Inventing melodies with authentic tasks - The influence of task-based instruction on group composition

Abstract

Background

Assessment in classroom research has shown that task-based instruction triggers learning processes and that a particular task construction influences the learning outcome. For example, constructivist learning concepts (e.g., problem-based learning) require authentic tasks in “open†and unrestricted learning settings. Derived from an anchored instruction model, the specific setting in our investigation consisted of three elements: a narrative element (“cover storyâ€), a task set and a music sheet. Working on tasks, students started with a narrative element, in which an ill-defined problem situation (the generation of melodies) was introduced, followed by a task set with manipulated instructions and a music sheet with two conditions: (a) the scaffold of a melody and (b) an extended melody scaffold within which a mechanism was embedded for generating melodies: the variation principle. Task authenticity was supposed to achieve together with the mentioned narrative element, which was closely linked to teaching composing as problem solving. With this “narrative anchor†(“cover storyâ€), students could identify with the blind protagonist of the cover story as a musician who was supposed to entertain people the entire afternoon. Like the protagonist, the students had to find an effective way to easily generate melodies using methods of improvisation and composition. We assumed that the subjects would use the variation principle, which would allow the blind musician to come up with “theme†and then a good mechanism, instead of inventing new melodies all the time.

Aims

We assumed that manipulating task instruction would accelerate the invention process by highlighting the cognitive focus in the problem space. Revealing the hidden mechanism of variation by giving strategic prompts should have prevented students from veering off track. The effectiveness of this task-based problem solving was measured with a mixed methods design. The main focus of the study was on the influence of instruction on melodic invention within an anchored instructional setting.

Method

79 pupils (first to third year of secondary school), who had completed a standard two-year course on playing wind instruments in a band, were randomly assigned to four experimental groups. Each group elaborated a task set attached to one of four test conditions during a 45-minute treatment. Each group then performed a two-minute-composition on their instruments. The outcome quality of these compositions was tested by expert ratings on a 5-point Likert-Scale using the following items: liking, originality, identifiable elements of composition, formal structure and elaboration on a given musical theme.

Results and discussion

Results showed that with direct instruction students had better insights into the invention of “variation†as a melody-generating principle, though with unrestricted instructions they produced more inventive compositions. Further studies have to expand the time allotted because the length of the obtained group compositions varied at the mean of one minute. The expected psychological effect of the narrative anchor was to transfer the fictitious problem situation to the treatment situation of the students, which should have forced them to find the most effective mechanism for melodic inventions. Although the groups produced creative solutions according to the story-induced problem, time pressure reduced reflective re-evaluation of their “compositions†and inhibited students from achieving higher levels with their results.