Identifier

etd-08152008-203703

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Music

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

The purposes of this study were: (1) to investigate the effects of peer teaching on students’ achievement in sight-reading at the piano, and (2) to determine whether peer teaching positively affected students’ attitude toward sight-reading at the piano. Participants were undergraduate music majors (N = 85) enrolled in the second or fourth semester of a four-semester group piano sequence. Participants completed a pretest and a posttest that consisted of a video-taped sight-reading performance and an attitudinal questionnaire. Control and experimental groups comprised the treatment groups for each level. Group Piano IV and Group Piano II participants in the experimental group were paired, creating 23 dyads. Dyads participated in eight peer teaching sessions across the semester; Group Piano IV participants served as tutors while Group Piano II participants served as tutees. Peer teaching sessions occurred outside scheduled class time and consisted of sight-reading duet and solo repertoire. The control group also participated in eight sight-reading sessions outside scheduled class time. These sessions were completed individually and did not involve peer teaching. Two-Way ANOVAs with repeated measures revealed a significant difference due to the main effect of treatment groups in Group Piano II, but not in Group Piano IV. A significant difference due to the main effect of the test was found in both levels of group piano. A significant interaction between tests and treatment groups was found in Group Piano IV, but not in Group Piano II. Therefore, all participants significantly improved from pretest to posttest. This improvement only differed significantly across control and experimental groups for Group Piano IV, suggesting that peer teaching may positively affect peer tutors’ achievement in sight-reading. Two-Way Chi Square tests were calculated for each questionnaire item in both levels; one questionnaire item significantly changed in attitudinal response. Group Piano II participants in the experimental group felt more confident maintaining continuity while sight-reading than at the beginning of the semester compared to Group Piano II participants in the control group. This study offers empirical evidence to support the idea that peer teaching may help increase peer tutees’ confidence in maintaining continuity while sight-reading at the piano.

Date

2008

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Katia Madsen

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.3062

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