Using Flash in an Elementary School Setting to Increase Learning and Motivation in Music

Abstract

Engaging first grade students to learn about musical instruments in the absence of actual musical instruments can be difficult. The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a Flash-based instructional module designed to enhance the learning of grouping and hearing musical instruments for first grade students. Students were given a lecture regarding the project, shown a drawing of the module and given a pretest concerning the subject right before logging onto the computers. The students were given approximately 40 minutes to complete the module before taking the posttest. The pretest and posttest were given to provide research data on how much the students learned from the module. In addition, the students were asked their thoughts about the module and learning on the computer. This helped to gauge how the students felt about the effectiveness of the module. The pretest scores indicate that most students got 25% correct; the posttest showed that majority students got 92% correct. Overall the students did better on the posttest then the pretest and most indicated that they would want to do another lesson like this.