Designing a Teaching Unit to Develop Rhythms Skills Through Body Percussion in The Basic Education Curriculum, Music Learning Area, for Grade 7 Students at Watsrivited Sangkharam School

Abstract

This study aimed to: (1) develop a body percussion instructional package to enhance rhythmic performance skills among students; (2) to evaluate the efficiency of the developed instructional package against the standard criterion of 80/80; and (3) compare the students’ music achievement before and after learning through the developed instructional package. The sample consisted of 63 Grade 7 students at Watsrivited Sangkharam School. The study ran for one hour of instruction per week over eight weeks. Research instruments included the developed instructional package, an observation assessment form, and a pre- and post-intervention musical achievement test. The data from both theoretical and practical assessments were analyzed using the E₁/E₂ efficiency index, based on mean scores from the assessments administered during instruction and the post-test. The findings revealed that: (1) the body percussion instructional package achieved an efficiency of 76.21/83.77, exceeding the predetermined criterion; (2) the students’ post-test achievement scores indicated a statistically significant increase of 53.94% compared with their pretest scores; and (3) the students demonstrated an overall mean performance score of 83.77%. Particularly, the students achieved a mean score of 89.84% in creating rhythmic patterns through verbal cues and movement based on the song Pak Tai Ban Rao (Our Southern Homeland), 92.53% in basic body percussion performance, and 78.89% in another assessed body percussion performance component. The findings suggest that the body percussion instructional package can effectively support students’ rhythmic performance skills and musical achievement through a highly practical pedagogy for music education within the Basic Education Core Curriculum.

Keywords: Body Percussion, Instructional Package, Rhythmic Performance Skills, Music Education, Basic Education Core Curriculum