The purpose of this study was to discover the positive effect on sight-reading ability of 100 third grade recorder students reading music notation when color-coding was applied to notes and manipulatives were used in note value instruction.
The problem was to compare effects on the learning and application of music reading skills between color-coded notes and monochromatics when students sight-read music playing their recorders.
The classes were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. The researcher, also the music teacher, taught each class once a week for 50 minutes. The treatment extended approximately 23 weeks. The experimental classes were instructed with color-coded materials and made manipulatives representing duration of note values. The control group was instructed with traditional monochromatics.
At the conclusion of the treatment, each student was tested on his sight-reading skills by chanting rhythms and playing their recorder. Each student was tape-recorded for tonal and rhythm and evaluated by two independent judges. A Pearson correlation of <.05 was used to determine the inter-judge reliability.
The statistics to be evaluated were organized into three one-dimensional designs for differences and were used to determine the effect on the control versus experimental group. A t-test was calculated for each design to determine the difference between the control and experimental treatments. No statistically significant differences were found for any of these designs.
Although previous research has shown a positive effect in the use of color-coding and manipulatives, the current study failed to prove these aids advantageous in the music reading skills or transfer of knowledge.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this study was to discover the positive effect on sight-reading ability of 100 third grade recorder students reading music notation when color-coding was applied to notes and manipulatives were used in note value instruction.</p> <p>The problem was to compare effects on the learning and application of music reading skills between color-coded notes and monochromatics when students sight-read music playing their recorders.</p> <p>The classes were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. The researcher, also the music teacher, taught each class once a week for 50 minutes. The treatment extended approximately 23 weeks. The experimental classes were instructed with color-coded materials and made manipulatives representing duration of note values. The control group was instructed with traditional monochromatics.</p> <p>At the conclusion of the treatment, each student was tested on his sight-reading skills by chanting rhythms and playing their recorder. Each student was tape-recorded for tonal and rhythm and evaluated by two independent judges. A Pearson correlation of <.05 was used to determine the inter-judge reliability.</p> <p>The statistics to be evaluated were organized into three one-dimensional designs for differences and were used to determine the effect on the control versus experimental group. A t-test was calculated for each design to determine the difference between the control and experimental treatments. No statistically significant differences were found for any of these designs.</p> <p>Although previous research has shown a positive effect in the use of color-coding and manipulatives, the current study failed to prove these aids advantageous in the music reading skills or transfer of knowledge.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Gunsallus-Donachy, Kathy J."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A. in Music Education","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Levinowitz, Lili"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2005,"date_issued":"2005-05-03T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2005-05-03T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:52Z","subjects":["Music--Instruction and study; Sight-reading (Music)","Elementary Education and Teaching"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1006","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Levinowitz, Lili"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Gunsallus-Donachy, Kathy J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-04-12T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A. in Music Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Music--Instruction and study; Sight-reading (Music)","Elementary Education and Teaching"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1006"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this study was to discover the positive effect on sight-reading ability of 100 third grade recorder students reading music notation when color-coding was applied to notes and manipulatives were used in note value instruction.
The problem was to compare effects on the learning and application of music reading skills between color-coded notes and monochromatics when students sight-read music playing their recorders.
The classes were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. The researcher, also the music teacher, taught each class once a week for 50 minutes. The treatment extended approximately 23 weeks. The experimental classes were instructed with color-coded materials and made manipulatives representing duration of note values. The control group was instructed with traditional monochromatics.
At the conclusion of the treatment, each student was tested on his sight-reading skills by chanting rhythms and playing their recorder. Each student was tape-recorded for tonal and rhythm and evaluated by two independent judges. A Pearson correlation of <.05 was used to determine the inter-judge reliability.
The statistics to be evaluated were organized into three one-dimensional designs for differences and were used to determine the effect on the control versus experimental group. A t-test was calculated for each design to determine the difference between the control and experimental treatments. No statistically significant differences were found for any of these designs.
Although previous research has shown a positive effect in the use of color-coding and manipulatives, the current study failed to prove these aids advantageous in the music reading skills or transfer of knowledge.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The effective use of manipulatives and color coding in the achievement and application of music reading skills of third grade recorder students"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Levinowitz, Lili"],"dc:creator":["Gunsallus-Donachy, Kathy J."],"dc:date.available":["2016-04-12T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this study was to discover the positive effect on sight-reading ability of 100 third grade recorder students reading music notation when color-coding was applied to notes and manipulatives were used in note value instruction.
The problem was to compare effects on the learning and application of music reading skills between color-coded notes and monochromatics when students sight-read music playing their recorders.
The classes were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. The researcher, also the music teacher, taught each class once a week for 50 minutes. The treatment extended approximately 23 weeks. The experimental classes were instructed with color-coded materials and made manipulatives representing duration of note values. The control group was instructed with traditional monochromatics.
At the conclusion of the treatment, each student was tested on his sight-reading skills by chanting rhythms and playing their recorder. Each student was tape-recorded for tonal and rhythm and evaluated by two independent judges. A Pearson correlation of <.05 was used to determine the inter-judge reliability.
The statistics to be evaluated were organized into three one-dimensional designs for differences and were used to determine the effect on the control versus experimental group. A t-test was calculated for each design to determine the difference between the control and experimental treatments. No statistically significant differences were found for any of these designs.
Although previous research has shown a positive effect in the use of color-coding and manipulatives, the current study failed to prove these aids advantageous in the music reading skills or transfer of knowledge.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1006"],"dc:subject":["Music--Instruction and study; Sight-reading (Music)","Elementary Education and Teaching"],"dc:title":["The effective use of manipulatives and color coding in the achievement and application of music reading skills of third grade recorder students"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. in Music Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:52Z"}