of the instru-
mental program. Mitchum,77 using a deletion or addition
regression program, found that measures of 1.0. and
academic achievement showed the most potential for predic-
tion of scores on the Watkins-Farnum, ; = .49 and .50

respectively, and Corno78 obtained similar results.

 

75Duerkson,pp. cit., p. 6.

76William Young, "An Investigation of the Relative
and Combined Power of Musical Aptitude, General Intelli-
gence, and Academic Achievement Tests to Predict Musical
Attainment" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of
Iowa, 1969).

77Mitchum,_<_>_p. cit.

78Guy Corno, "Relationship Between the Degree of
Intelligence and Performance on a Test of Musical Apti-
tude" (unpublished Master's Thesis, Dusquesne University,
1958).

55

Likewise Rhoades79 found a measure of intelligence to be
a more superior predictor of musical success than a test
of musical talent.
8O .

Gordon, however, compared performance achieve-
ment with other variables and found correlation coeffi-
cients of .91 for MAP, .62 for I.Q., and .60 for academic
achievement. Because administrative testing practices
allowed him to use only a small number of subjects, how-
ever, he cautioned against the generalization of his
results. Schneider and Cady reviewed all research in
music education between 1930 and 1962, and concluded:

1. Intelligence appears to be the most important
single variable in predicting success in instrumental
music.

2. Musicality (as measured by musical aptitude
tests), by itself, does not appear to be a satis-
factory predictor of achievement in music.

3. A definite relationship seems to exist between

academic average, music grade average, musical apti-
tude, intelligence, and musical achievement.81

 

79Fordyce Rhoades, "An Evaluation of Measures for
the Prediction of Success in Instrumental Study" (unpub-
lished Master's Thesis, University of washington, 1938).

80Edwin Gordon, TIStudy of the Efficacy of General
Intelligence and Musical Aptitude Tests in Predicting
Achievement in Music," Bnlletin pg Eng Council In;
Researcn‘In_Musig Education, No. 13 (Spring, 1968), 40-45.

81Erwin Schneider and Henry Cady, "Evaluation and
Synthesis of Research Studies Relating to Music Education:

1930-1962," Bulletin pg tne gouncil for Research In_nnsic
Edu ation, No. 9 (Spring, 1967), 8-9.

56

In addition to the variable mentioned by Schneider
and Cady, other experimenters have attempted to relate
personality factors to achievement in instrumental music.
Cooley,82 in a study plagued by faults of design and
uncontrolled variables, found very little relationship
between intelligence, personality, and various tests of
musical abilities. In 1957, Cramer83 attempted to predict
achievement of fourth through eighth grade students on
the watkins-Farnnn Scales using measures of I.Q., per-
sonality, physical growth, and the Seashore tests of
Pitch, Rhythm, and Tonal Memory. Although no test could
reliably predict success, he found that high performance
achievement was accompanied by high scores on the
variables listed. Dealing solely with aspects of per-

, 84 . .
sonality, Kaplan found that instrumental mu51c students

 

82John Cooley, "A Study of the Relation Between
Certain Mental and Personality Traits and Ratings of
Musical Abilities" (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation,
University of Michigan, 1952).

83William Cramer, "The Relation of Maturation and
Other Factors to Achievement in Beginning Instrumental Per-
formance at the 4th through 8th Grade Levels" (unpublished
Ph.D. dissertation, Florida State University, 1958).

84Lionel Kaplan, "The Relationship Between Certain
Personality Characteristics and Achievement in Instru-
mental Music" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, New York
University, 1961).

57

in general and high achievers in particular were charac-

terized as more self-confident, self-controlling, and

intellectualizing than non-music subjects and low

achievers. Using a test of cognitive musical achievement,
85 86 .

however, both Thayer and Schleuter could find no

systematic relationship between achievement and personality

traits.

Summary
In summary, it can be said that the evidence of

research shows that some individualized instrumental tech-
niques can be an effective way of coping with and
providing for the differences students bring to class. It
can also be fairly stated that until recently, many music
educators have been reluctant to concern themselves with
characteristics of the individual learner and the adoption
of teaching methods suitable to him, preferring instead to

seek yet new tests which might screen out a potential

 

85Robert Thayer, "An Investigation of the Inter-
relation of Personality Traits, Musical Achievement, and
Different Measures of Musical Aptitude" (unpublished Ph.D.
dissertation, University of Iowa, 1971).

86Stanley Schleuter, "An Investigation of the
Interrelation of Personality Traits, Musical Aptitude and
Musical Achievement" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,
University of Iowa, 1971).

58

non-contributor to the band program. Despite that bias
apparent in most studies in music reviewed here, the
literature levels lead us to expect that "lock-step”
conditions of instruction will yield fairly substantial
relationships between performance achievement and the
variables of I.Q., academic achievement, and musical
aptitude. Low-to-moderate relationships would be expected
between performance achievement and personality measures.
Because of the paucity of relevant research on attitude
towards music and individualized instruction relating to
achievement, it is impossible to suggest with any cer-

tainty their potential role in this study.

CHAPTER III
DESIGN OF THE STUDY

Procedures

Sample. Two Lansing, Michigan schools, Patten-
gill Junior High School and Dwight Rich Junior High School,
participated in the project during the 1970-71 academic
year. Because of the Lansing Public Schools' policy of
discouraging doctoral research in their city's schools,
permission to carry out the study could only be obtained
by assuring the superintendent that the author would be
the instructor for the experimental group (Pattengill
Junior High School) in which drastic changes of instruc-
tion would be made.

Thus only the control group (Rich Junior High
School) was chosen by random means. However, the city of
Lansing employs an extensive system of bussing to achieve
a racial, social and economic balance of students within
its schools. Not unexpectedly, therefore, the two groups

displayed remarkable similarity relative to the subject

59

60

variables. While it must be admitted that the selection
procedures will limit the generalizability of the results,
there is no firm evidence that either group arises from
differing p0pulations.

Subjects. The sample was comprised of the seventh
grade students enrolled in the beginning instrumental pro-
gram from both schools; the data for all students with
prior instrumental music instruction (two students at
Pattengill Junior High School, one student at Rich Junior
High School) were excluded. No special process beyond the
students' desire to participate was invoked to select
participants for the program, and no criteria other than
the students' preference played a role in the selection of
their musical instruments.

Table 3:1 contains the.u for sex, the n of each

group, and the total N for the study.

Table 3:1. .3 for Groups, Sex, and Totals.

 

 

 

School Male Female Totals
Pattengill JHS 26 19 45
Rich JHS 25 20 45

Totals 51 39 9O

61

The mortality rate was extremely low, consisting
of one student at Pattengill Junior High School and two
students at Rich Junior High School, or a rate of 3.33 per-

cent for the whole sample.

Method
Both groups were sub-divided into three classes of
approximately fifteen students per class. Instruction was
provided by two certified public school music teachers,
and consisted of one fifty-minute, mixed-instrument class
lesson every school day for a complete school year of 180
days. The instructional texts for all students were the

1
First Diyision Band Method series, Part I and Part II.

 

Qontrol Treatment. Students in the control group
were taught by what may be described as the ensemble
method. In these classes, the students are seated in a
semi-circle and in groups of similar instruments.
Rehearsal procedure typically consists of the instructor's
analysis and explanation of the content and novelties in a
'particular line of music, followed by extensive ensemble

drill on that line. During or between repetitions,

 

lFred'W'eber, Finst Diyision gand Method (Rockville
Center, Long Island: Belwin, 1962).

62

further critical comment or demonstration by singing is
made by the instructor, and the class may repeat the drill
or progress to the next line, depending upon the instruc-
tor's evaluation of class competency. The decision to
progress to a new line is made only by the instructor, and
is usually based on his opinion that a sufficient number
of students have attained a "reasonable" level of com-
petency. This judgment may also be influenced by such
extra-musical factors as the group's willingness to con-
tinue the drill or the need to "cover" certain material
within a given class hour.

This lock-step procedure seemingly tends to maxi-
mize the teacher's ability to control both the direction
and rate of class learning. While the specific concepts
and skills presented for learning to the students are
primarily governed by the design of the method book, the
teacher may employ various means to emphasize those areas
which he considers most important for the acquisition of
performance ability.

Although the instructor may drill a small section
of similar instruments, individual rehearsal is confined
to an occasional solo performance, or the placing of a

student in an area outside the main rehearsal room. With

63

the exception of the last procedure, which is usually used
only with poor students who are far behind the class, the
individual student has virtually no voice in the decision
to continue or terminate drill.

Experimennal Tneatment. After the first week of
the term, in which instruction concerning the assembly
and maintenance of the instrument was given, students in
the experimental group were not seated in a pattern, but
instead were assigned to chairs widely dispersed about the
classroom. At the start of the daily period, the students
would begin individual practice at the point in their
instruction book reached the previous class period. Of
course, this point for one student was rarely identical
to the material being practiced by any other student.

Instruction given by the teacher was exclusively
tutorial and provided in only two instances. The first
was at the student's request and could occur at any time
an individual sought instruction. The second instance
occurred when a student, deciding that he was capable of
satisfactorily playing the complete assigned page he had
been practicing, requested the teacher to evaluate his
efforts on that material. What followed could best be

described as a "mini-lesson": the instructor would set

64

tempi, listen to the student's recital, comment on the
strengths and weaknesses of the performance, and make sug-
gestions leading to the improvement of such factors as
tonal and rhythmical accuracy.

During the initial stages the instructor assumed
the responsibility of deciding whether the student had
demonstrated sufficient competency to progress to new
material on the next page. Later, and at a rate which
varied from student to student, the decision to proceed
gradually became a matter of discussion between student
and instructor, and eventually became the sole prerogative
of the student.

If the decision, however determined, was to begin
a new page, the teacher explained any novel material,
heard the student attempt to play it, and corrected errors
of a cognitive nature such as failing to observe key
signature. To prevent a single student from monopolizing
the instructor's time and to promote accurate self-
evaluation, the students were limited to one unit (page)
evaluative conference per class period. This limit did

not apply to requests for explanatory assistance.

65

Description of Instruments and Method
of Gathering Data

At various times during the experimental period,
data were gathered for all students on the subject
variables of

1. Sex
2. Intelligence (I.Q.)
3. Grade Point Average (G.P.A.)
4. Attitude Towards Music
5. Musical Aptitude
6. Personal Adjustment
and on the dependent variable, performance achievement.

Information concerning gpn of the students was
obtained by observation or, where necessary, by inSpection
of the school records.

The measure of I.Q. was the Otis-Lennon Mental

 

Ability Test, Intenmediate Level, by Arthur S. Otis and

 

Roger T. Lennon and was administered by school psycholo-
gists to all seventh grade students in the Lansing Public
Schools during the third week of the experimental period.
According to the authors, the eight various types of

verbal and non-verbal items which make up the test empha-

size skills of abstract reasoning ability. One score

66

summarizes all eighty items. The Mannal fig; AngnInnnn-

.nIpnz gives a split-half reliability coefficient of .95.
No data pertaining to validity is presented, but the
results of then-current (1967) studies are scheduled to
appear in the forthcoming Tegnnical flandbook.

.an n gpInp,Ayerages were obtained from school
records and were computed exclusive of the year during
which the students participated in the study. They there-
fore did not include grades received for the instrumental
music classes in which they were enrolled for the duration
of this study. The grades themselves reflect teachers'
assessments of student academic achievement, and are based
on a four-point scale, e.g., below 1.0 = failure,

4.0 = excellence.

The Attitude Towards anIg test was constructed

by Carter3 using the Thurstone and Chave4 "method of

equal-appearing intervals.’ The scaling was performed by

 

2Arthur S. Otis and Roger T. Lennon, Otis-Lennon

Mental Apility Test, Intennediate Leyel (New York:
Harcourt, Brace and‘World, Inc., 1967).

3warrick Carter, "Ethnic Music as a Source for the
Musical Development and Enrichment of Culturally Different
Students in General Music Classes" (unpublished Ph.D.
dissertation, Michigan State University, 1970).

4Louis Thurstone and E. J. Chave, The Measurement
_pI,Attitndes (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1929).

67

ten music specialists who were asked to judge, on an
eleven-point continuum, the degree of favorableness or
unfavorableness of the attitude towards music expressed
by each statement. The composite results were used to
obtain the scale value of each attitude statement, cal-
culated by Edwards'5 "calculation of scale" formula. The
test was given to all subjects during the first week of
classes at the beginning of the school term. The adminis-
tration was performed by a school counselor unknown to the
students and during the planned absence of the classroom
instructors involved in this study.

All students were given the MnsIna1,AppInngn
Pnofile6 battery of tests during the second week of the
initial school term. The MAP is divided into three main
sections: Tonal Imagery, Rhythm Imagery, and Musical
Sensitivity. These sections are further subdivided into
subtests. They are: Melody and Harmony for the Tonal
Imagery division: Tempo and Meter for the Rhythm Imagery

division: and Phrasing, Balance, and Style for the Musical

 

5Allen Edwards, Iegnnignes pf Anninnde Sgaleygpn-
§trngtion (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1957).

6E. Gordon, MnsIcaI Aptitnde ProfIle Manual
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1965).

68

Sensitivity division. The tests of Tonal and Rhythm
Imagery are described as "nonpreference" tests because
there is an unequivocally correct or best answer for each
item contained therein. The subtests of the third divi-
sion, described as a preference test, are intended as
measures of musical taste and were constructed to conform
with the consensus of both music students and profes-
sionals.

Although it is possible to obtain eleven separate
scores from the battery of tests, only the single com-
posite score was used in this study. The standard score
scale is based on a mean of fifty, and a standard deviation
of tan, although special norms are provided for various
grades and categories of students. The author lists
various reliability coefficients for each test by grade,
generally in the .90's for the total battery.

The measure of personality was the galifornia Test

 

.pI,2e;sonalIty.7 Although the complete test includes two
'sections, Personal Adjustment and Social Adjustment, only

the composite score for the test of Personal Adjustment,

 

7L. Thorpe, W. Clark, and E. Tiegs, galifonnia
Test,p§ Personalit , 1953 Revision (Monterey, California:
CTB/McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1953).

69

administered to all subjects during the first week of the
experimental period, was used in this study. The items in
the Personal Adjustment section measure six components of
personal security: Self-Reliance, Sense of Personal WOrth,
Sense of Personal Freedom, Feeling of Belonging, Withdraw-
ing Tendencies, and Nervous Symptoms. The test is designed
to enable teachers and school officials to identify the
types of maladjustment from which a student may be suf-
fering, and thus is primarily a diagnostic test. The
authors quote a reliability coefficient (Kuder-Richardson)
of .83 and a standard error measurement of 2.87 for the
Personal Adjustment section. No validity coefficient is
given: instead, the Mannal cites the results of various
studies relating the test to clinical findings and other
tests.

The dependent variable, performance achievement,
was measured by the watkins-Farnnn PerformancegnnI;8
During the final week of the term, all students were
required to sight-read Form A of the Eenfonnance.§gnIg,
administered in a room equipped with a tape recorder,

metrenome, chair, and music stand containing the test

 

8John watkins and Stephen Farnum, Tne watkins-

‘EnnnnnsPeyfpnnance Sgale (Winona, Minnesota: Hal Leonard
Music, Inc., 1954).

70

items. Testing procedure was as follows:

1. Student reported individually to the testing
room.

2. Instructor read the directions aloud to the
student, and recorded his name.

3. Instructor activated the metrenome at the
tempo specified by the test sheet, turned on
the tape recorder and left the room.

4. Instructor waited near the closed door until
the student's performance of all items at a
given metrenome marking was completed. He then
entered the room, shut off the metrenome and
tape recorder, and repeated step three for the
next set of items.

These recorded performances were scored by two
judges, both senior lecturers in music at a College of
Education in London, England. The judges had no knowledge
of which students belonged to the experimental or control
group, and thus could maintain complete impartiality.

To prevent instruction from being influenced by
the teacher's knowledge of students' scores on the various
tests, all data concerning the subject variables

were either a) gathered at the end of the experimental

71

period or b) gathered at the initial stages of instruc-
tion but not scored until after the experimental period

was completed.

Method of Analysis

At the conclusion of the experimental period, data
for all students were collated. The means and standard
deviations of both the experimental and control groups
were computed for the subject variables of I.Q., G.P.A.,
Attitude Towards Music, Musical Aptitude, and Personal
Adjustment.

To establish the similarity between groups on the
subject variables and the role of sex within groups,
separate analyses of variance were computed to determine
if a significant difference existed:

1. between the experimental and control groups on
the subject variables of I.Q., G.P.A., atti-
tude towards music, musical aptitude, and
personal adjustment,

2. between males and females of each group on the
subject variables,

3. for the interaction between groups and sex on

all subject variables.

72

In addition, correlation matrices showing the relation-
ships between the subject variables were computed for all
combinations of sex and groups.

The scores for the dependent variable, performance
achievement, were analyzed with reference to the students'
scores on the subject variables, i.e., as though they
arose from a treatments-by-levels design. In other words,
the performance achievement scores for both groups were
assigned to trichotomized (low, medium, and high) cate-
gories and subjected to separate analyses of variance in
order to determine the significance of:

l. the main effect of the treatments or instruc-

tional conditions on performance achievement,

2. the effects of each subject variable on

performance achievement, and

3. the interaction between treatments and

levels.
To investigate the effect of the students' sex on the
dependent variable, the scores of both groups were
dichotomized by sex. The resultant data of this 2 x 2
design were subjected to analysis of variance to yield
F-ratios for:

1. the main effect of treatments,

The
investigate

1.

73

the effects of sex on the dependent variable,
the interaction between treatments and sex.
object of the analyses described above was to
the following null hypotheses:

There is no significant difference in per-
formance achievement between the experimental
and control groups.

There is no significant difference between
males and females within the experimental and
control groups, respectively, in performance
achievement.

There is no significant difference in per-
formance achievement between students of low,
medium, and high I.Q.

There is no significant difference in per-
formance achievement between students of low,
medium, and high grade point average.

There is no significant difference in per-
formance achievement between students of low,
medium, and high attitude towards music.
There is no significant difference in per-
formance achievement between students of low,

medium, and high musical aptitude.

10.

11.

12.

13.

74

There is no significant

difference in per-

formance achievement between students of low,

medium, and high personal adjustment.

There is no significant
performance achievement
treatment and sex.
There is no significant
performance achievement
treatment and I.Q.
There is no significant
performance achievement
treatment and G.P.A.
There is no significant

performance achievement

interaction effect on

between instructional

interaction effect on

between instructional

interaction effect on

between instructional

interaction effect on

between instructional

treatment and attitude towards music.

There is no significant

performance achievement

interaction effect on

between instructional

treatment and musical aptitude.

There is no significant

performance achievement

interaction effect on

between instructional

treatment and personal adjustment.

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS OF THE DATA

Analysis of Subject Variable Data

The means and standard deviations of both the
experimental (Pattengill Junior High School: N = 45) and
control (Rich Junior High School: N = 45) groups for the
subject variables of I.Q., G.P.A., Attitude (Attitude
Towards Music), MAP (Musical Aptitude Profile) and Per-
sonal Adjustment are listed in Table 4:1.

Analyses of variance failed to locate a signifi-
cant difference between the experimental and control
groups for any pair of the above means (see Appendix A for
ANOVA Tables). While this does not preclude the possi-
bility of a true difference, it is apparent through
inspection of the means that, although no attempt was made
to match the samples, the groups are in fact quite evenly
balanced and that the difference between the experimental
and control group in terms of subject variable means is

non-significant.

75

76

 

 

 

 

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77

Tables 4:2 and 4:3 contain the correlation

coefficients (Pearson's product-moment) between all sub-

ject variables except sex.

 

 

 

 

 

Table 4:2. Correlations of Subject Variables: Experi-
mental Group.
. Personal
I.Q. GPA Attitude MAP, Adjustment
I.Q. --
GPA .815 --
Attitude .337 .426 --
MAP .472 .400 .324 --
Personal '
Adjustment .230 .210 .312 I .217
Table 4:3. Correlations of Subject Variables: Control
Group.
. Personal
I.Q. GPA Attitude MAP Adjustment
I.Q. --
GPA .785 --
Attitude .395 .494 --
MAP .431 .391 .359 --
Pers°na1 .261 .267 .367 .266 --

Adjustment

k

78

A comparison of the correlation matrices above
reveals that the experimental and control groups are
probably as well-matched on the subject variables as the
means shown in Table 4:1 would indicate.

Analysis of Subject Variables:
Sex Differences

Because of the large number of tables obtained by
organizing each subject variable according to sex, and the
possible combinations of sex and school, the means,
standard deviations and analyses of variance for these
data will be found in Appendix A, Tables A:l to A:10.
These tables show that sex differences do not seem to play
a meaningful role in determining scores on the means of
the subject variables. For example, the mean I.Q. for
males in the experimental group is nearly identical to:

l. the mean I.Q. score for females in the experi-

mental group,

2. the mean I.Q. score for males in the control

group, and

3. the mean I.Q. score for females in the control

group.

79

Analysis of variance revealed no significant differences
between any pair of subject variable means, dichotomized
by sex, within the experimental or control group.

While the disclaimer concerning the danger of
attributing significance to the failure in finding sig-
nificance bears repeating, it may be stated with reasonable
assurity that the experimental and control groups, while
not equivalent, are quite evenly matched relative to the
subject variables. In the absence of quantitative evidence
to the contrary, inferences about the effect of treatment
on the dependent variable can be made with the fair sup-
position that the subject variables, by themselves, do not
play dissimilar roles in the experimental and control
groups.

Analysis of Data Relative to Performance
Achievement and Subject Variables

Table 4:4 shows the performance achievement means
and standard deviations for the experimental and control
groups. Table 4:5 shows the correlations between
performance achievement and the subject variables for both

groups.

80

Table 4:4. Performance Achievement Means and Standard
Deviations for Experimental and Control Groups.

 

 

Experimental Control
(Pattengill JHS) (Rich JHS)
Means 23.22 17.11
Standard Deviation 13.68 11.23

 

Table 4:5. Correlations between Performance Achievement
and Subject Variables.

 

 

 

Variable Experimental Control
I.Q. .673 .700
GPA .766 .634
Attitude Towards _ 054 .669

MuSic
MAP .471 .582
Personal Adjustment .076 .623

 

The students in the experimental group showed a
superiority on the dependent variable, performance
achievement, of 6.11 points. In addition, the relation-
ship of the dependent variable to certain criteria

variables, particularly to the tests of attitude towards

81

music and personal adjustment, varied markedly between

the groups. The performance achievement scores of both
groups were analyzed, as stated in Chapter III, with
reference to the students' scores on each subject variable,
i.e., as though they arose from a treatments-by-level
design. The effects of particular interest tested for
significance were:

1. the main effects of Treatments,

2. the effect of each subject variable levels, on
the dependent variable, and

3. the interactions between Treatments and
Levels.

.IIQ..nng Performance Achievemen . Figure 4:1
illustrates the performance achievement scores of the
experimental and control groups, each trichotomized as to
low, medium, and high I.Q. Figure 4:1 clearly shows:

1. That students in the experimental group were
superior on the dependent variable to their
counterparts in the control group.

2. That in both groups, students of higher I.Q.
were superior on the dependent measure than
students of lower I.Q.

3. The interaction between Treatments and Levels.

82

 

 

 

 

 

 

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m

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o 35 -

m

4,3 30-

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5 25

5 A.
H

g 20" x

d I

8 15 -

.‘i

E 10 -

O

8

H 5 -

o

m

0
Low Medium High
(x = experimental: o = control)
I.Q. Scores

Figure 4:1. Performance Achievement Means of Experimental

and Control Groups at Low, Medium, and High
Levels of I.Q.

83

Table 4:6 contains the results of the two-way analysis of

variance for the data graphed in Fig. 4:1.

Table 4:6. Analysis of Variance of Performance Achievement
by Method of Instruction and Level of I.Q.

 

 

 

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean F
Variance Freedom Squares Square Statistic
Treatments 1 840 840 8.92**
I.Q. Levels 2 5005 2502.5 26.57***
Interaction 2 962 481 5.11*
Within 84 7911 94.18
Total 89 14,718

 

*Significant beyond the .025 level of confidence.
**Significant beyond the .01 level of confidence.
***Significant beyond the .001 level of confidence.

The null hypothesis that there is no significant

difference in performance achievement between students

receiving individual instruction within a class and stu-

dents receiving ensemble class instruction is rejected.

The F value of 8.92 exceeds the

.01 level of confidence.

The null hypothesis that there is no significant

difference in performance achievement between students of

84

low, medium, and high I.Q. is rejected. The F value of
26.57 exceeds the .001 level of confidence.

The null hypothesis that there is no significant
interaction effect on performance achievement between
method of instruction and level of I.Q. is rejected. The
F value of 5.11 exceeds the .01 level of confidence.

.andp,EpI p Avera e nng Eerfonnange Achievemenp.
Figure 4:2 illustrates the performance achievement scores
of the experimental and control group, each trichotomized
as to low, medium, and high GPA.

Besides the main effect established earlier, the
graph shows the proportional relationship of GPA to the
scores of all students on the dependent variable, per-
formance achievement. The distinct interaction between
Treatments and Levels seen in Figure 4:1 is less distinct
in this instance. Table 4:7 contains the results of the
two-way analysis of variance for the data graphed in
Figure 4:2.

The null hypothesis that there is no significant
difference in performance achievement between students of
low, medium, and high GPA is rejected. The F value of

35.47 exceeds the .001 level of confidence.

85

 

 

 

 

 

45 -
m 40 -
o
‘6
u 35 - x
m
230-
w
5
>25- .
w
2 o
g 15 -

x
E10-
8
H 5 -
m
m
0
Low Medium High
(x = experimental; o = control)
Grade Point Average Scores
Figure 4:2. Performance Achievement Means of Experimental

and Control Groups, at Low, Medium, and High
Levels of Grade Point Average.

86

Table 4:7. Analysis of Variance of Performance Achievement
by Method of Instruction and Level of GPA.

 

 

 

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean F
Variance Freedom Squares Square Statistic
Treatments 1 840 840 9.56*
GPA Levels 2 6233 3116.5 35.47**
Interaction 2 264 132 1.5
Within 84 7381 87.87 --
Total 89 14,718 -- --

 

*Significant beyond the .01 level of confidence.
**Significant beyond the .001 level of confidence.

The null hypothesis that there is no significant
interaction effect on performance achievement between
method of instruction and level of GPA is accepted.

The F value of 1.5 does not reach the .05 level of con-
fidence.

Athtnde Towards M2§1£.§DQ Eegfonnance Achieve-
.mpnp. Figure 4:3 illustrates the performance achievement
scores of the experimental and control groups, each
trichotomized as to low, medium, and high levels of

attitude.

87

 

 

45 -

40 -

35 -

10 -

Performance Achievement Scores
A)
o
I

X7

 

Low Medium High
(x = experimental; o = control)

Attitude Towards Music Scores

 

 

Figure 4:3.

Performance Achievement Means of Experimental
and Control Groups at Low, Medium, and High
Levels of Attitude Towards Music.

88

While the performance achievement scores of stu-
dents in the control group are clearly related to their
test of attitude towards music, a nearly random relation-
ship (see Table 4:4) is apparent between the two variables
for students in the experimental group. Table 4:8 con-
tains the results of the two-way analysis of variance for
the data graphed in Figure 4:3.

Table 4:8. Analysis of Variance of Performance Achieve-

ment by Method of Instruction and Level of
Attitude Towards Music.

 

 

 

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean F
Variance Freedom Squares Square Statistic
Treatments 1 840 840 5.87*
Attitude Levels 2 773 386.5 2.70
Interaction 2 1092 564 3.82**
Within 84 12,013 143.01 --
Total 89 14,718 -- --

 

*Significant beyond the .025 level of confidence.
**Significant beyond the .05 level of confidence.

The null hypothesis that there is no significant
difference in performance achievement between students

of low, medium, and high attitude towards music is

89

accepted. The F value of 2.70 does not reach the .05
level of confidence.

The null hypothesis that there is no significant
interaction effect on performance achievement between
method of instruction and level of attitude towards music
is rejected. The F value of 3.82 exceeds the .05 level of
confidence.

Musical Aptitude nng Performance Achievement.
Figure 4:4 illustrates the performance achievement scores
of the experimental and control groups, each trichotomized
as to low, medium, and high levels of MAP.

The relationship of musical aptitude to performance
achievement is well-defined for both groups, and it
appears to have played a similar role for each condition
of instruction. Table 4:9 contains the results of the
two-way analysis of variance for the data graphed in
Figure 4:4.

The null hypothesis that there isrx>significant
difference in performance achievement between students of
low, medium, and high musical aptitude is rejected. The
F value of 10.90 exceeds the .01 level of confidence.

The null hypothesis that there is no significant

interaction effect on performance achievement between

90

 

 

 

 

 

 

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8 40 -
H
8 35 -
m
E 30 - .__x
95’ x——
$25-
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'c' 20' /
2 .
8 15 -
S
E 10 - '
o
'44
H 5-
o
m

0
Low Medium High
(x = experimental; o = control)
Musical Aptitude Scores

Figure 4:4. Performance Achievement Means of Experimental

and Control Groups at Low, Medium, and High
Levels of Musical Aptitude.

91

Table 4:9. Analysis of Variance of Performance Achievement
by Method of Instruction and Level of MAP.

 

 

 

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean F
Variance Freedom Squares Square Statistic
Treatments 1 840 840 6.44*
MAP Levels 2 2844 1422 10.90**
Interaction 2 78 36 .27
Within 84 10,956 130.41 --
Totals 89 14,718 -- --

 

*Significant beyond the .025 level of confidence.
**Significant beyond the .01 level of confidence.

method of instruction and level of musical aptitude is
accepted. The F value of .27 does not reach the .05
level of confidence.

Eersonal Adjustment nng Pergonnange Aghieve-
.EEEE- Figure 4:5 illustrates the performance achievement
scores of the experimental and control groups, each
trichotomized as to low, medium, and high levels of
personal adjustment.

The relationship of personal adjustment to per-
formance achievement is evident for all students in the

control group and for students at medium and high levels

92

 

 

 

 

 

45 -

3340-

H

8

m 35 -

'a’

g 30 - x

o

g 25 - x-‘\-----~

o

H

fizo- x

r o

815-

C

m

E10-

0

H

m 5 -

m

0
Low Medium High
(x = experimental; o = control)
Personal Adjustment Scores

Figure 4:5. Performance Achievement Means of Experimental

and Control Groups at Low, Medium, and High
Levels of Personal Adjustment.

93

of personal adjustment in the experimental group. The
interaction of Treatments and Levels is clearly shown by
the disparity of performance achievement scores at the
lowest level of personal adjustment. Table 4:10 contains
the results of the two-way analysis of variance for the
data graphed in Figure 4:5.

Table 4:10. Analysis of Variance of Performance Achieve-

ment by Method of Instruction and Level of
Personal Adjustment.

 

 

 

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean F
Variance Freedom Squares Square Statistic
Treatments 1 840 840 6.78*
Personal
Adjustment 2 2,015 1,007.50 8.13**
Levels

Interaction 2 1,452 726 5.86**
Within 84 10,411 123.94 --
Totals 89 14,718 -- --

 

*Significant beyond the .025 level of confidence.
**Significant beyond the .01 level of confidence.

The null hypothesis that there is no significant

difference in performance achievement between students of

:94

low, medium, and high personal adjustment is rejected.
The F value of 8.13 exceeds the .01 level of confidence.
The null hypothesis that there is no significant
interaction effect on performance achievement between
method of instruction and level of personal adjustment is
rejected. The F value of 5.86 exceeds the .01 level of
confidence.
jgpxmnng Performance Achieyemen . The sex of the
students played a minimal role in performance achievement,
and no interaction of Treatment and sex was apparent.
Table 4:11 contains the results of the two-way analysis of

variance of performance achievement by method of instruc-

tion and sex.

Table 4:11. Analysis of Variance of Performance Achieve-
ment by Method of Instruction and Sex.

 

 

 

 

Source of Degrees of Sum of Mean F
Variance Freedom Squares Square Statistic
Treatments 1 840 840 5.20*
Sex 1 5.00 5.00 .030
Interaction l 3.00 3.00 .018
Within 86 13,870 161.40 --
Totals 89 14,718 -- --

 

*Significant beyond the .025 level of confidence.

95

The null hypothesis that there is no significant
difference in performance achievement between male and
female students is accepted. The F value of .030 does
not meet the .05 level of confidence.

The null hypothesis that there is no significant
interaction effect on performance achievement between
treatments and sex is accepted. The F value of .018 does

not reach the .05 level of confidence.

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY, FINDINGS, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary

This study investigated the effect of tutorial
instruction within the music classroom on the performance
achievement of male and female instrumental beginners
relative to their varying levels of I.Q., academic achieve-
ment, attitude towards music, musical aptitude, and per-
sonal adjustment.

The main hypothesis was that beginning
instrumentalists of both sexes who are taught individually
within the classroom will earn significantly higher scores
on performance achievement than their counterparts under
ensemble instruction. It was further hypothesized that
students of high I.Q., grade point average, attitude
towards music, musical aptitude, and personal adjustment
will earn significantly higher scores on performance

achievement than students of low I.Q., GPA, attitudes

96

97

towards music, musical aptitude, and personal adjustment.
Finally, it was hypothesized that a significant effect on
performance achievement would occur as a result of the
interaction between the conditions of instruction and the
five subject variables listed above.

A review of literature related to individualized
instruction cited educators' early attempts to structure
programs for individual differences. Music education
research in this area has centered almost exclusively on
the techniques and devices associated with programmed
learning, and only a few studies have investigated the
efficacy of individualized instruction within the class-
room or on a tutorial basis. Nearly all researchers using
programmed materials report the superiority of that system
over conventional methods of teaching cognitive, percep-
tual, or performance skills. Most studies dealing with
individualized learning have investigated the private
lesson vs. class mode of instruction, and have been so
damaged by problems of interval validity that it was dif-
ficult for the authors to draw firm conclusions from the

data. The exception, Froseth's1 study, found that

 

1James O. Froseth, "Using MAP Scores in the
Instruction of Beginning Students in Instrumental Music,"

.JQB£B§1.2£ Aesea;ch.In_Mnsic Ed atio , XIV (Spring,
1971), 98-101.

98

educational and statistically significant advantages were
realized by providing beginning instrumental students with
texts and instructional procedures designed to take into
account individual differences.

A number of correlative studies measuring the rela-
tionship between successful participation in instrumental
programs and intelligence, academic achievement, musical
aptitude, and personality variables were reviewed. They
indicate that these variables all bear some positive rela-
tionship to playing skills, and that intelligence and
academic achievement are the most closely related to per-
formance achievement. The author of the Musical AptItnde
ErofIle and his colleagues from the University of Iowa,
however, have presented the results of experiments which
show the MAE to be the most effective predictor of instru-
mental skill. No trustworthy data was found concerning
attitude towards music and its relationship to attainment
of proficiency.

For the present experiment, two groups of subjects
Comprising the total enrollment of beginning instru-
mentalists (less three students with prior instrumental
training) from two Lansing, Michigan schools participated

in the study. Students in the experimental group (N = 45)

99

were dispersed about the classroom for the purpose of
self-drill. They exclusively received tutorial instruc-
tion and evaluation only upon their request, or when they
wished to progress to a succeeding unit (page) in their
text. Later, when a student had acquired the cognitive
and aural skill necessary for competent self-evaluation,
he was allowed to proceed from unit to unit at his own
discretion. Students in the control group were taught by
the "ensenble" method in which the rate of unit progres-
sion is governed for all students by the teacher, and which
is characterized by a surfeit of repetition for gifted
students and an inadequate amount for those less talented.
Both groups used the same text, and the period encompassing
the study was one school year.

Data concerning I.Q., grade point average,
attitude towards music, musical aptitude profile, and
personal adjustment were obtained for both groups from
school reCords or by pre-testing. Scores on the dependent
variable, performance achievement, were obtained by record-
ing each student's performance on the W‘m
Performance Scale, and submitting these recordings to an

independent panel of judges.

100

Findings

Correlation coefficients were computed for the
subject variables of I.Q., GPA, attitude towards music,
musical aptitude (MAP), and personal adjustment. The
similarities of these relationships between the experi-
mental and control groups, the failure of analyses of
variance to establish any significance for the small dif-
ferences between paired means, and the lack of any
significant differences when those variables were
dichotomized by sex, led to the conclusion that the
subject variables, by themselves, would not account for
differences in scores on the dependent variable of per-
formance achievement.

The hypotheses tested were divided into three main
categories: 1) the effect of individual instruction on
performance achievement, 2) the effect of I.Q., GPA,
attitude towards music, musical aptitude, and personal
adjustment on performance achievement, and 3) the effect
on performance achievement of the interaction between
instructional treatment and levels of the subject vari-

ables. The results of the analyses, stated in terms of

null hypotheses, were as follows:

101

There is no significant difference in perfor-
mance achievement between the experimental and
control groups. Rejected.

There is no significant difference between
males and females within the experimental and
control groups, respectively, in performance
achievement. Accepted.

There is no significant difference in perfor-
mance achievement between students of low,
medium, and high I.Q. Rejected.

There is no significant difference in perfor-
mance achievement between students of low,
medium, and high grade point average. Rejected.
There is no significant difference in perfor-
mance achievement between students of low,
medium, and high attitude towards music.
Accepted.

There is no significant difference in perfor-
mance achievement between students of low,
medium, and high musical aptitude. Rejected.
There is no significant difference in perfor-
mance achievement between students of low,

medium, and high personal adjustment. Rejected.

102

8. There is no significant interaction effect on
performance achievement between instructional
treatment and sex. Accepted.

9. There is no significant interaction effect on
performance achievement between instructional
treatment and I.Q. Rejected.

10. There is no significant interaction effect on
performance achievement between instructional
treatment and GPA. Accepted.

11. There is no significant interaction effect on
performance achievement between instructional
treatment and attitude towards music. Rejected.

12. There is no significant interaction effect on
performance achievement between instructional
treatment and musical aptitude. Accepted.

13. There is no significant interaction effect on
performance achievement between instructional

treatment and personal adjustment. Rejected.

Discussion
‘IhpuMnIn EIfegt.pI Treatments. This study has
questioned, as have many music educators, the efficiency
of the ensemble method of instruction for Classes of

beginning instrumentalists. Such classes involve an

103

educationally intolerable amount of repetitive drill which
is superfluous to the learning needs of superior students.
Conversely, the same drill may be inappropriate in quality
or quantity to the different requirements of slower
students.

Referring to the latter, it is probable that the
redundancy inherent in this method is a vehicle for a
permanent dependence upon rote learning, and thus promotes
varying degrees of musical illiteracy in certain students.

It seems obvious that the members of a class are
faced with differing musical and personal obstacles in
their quest for performance facility. The teacher's
ability to perceive, evaluate, and prescribe a remedy for
each student's particular impediment is severely limited
by the simultaneous rendition of an identical line of
music. Admittedly, the teacher may focus upon a general
weakness common to all beginning instrumentalists. He may
even occasionally isolate and deal effectively with a
single student's particular handicap. The pressure of an
idle class, however, insures that the latter event will
occur infrequently.

It is a plausible hypothesis that individual

instruction allows the teacher to remedy the deficiencies

104

discussed above, thus accounting for the effect of the
main treatment variable used in this study. The students
were presumably able to make efficient use of their class
time by limiting or increasing the amount of drill neces-
sary for the achievement of a satisfactory level of per-
formance. The teacher was presumably able to accurately
diagnose and remedy musical defects for each student by
requiring a formal, aural evaluation before the student
was allowed to proceed to the next unit.

By requiring that evaluation, the teacher could
directly influence the criteria against which each student
measured himself. Of more significance was the fact that
each student was forced to evaluate his playing begone
asking the teacher to hear the page: the request itself
was an indication that the student had already engaged in
self-diagnoses and improvements. This process is in
marked contrast to the musical dependencies fostered by due
exclusively external evaluation inherent in the ensemble
method.

Finally, it is presumed that the tutorial method
allowed the teacher to adjust tuition to meet the personal

and differing needs of each student. The role played by

105

some of these factors in performance achievement is dis-
cussed below.

Inn, And Perfonnance Anhieyemen . Correlative
studies by other researchers have consistently shown a
high positive relationship between intelligence and musi-
cal achievement. The significance found in this experiment
between levels of I.Q. and performance achievement is
therefore not surprising. However, the interaction* found
between levels of intelligence and method of instruction
leads to the tentative assumption that bright students
receiving ensemble instruction are being prevented from
nearing the limits of their potential. It is certainly
possible that these students become frustrated when forced
to perform seemingly endless repetitions of exercises
played for the benefit of more mediocre classmates. It is
suggested that frustration leads to boredom, and that
boredom reduces motivation which in turn partially
accounts for the discrepancy between the two groups'

brighter students.

 

*
See Figure 4:1, page 82.

106

It is interesting to note that Pu0polo2 found an
opposite interaction when using programmed materials:
students of below-average I.Q. in his experimental group
registered the highest scores on the wntkins-Farnum
Eenfonnance,§gnIn, even higher than above-average I.Q.
students in the same group, while students in his control
group under conditions of instruction similar to this
study fall into the same pattern of I.Q. and achievement
observed in the control group here.

It therefore appears that programmed learning will
be of greatest benefit to the less intelligent, while
individual instruction aids those who are gifted. One
possible reason for this phenomenon may be that programmed
materials provide learning strategies to those who are
incapable of deve10ping their own effective modes of
learning, while individual instruction allows or releases
bright students to get on with the business in which they
excel, i.e., finding their own efficient methods of learn-

ing. Puopolo's study raises another interesting question:

 

2Vito Pu0polo, "The DevelOpment and Experimental
Application of Self-Instructional Practice Materials for
Beginning Instrumentalists," (unpublished Ph.D. disserta-
tion, Michigan State University, 1970).

107

Does programmed practice deppIye bright students of learn-
ing strategies, thereby lowering their scores on tests of
performance achievement?

.QBA.§DQ Perfonmance Achieyenen . While a stu-
dent's grade point average is not, strictly defined, a
personal attribute, it may be partially considered an
indication of a willingness or reluctance to achieve
scholastic success. Viewed in that light, the significant
differences relating to performance achievement between
levels of GPA were predictable. The somewhat disappoint-
ing failure to find a significant interaction between
instructional treatments and levels of GPA may indicate a
failure on the part of the experimental instructor to
properly motivate students with lower scholastic aspira-
tions. It may also reveal the degree to which such
students' motivations are resistant to change.

Attinnde Towards Mnsic.nng Penformance Aghieye-
.mpnp. The most striking disparity between the experimental
and control groups centered on the relationship of attitude
to performance achievement. While levels of attitude did
not appear to account for significant differences in per-
formance achievement, the relationship between the two

variables in the control group (r = .669) was apparently

108

masked by the nearly random (r = .054) relationship found
in the experimental group. This was reflected in the sig-
nificant interaction found between levels and treatments.

It is difficult to accurately account for this
phenomenon. The instrument used for measuring attitude
towards music may have been too unreliable or crude to
consistently and validly measure the variable. Considering
its extensive preparation and use by its author in widely
differing geographic locations, however, there is little
evidence by which its findings can be refuted.

Alternative hypotheses must lie within the experi-
mental and/or control classrooms. A student's attitude
towards music must influence to some extent his attitude
toward the music class. The latter will be perceived by
the instructor and his attitude towards that student will
be influenced accordingly. A student can quite easily
perceive a teacher's attitude towards him, and may change
his behavior in class with results amenable or detrimental
to his musical achievement.

In other words, the differing attitudinal effects
on performance achievement found in this study may be a
result of differences between instructors. Although

nearly all teachers strive to accept without bias the

109

personal qualities of their students, they meet with varied
success in doing so. The extent to which a teacher can
accept a student's attitude plays some role in determining
that student's achievement. It is probable that the dif-
ferences discussed here between the experimental and con-
trol groups reflect the differing ability of each group's
teacher to accept or ignore the "negative" attitudes of
some students.

Musigal AptitndeIAnd Peyfopnange AchIeyemen . The
effect of musical aptitude on performance achievement was
not unexpected, and it duplicated the results of virtually
every research study extant which has compared the two
variables. The reasons for the influence of aptitude upon
achievement seem obvious and need no explanation here.

In agreement with Froseth's3 findings, however,
this study found that no particular advantage could be
claimed for the individual instruction of students with
differing levels of musical aptitude. These results would
seem to indicate that musical aptitude seeks its outlet

in behavior regardless of instructional conditions.

 

3Froseth,.pp. git.

110

Bensonal Adjustment and Eerfpzmance Achieyenen .

The results show that students at higher levels of per-
sonal adjustment attain significantly higher levels of
performance achievement. More importantly, the signifi-
cant interaction Of treatments and levels at the lowest
level of personal adjustment holds serious implications for
teachers who continue to use the ensemble method of instruc-
tion. Students of low personal adjustment who receive
individual instruction are able to attain virtually iden-
tical results as students of high personal adjustment,
while their counterparts in the control group rank lowest
in performance achievement. This finding lends credence
to the supposition that individual instruction may allow
a teacher to give support and encouragement to students in
areas other than musical, and prevent personal handicaps
from adversely affecting their attainment. Conversely, it
is an indictment of uniform teaching methods which
apparently prevent students from reaching potential levels
of success.

MgIse. It is obvious that the experimental
classrooms were noisy. Stated more precisely, those class-
rooms were continually cacophonous; measured in decibels

and given an equal number of students for both kinds of

111

classes, however, the level of sound in each would be
nearly identical. Noise, of course, is an impediment to
perception, but only related to the students' ability to
screen it out. The seriousness of this issue must be
determined by the results of this experiment, and other
factors have apparently more than compensated for its
assumed disadvantage. Perhaps the best indication of its

influence is that no student ever complained of it.

Conclusions

Based upon the analysis of the data from the

investigation, the following conclusions are admissible:

1. When junior high school beginning instru-
mentalists are instructed by the individual
methods described earlier in this study, a
moderate increase in performance achievement
is noted.

2. Students of higher I.Q., grade point average,
musical aptitude and personal adjustment
exhibit significantly greater performance
achievement than students of lower levels for

the same attributes.

112

Individually-instructed students of the
highest level of I.Q. and lowest levels of
attitude towards music and personal adjustment
receive the greater benefits, in terms of
performance achievement, from that mode of

instruction.

Implications

The adOption of an individual instruction method

as described in this study would have the following impli-

cations for instrumental music education:

1.

A more efficient, rapid growth in the perfor-
mance achievement of individuals together with
an increase of performance capabilities for
junior high school instrumental groups may be
attained.

The development of musical self-reliance and
realistic self-evaluation would presumably be
encouraged.

The drop-out of bright students from instru-

mental music programs cited by Kruth4 may be

 

4E. C. Kruth, "Student DroP-out in Instrumental
Music in the Secondary Schools of Oakland, California,"
(unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University,

1964).

l.

113

reduced by minimizing the repetition and
resultant boredom experienced by those stu-
dents.

Opportunities for the teacher to provide for
individual differences, both musical and non-

musical, will be greatly increased.

Recommendations
A similar investigation, using programmed
material, such as those conducted by Puopolo,5
together with the use of varied and appro-
priate instructional texts, is recommended.
These additions may particularly influence the
achievement of students of lower intelligence
and ability.
A study should be made at other grade levels
of instrumental study to determine whether

effects noted herein will similarly appear.

 

5Puopolo,,pp. git.

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123

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APPENDIX A

124

APPENDIX.A

ANALYSES OF VARIANCE FOR THE CRITERION VARIABLES OF I.Q.,
GPA, ATTITUDE TOWARDS MUSIC, MUSICAL APTITUDE, AND
PERSONAL ADJUSTMENT, BY SCHOOL AND SEX

Table Azl. I.Q. Means and Standard Deviations for Males
and Females, Pattengill JHS and Rich JHS.

 

 

 

Pattengill gas Rich gas

Mean SD Mean SD
Males 34.10 18.05 35.50 14.00
Females 35.30 18.49 36.92 15.51

 

Table A:2. Analysis of Variance of I.Q. Scores by School

 

 

 

and Sex.

Source df SS MS F p
Schools 1 49.88 49.88 .175 N.S.
Sex 1 38.02 38.02 .133 N.S.
Schools x Sex 1 .26 .26 .001 N.S.
Within 86 24,522.17 285.14

 

Total 89 24,610.33

 

125

Table A:3. GPA Means and Standard Deviations for Males
and Females, Pattengill JHS and Rich JHS.

 

 

 

Pattengill gas Rich JHS

Mean SD Mean SD
Males 2.36 .76 2.51 .81
Females 2.42 .78 2.43 .81

 

Table A:4. Analysis of Variance of Grade Point Averages
By School and Sex.

 

 

 

 

Source df SS MS F p
Schools 1 .05 .05 .08 N.S.
Sex 1 .11 .ll .17 N.S.
Schools x Sex 1 .33 .33 .53 N.S.
Within 86 53.46 .622
Total 89 53.95

 

126

Table A:5. Attitude Towards Music Means and Standard
Deviations for Males and Females, Pattengill
JHS and Rich JHS.

 

 

 

Pattengill JES ic S

Mean SD Mean SD
Males 10.84 2.35 16.19 3.00
Females 17.28 2.13 16.11 3.11

 

Table A:6. Analysis of Variance of Attitude Towards Music
Scores by School and Sex.

 

 

 

 

Source df SS MS F p
Schools 1 17.07 17.07 2.37 N.S.
Sex 1 .75 .75 .10 N.S.
Schools x Sex 1 1.54 1.54 .21 N.S.
Within 86 619.57 7.20
Total 89 638.93

 

127

Table A:7. Musical Aptitude Profile Means and Standard
Deviations for Males and Females, Pattengill

JHS and Rich JHS.

 

 

 

Pattengill gas Rich gas

Mean SD Mean SD
Males 51.92 9.39 51.92 8.71
Females 49.80 7.80 51.40 6.40

 

Table A:8. Analysis of Variance of Musical Aptitude
Scores by School and Sex.

 

 

 

Source df SS MS F p
Schools 1 20.54 20.54 30 N.S
Sex 1 46.88 46.88 .68 N.S.
Schools x Sex 1 28.89 28.89 .42 N.S.
Within 86 5900.59 68.61

 

Total 89 5996.90

 

128

Table A:9. Personal Adjustment Means and Standard
Deviations for Males and Females, Pattengill
JHS and Rich JHS.

 

 

 

Pattengill Jߤ gigh gas

Mean SD Mean SD FF
Males 54.35 16.13 57.44 14.27
Females 56.79 15.97 55.05 11.12

 

 

Table A:10. Analysis of Variance of Personal Adjustment
Scores by School and Sex.

 

 

 

Source df SS MS F p
Schools 1 22.50 22.50 .11 N.S.
Sex 1 .01 .01 .00 N.S.
Schools x Sex 1 129.00 129.00 .61 N.S.
Within 86 18,340.15 213.26

 

Total 89 18,491.66

 

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