The effect of a practice checklist on practice strategies,practice self-regulation and achievement of collegiate music majors enrolled in a beginning class piano course

Abstract

This study was designed to test the effect of filling in a weekly practice checklist on self-reported practice strategies, self-efficacy beliefs, and final exam grades of music majors enrolled in beginning college group piano courses for non-pianists. Forty-one non-piano students participated. Students in the experimental group (n = 22) filled a weekly practice and self-assessment checklist for 3 weeks before their final exam. At the end of the treatment and before their exam, participants completed an adaptation of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia & McKeachie, 1991). The treatment had no effect on grade, Self-efficacy, or Resource management, but students in the experimental group reported higher use of Metacognitive self-regulation. Additionally, students in the experimental group without previous piano experience reported higher use of Practice strategies than their counterparts in the control group. These results suggest that the use of this type of checklist may enhance some aspects of practice. Limitations of this study include a small sample size and the use of a no-pretest Static-Group Comparison research design.

Keywords

beginning adult piano student piano practice checklist piano practice strategies practice resource management self-efficacy beliefs self-regulation of piano practice

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