A COMPARISON OF ACTIVE EXPERIENCE AND LECTURE-DISCUSSION METHODOLOGY AS MEANS FOR DEVELOPING MUSICAL KNOWLEDGE, MUSICAL DISCRIMINATION, AND MUSICAL PREFERENCE WITHIN AN ELECTRONIC MUSIC COURSE AT THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL (SYNTHESIZER, COMPOSITION, COMPUTER M

The use of electronic music in music education has been advocated by many. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an active experience approach and a lecture-discussion approach to teaching a course in electronic music on secondary school students' achievement in knowledge of musical elements, achievement in musical discrimination skills, and preference for electronic music.;The study consisted of two experimental treatment groups and one no-contact control group. The first treatment group received instruction in electronic music through an active experience method, while the second treatment group received instruction in electronic music through a lecture-discussion method. The control group received no instruction in electronic music. The treatments were administered during an eight-week period.;The analysis of the data was completed in three steps. Each step involved computing a multivariate analysis of variance. The results indicated that there was no significant difference in musical knowledge and musical discrimination of timbre, pitch, texture, and form, or musical preference when using either the active experience approach or lecture-discussion approach to electronic music instruction. Furthermore, there was no significant difference, regarding changes in preference for electronic music, that results from instruction in electronic music. However, both treatment groups scored higher than the control group, but not significantly different from one another. Therefore, differences in achievement of musical knowledge and musical discrimination skills can be attributed to instruction in the medium of electronic music; however, no differences can be attributed to the method of instruction.;During the second semester of the 1982-83 school year, data were gathered from 50 students enrolled in electronic music classes, and 14 students enrolled in either a music appreciation class or a study hall at a high school in Central Pennsylvania. The primary data were obtained from an investigator-constructed criterion-referenced examination of musical knowledge, discrimination, and preference.