The Effect of a Guided Aural Reinforcement Model on Perceived Improvement in Intonation of Middle School Trombone Players
type: CreativeWork
description: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a guided aural reinforcement model on perceived improvement in intonation of middle school trombone players. Based on their responses to the Watkins-Farnum performance test and a questionnaire, subjects were matched by grade-level equivalent-pairs and then assigned by rank-order to control and experimental groups. All subjects taking part in the investigation were given a researcher-designed pretest to determine initial skill level of intonation performance. Following the pretest, all subjects received nine periods of instruction on trombone. The experimental group practiced with a pre-recorded guided aural intonation component as a part of each lesson instruction period. The control group received instruction which included, for this school district, a traditional method of learning intonation rather than the prerecorded guided aural intonation component. A researcher-designed posttest was administered to all subjects following the nine periods of instruction. Pretests and posttests were recorded and later evaluated by a panel of experts. Reliability of coefficient tests and ANOVAs were used to determine inter-evaluator reliability. Results yielded a high degree of reliability among evaluators. Statistical t-tests were used to determine significant (p=.05) differences between the gain scores of students in the control and experimental groups. Results indicated no significant gain score differences between the control and experimental groups on part I (unison test). Analysis of gain scores for part II (interval test) and part III (melodic test) portions of the pretests/posttests revealed significant differences between the control and experimental groups with regard to improvement in intonation performance. As a result of practice with the guided aural reinforcement model, the experimental group demonstrated improvement in intonation performance which was significantly greater than the control group. Additional …
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a guided aural reinforcement model on perceived improvement in intonation of middle school trombone players. Based on their responses to the Watkins-Farnum performance test and a questionnaire, subjects were matched by grade-level equivalent-pairs and then assigned by rank-order to control and experimental groups. All subjects taking part in the investigation were given a researcher-designed pretest to determine initial skill level of intonation performance. Following the pretest, all subjects received nine periods of instruction on trombone. The experimental group practiced with a pre-recorded guided aural intonation component as a part of each lesson instruction period. The control group received instruction which included, for this school district, a traditional method of learning intonation rather than the prerecorded guided aural intonation component. A researcher-designed posttest was administered to all subjects following the nine periods of instruction. Pretests and posttests were recorded and later evaluated by a panel of experts. Reliability of coefficient tests and ANOVAs were used to determine inter-evaluator reliability. Results yielded a high degree of reliability among evaluators. Statistical t-tests were used to determine significant (p=.05) differences between the gain scores of students in the control and experimental groups. Results indicated no significant gain score differences between the control and experimental groups on part I (unison test). Analysis of gain scores for part II (interval test) and part III (melodic test) portions of the pretests/posttests revealed significant differences between the control and experimental groups with regard to improvement in intonation performance. As a result of practice with the guided aural reinforcement model, the experimental group demonstrated improvement in intonation performance which was significantly greater than the control group. Additional …
author: Gross, Gene F.
language: en_US
keywords: Middle school students, Trombone--Instruction and study, Musical temperament--Evaluation, Tuning--Evaluation
date published: 1998-07
date modified: 2026-07-27T19:18:43Z
provider: Drake University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Drake University

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2092/476