Identifier

etd-11092011-204628

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Music

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

This study was designed to compare knowledge about and attitude toward opera in three groups of fifth-graders with various levels of involvement with an in-school opera. One group watched the live performance, a second group watched the performance preceded by three pre-performance lessons that encompassed common opera vocabulary and voice types, and a third group experienced the lessons, the performance, and a five-lesson creative project in which they constructed their own opera. All students completed cognitive and attitude pretests and post-tests. ANCOVA analyses accounted for differences in scores on the pretests. Significant differences (p < .05) on the multiple-choice portion of the cognitive exam were found between the performance-only group and the performance plus instruction groups. Significant differences were found between the groups on the concept map portion of the cognitive measure, with the differences coming between the performance only group and the performance plus lessons group. Significant differences were found between each of the groups for a Likert-scale attitude measure, with the performance and lessons group posting the largest increases. In addition, a significant correlation was found between cognitive scores and attitude scores. Responses to semi-structured interviews suggested that students’ opinions of Opera were influenced by factors related to music, factors related to production, and factors related to personal perceptions.

Date

2011

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Cassidy, Jane

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.2318

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