The Influence of Chorus Instruction on Attention of Third and Fourth Graders at Elementary Schools

• Main Authors: Shu-Min Yang, 楊淑閔
• Other Authors: Wei-Hua Cheng
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/20959809681339135782

碩士 === 國立東華大學 === 音樂學系 === 99 === The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of chorus instruction on attention of third and fourth graders at elementary schools. It is expected that chorus instruction could be a way to promote attention of school children, in order to provide references to help distractive children for elementary school teachers. Participants of this study were 30 third and fourth graders of an elementary school with no chorus learning experiences. They received 30 minutes of chorus instruction three days a week for 8 weeks totally. This study using pre experimental design was a “one-group pretest-posttest design.” “Multi-dimensional Attention Test” was used both before and after the experiment to collect quantitative data. Moreover, qualitative data from self-evaluation by participants, feedbacks of teachers, and observation of this researcher helped to probe the change of participants’ attention. The results of this study were: 1.After the chorus instruction experiment, participants performed significantly both better and faster in posttest than in pretest on “Selective Attention” and “Sustained Attention.” 2.Based on their pretest performance for each sub-test of Multi-dimensional Attention Test, participants were divided into high, middle, and low score groups. The differences of their pretest mean scores among these three groups were huge. However, those differences in their posttest mean scores were substantially decreased after receiving chorus instruction for 8 weeks. Furthermore, the progress of low score group was significantly greater than that of both high and middle score groups in “Selective Attention,” “Divided Attention,” and “Sustained Attention.” Suggestions based on research results are following: 1.Children should be encouraged to take part in chorus for this may be a counseling way to increase their self-confidence, learning motivation, and attention. 2.The authorities of education promote “one student learns one kind of musical instrument; one school sets up one kind of art group.” The most economy choice is to develop chorus.