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The Effects Of Musical Ensembles-In-Residence On Elementary Students’ Auditory Discrimination And Spatial Reasoning Skills: A Longitudinal Study, Daniel C. Johnson, Virginia Davis

School of Music Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this longitudinal project was to investigate the effects of a program combining musical ensembles-in-residence with regular classroom music instruction on elementary students’ auditory discrimination and spatial intelligence scores. In combination with regular, sequential general music classes as part of their school curriculum, participants in the program received two half-hour lesson each week, from musical-ensembles-in-residence. These chamber ensembles provided aural models for reinforcing fundamental concepts for four consecutive years. Researchers collected data from a stratified, random sample of students in grades K-2 and 4-5 receiving the experimental program and demographically similar comparison schools, which did not receive any …