The Efficacy of Concept Mapping in Aural Skills Training

Abstract

It was the purpose of this study to explore if there is a more effective way to practice aural skills, one that could be individualized as well as computer based: a method of practice that would enhance what the instructor does in the classroom and help the student reinforce their recognition of the basic elements of aural skills and dictation. Concept mapping, which has been beneficial in other educational settings, especially math and science, might be such a way. The goal of this study was to examine if this procedure could be applied to aural stimuli in the same way it has been applied to verbal information.Sixty-four students in a first year college aural skills class were randomly assigned to two groups. Following a pretest of twenty-five chords randomly chosen from a pool of fifty, one group was presented with a lesson on concept mapping while listening to the chords and the other group received a distractor task. The results of these tests showed a higher gain score for the treatment group, M = 5.33, than for the control group, M = 1.25. An Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), showed a moderately significant gain of p = .030 (one-tailed) for the treatment group. Overall, the test results indicated a positive effect of the treatment on the ability of the participants to recognize chords in the posttest. Due to the limitations in the present study, more research is suggested to determine the effectiveness of the process.

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