Applying Computer-Assisted Musical Instruction to Music Appreciation Course: An Example with Chinese Musical Instruments

This study aims to explore the effectiveness of computer-assisted musical instruction (CAMI) in the Learning Chinese Musical Instruments (LCMI) course. The CAMI software for Chinese musical instruments was developed and administered to 228 students in a vocational high school. A pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group design with three classes designated as the experimental group for the "CAMI in LCMI," and another three classes as the control group for the "traditional narrative teaching approach." Collected data were analyzed through descriptive statistics analysis, ANCOVA, and structural equation modeling (SEM) by SPSS 10.0 for Windows and LISREL 8.52. The results indicate that (1) the CAMI approach is superior to the traditional narrative teaching approach, (2) students show a positive perspective on the use of CAMI for instruction in the LCMI course, (3) software interface and content design have positive and direct influence on students' learning attitude and self-awareness learning results, (4) learning attitude has a positive and direct influence on self-awareness learning results, and (5) the CAMI in Chinese musical instruments software is satisfactory assistive material for teachers in the LCMI course. (Contains 10 figures and 4 tables.)