The efficacy of detailed feedback in a computer assissted program on voice leading

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of detailed feedback inComputer Assisted Instruction (CAI), specifically a lesson on Voice Leading. An Additional goal of this study was to determine the progressions commonly missed, and the errors most often made by students. The hypothesis was that students who received detailed feedback (i.e., the correct answer, the words "correct" or "incorrect" and additional feedback on why the answer was incorrect) would perform significantly higher on a posttest than those students who received only the correct answer and the words"correct" or incorrect."The thirty-six subjects who participated in this study were freshmen music theory students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. All subjects completed a pretest, ten exercises on the CAI lesson, and a posttest. After the pretest was given and scores were calculated, the students were divided into the two aforementioned test groups and give two weeks to complete the CAI lesson and the posttest.The results of this study indicated there was no statistically significant difference in the posttest scores of those students who received detailed feedback and those students who received non-detailed feedback. Although providing detailed feedback did not prove to be statistically superior, the students who received the detailed feedback on the CAIlesson achieved greater gain on the posttest than those students who received non detailed feedback. Further analysis revealed that the III-VI progression was the most commonly missed progression. Errors in doubling and incorrect pitches proved to be the most troublesome for the students participating in the study. Gender, concentration of study, and classroom instructor also affected the results of the posttest scores.Further research needs to be conducted, including research on different types of detailed feedback such as showing and not showing the correct answer in conjunction with the feedback. The effects of gender, concentration of study, and instructor need to be controlled in further studies.