Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Music

Major Professor

Clint Randles, Ph.D.

Committee Member

C. Victor Fung, Ph.D.

Committee Member

David Williams, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Robert F. Dedrick, Ph.D.

Keywords

music aptitude, music achievement, musical discrimination, internal structure, reliability

Abstract

This dissertation had two purposes: 1) to create and document the development of a new music achievement test entitled the Musical Discrimination and Styles Task (MDAST), and 2) to describe the strength of the evidence supporting the validity and reliability of this new developmentally appropriate music aptitude and achievement instrument. I created a theoretical framework based on 1) the cognitive theory of child development of Jean Piaget, 2) the phase model of artistic development by David Hargreaves, and 3) the theoretical models of music discrimination, audiation, and music achievement by Edwin Gordon. The MDAST’s design assessed students’ abilities to evaluate pitch and rhythmic discriminations and compare musical contours (all three commonly used in musical assessment), composers, and styles (new addition here but based on empirical evidence). The items were developed with the assistance of an expert panel. Following pilot testing of the created pool of items, the MDAST was reduced to 15 items organized into five subtests. Items were scored 0 (incorrect) and 1 (correct). The following research questions guided this research:

  1. What is the strength of the evidence supporting the validity of the Musical Discrimination and Styles Task (MDAST)?
    • Content validity evidence as provided by a panel of experts?
    • Internal structure validity evidence as provided by exploratory factor analysis?
    • Relations to other variables as provided by examining the relationships between grade level and the subtests?
  2. What is the strength of the evidence supporting the reliability of the Musical Discrimination and Styles Task (MDAST)?
    • Internal consistency reliability as provided by the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 (Cronbach’s alpha)?

Three hundred sixty-two (n=362) students from a community charter school in the southeastern part of the United States took the 15-item test in Qualtrics from September 13, 2022, to October 13, 2022. Confirmatory factor analysis tested the five-factor measurement model for the MDAST.

First, the researcher focused on “Descriptive Statistics” by calculating the “Item Difficulties by Total Group and by Grade Levels” [Table 4] and a “Subtest Correlation Matrix” [Table 5]. This study also established content validity through peer expert reviews who took the test and measured successful items at 80% agreement [Table 6]. Then, the researcher used confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the five-factor model underlying the MDAST for internal structure validity. The researcher then assessed reliability using the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 on both the total test and the subtests [Table 7]. The results for the overall test revealed for all participants was α = .681. For the subtests, their results were as follows: 1) Pitch α = .449, 2) Rhythm α = .398, 3) Contours α = .118, 4) Composers α = .346, and 5) Styles α = .056. There were implications for future research, as well as those for current practice.

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