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Abstract
The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the 4MAT System of instruction on student achievement and attitudes.
The subjects were fifth grade students who attended schools outlying the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon. Eight teachers were randomly placed in either the 4MAT or textbook group. Four teachers and 87 students were in the textbook and the additional four teachers and 67 students participated in the 4MAT group.
The 4MAT lessons were based on Bernice McCarthy's eight step instructional model. The textbook lessons were structured as the lessons in the Centennial Edition (1985), Silver Burdett, grade 5, rhythm unit. The eight lessons were taught in nine consecutive instructional sessions. Attitude was measured using an instrument designed by the author.
The achievement hypothesis was investigated using two group, pretest, posttest experimental design. The results of the pre- and posttests and the attitude survey were analyzed using a t-test with significance established at the.05 level for one-tailed comparisons. The mean difference in achievement scores between the two groups indicated the students in the 4MAT group achieved significantly greater gains than students in the textbook group. There was no significant difference between attitudes of students in the 4MAT and textbook groups.
