The Effect of Critical Thinking Instruction on Verbal Descriptions of Music

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of critical thinking instruction on music listening skills of fifth-grade students as measured by written responses to music listening. The researcher compared instruction that included opportunities for critical thinking (Critical Thinking Instruction, CTI) with parallel instruction without critical thinking opportunities (Activity-Based Instruction, ABI). The same music teacher delivered both instructional treatments concurrently in a series of sixteen 45-minute classroom lessons. Two randomly assigned, intact classes of participants ( n = 41 and 40) made up the CTI and ABI treatment groups, respectively. Three independent judges scored participants’ pretest and posttest responses using a researcher-designed instrument. Using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), the researcher found a significant test by treatment interaction. The post hoc analysis indicated that while the CTI participants scored higher on the posttest as compared with the pretest, ABI participants demonstrated no significant differences by test. Readers should note the larger than expected standard deviations when considering the positive effects of the CTI treatment. Implications include recommendations for future research and for designing music listening lessons to incorporate critical thinking skills in classroom music instruction.