“Five Minutes of Composers”: A Technique for Evaluating Productivity of Verbal Memory in the System of Basic Music Education

Abstract

The paper addresses the need for developing criteria-based diagnostic tools for quick individual and group evaluation of musical knowledge in children within the system of basic music education. The proposed technique called “Five Minutes of Composers” allows one to evaluate musical knowledge in a single child, in a whole class or in an educational organisation. The paper provides a full description of the technique and the process of its standartisation: stanines and corresponding normative values are assigned to each age group; the differential validity of the technique is statistically proven for the factors "gender", "stage of education", "age", and "total productivity". The outcomes of the conducted study show the following: the average level of productivity is significantly higher in girls; this level is significantly higher in students of 6th and 7th classes as compared to students of 3rd—5th classes; there is a direct correlation between age and productivity of recall; children with high levels of productivity outscore others in the number of recalled names of composers right from the start. The paper concludes with some remarks concerning the possibilities of using this technique for measuring the progress in children’s musical knowledge, for criteria-based comparative analysis of the quality of teaching, and for evaluating the quality of music education in single classes and educational organisations in general.

Keywords

• “Five Minutes of Composers” technique
• productivity of verbal memory
• statistical tests
• stanine