The efficacy of feedback in pianoforte studies

• Main Author: Haughton, James F.
• Published: University of Warwick 2015
• Subjects: 786.2; LB Theory and practice of education
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.682950

In 1998, the publication of a major piece of research (Black and Wiliam, 1998) triggered an explosion of interest both nationally and internationally in a hitherto neglected topic: formative assessment. My interest in conducting this re-search stemmed from my involvement as a secondary school music teacher in the development of formative assessment practice within the classroom, but as my primary interest was in teaching the piano, I became curious about formative assessment practice in piano lessons, particularly the provision of feedback, which is a discipline-specific area that had received little attention. This study examined the efficacy of feedback in one-to-one piano lessons in four case studies, involving students aged 11 to 14 years, in a rural location within the United Kingdom. Data were collected through lesson observations, interviews with teachers and students, together with lesson notes and students‘ practice diaries. The results of the research indicated that while the teachers within the case studies had not received any training in formative assessment or the provision of feedback to students, feedback was provided in similar ways, thus illustrating features of piano teaching, which had probably developed over centuries. The feedback differed from that provided in school-based classroom situations in important respects, although there were some similarities with other cognate performance-based disciplines. Students‘ self-efficacy and motivation were influenced by the feedback they received in lessons, and concerning self-regulation, which is an essential factor in pianoforte studies, students received little information about how to actually utilise feedback and feed-forward in their private practice. The conclusion indicates that within the context of one-to-one piano lessons, while some aspects of feedback practice were effective, others were less efficacious. Thus, teachers could benefit from access to training in the provision of formative feedback and feed-forward, in line with current research into best practice in schools.