ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study is to develop the learning program and to illustrate various teaching strategies utilizing MIDI keyboard and computer to improve teaching-learning processes in elementary general music classes. The learning program devised by this study consists of 30 instructional units which are organized by the musical concepts. Each unit focuses on a specific musical concept and offers several learning activities appropriate for teaching the selected concept by using MIDI keyboard and/or various types of music software. Each instructional unit consists of five parts: (1) major musical concept, (2) detailed descriptions about the subconcepts related with the major concept, (3) a clear statement of objectives, (4) a list of necessary teaching materials, and (5) learning activities illustrating teaching strategies covering various areas of music study such as singing, playing, creating, reading/writing, and listening music. The learning activities do not describe a particular type of classroom setting, in order not to limit the adaptability of these activities to only certain levels and types of access to technology. And also each learning activity presented in each unit is devised as a separable lesson module appropriate for a portion of a class session and can be adaptable to numerous teaching conditions. The study reviewed the educational values of MIDI keyboard and Computer Assisted Instruction for music study. And also the study examined the considerable numbers of music software to identify and select the softwares effective for mastering the musical concepts. The softwares introduced in the study are categorized into the following five types: (1) sequencing, (2) MIDI-based notation, (3) auto accompaniment, (4) digital audio recording, and (5) courseware. The main focus of this study was given on the development of the teaching strategies illustrating how MIDI keyboard and computer can be effectively used in the music classroom to promote elementary school student`s conceptual understanding and musical creativity. The teaching strategies suggested in the study reflect a variety of teaching/learning styles and approaches as well as various pedagogical values utilizing the functions inherent in MIDI keyboard and Computer-Assited Instruction.