Effects of a Music-Movement Program in Elementary School Physical Education Classes on Pupils’ Rhythmic Ability

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a short music-movement program and evaluate its effectiveness in improving elementary school pupils’ rhythmic ability. The sample of the study comprised two hundred forty-five pupils (10.5±.526 years) assigned to control and experimental group. Pupils were tested on their ability to synchronize hand clapping and walking to 48beats at the rhythmic patterns of 2/4, 7/8, and 9/8 using the Digital Rhythmic Ability Evaluation Tool (DRAET). Participants completed DRAET before, immediately after and two months after the implementation of the program. Pupils in the intervention group attended the music-movement program during the warm-up phase of the lesson, whereas those in the control group attended the regular warming up proposed in the national curriculum. The program was implemented twice a week for 13 weeks. The results of the ANOVA with repeated measures on time revealed a significant improvement of rhythmic ability in intervention group pupils as compared to control group pupils. The effect of the program was retained in the follow-up measurement. The findings of the study support the effectiveness of a music-movement program on pupils’ rhythmic ability.

Keywords: rhythmic ability, physical education, music-movement, intervention program