A waste of time? Or an effective learning tool? - Assessing the effectiveness of a digital games-based

A waste of time? Or an effective learning tool? - Assessing the effectiveness of a digital games-based

A waste of time? Or an effective learning tool? - Assessing the effectiveness of a digital games-based learning approach in music education

By Rebecca Ly

Abstract

“This research is a multiple case study on four participants who had access to the game Rocksmith 2014 remastered for sixty days. Following the sixty-day period, a post-test wasconducted. The participants were assessed by two guitar experts and then interviewed by theresearcher to understand if Rocksmith was an effective way to learn how to play the guitar. Atthe time of the interview, these participants were aged between 25 and 28 years and hadvarying levels of experience playing the guitar and video games. The findings suggested that as a learning tool, Rocksmith can teach certain guitar playing skills. These include (but arenot limited to): teaching technical skills (such as knowing how to hold the guitar, correct andefficient left and right-hand technique, tremolo picking, sliding, and moving across thefretboard efficiently). Despite this, the interviews revealed that the participants did learnabout other aspects of guitar playing, such as being able to play hammer-ons and pull-offs. Intheir interviews, the participants expressed a belief that Rocksmith is a useful tool forlearning. Still, they also said that it was hard to find the motivation to continue playing. While they described their experience of playing Rocksmith as enjoyable and immersive, theyalso expressed having little motivation to continue playing. The study further tried to assesswhether the skill of being able to read guitar tablature was transferable outside of the game.The findings revealed that this was inconclusive and that further study needed to beconducted.”

Reference

Ly, R. (2021). A waste of time? or an effective learning tool? - assessing the effectiveness of a digital games-based learning approach in music education. Retrieved February 25, 2022, from https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/26621

Keyword

Game-based learning, video games, music education, rocksmith, research