Comparison of achievement test scores of piano students who participate in music theory learning activities based on the theory of multiple intelligences and students who participate in traditional piano studio theory activities

Piano students ages 7 to 11 who had five months to one year of piano study were assigned to two groups for music theory instruction. Control group A received a traditional approach using standardized workbook exercises. Experimental group B received instruction using learning centers based on the theory of multiple intelligences. The students met for one hour once a week for ten weeks. The first and last weeks were used for a pretest and posttest. The Whitlock Student Affiliate Theory Test developed by the Texas Music Teachers Association was used as the measure of achievement. Weeks two and three were spent doing readiness activities with each group. The following six weeks comprised the treatment weeks of this research. A statistical comparison of the pretest and posttest scores was completed by a two-way ANOVA with repeated measures. Results indicated that both groups made substantial improvements in their mean scores. But there was no statistically significant difference in the gains of mean scores between the groups.