Does Virtual Practice Make Perfect? *
*Note: This is an abbreviated Project Idea, without notes to start your background research, a specific list of materials, or a procedure for how to do the experiment. You can identify abbreviated Project Ideas by the asterisk at the end of the title. If you want a Project Idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk.
Abstract
You've probably heard the phrase, "practice makes perfect" more times than you care to remember, but is it actually true when you use a music game as your practice for real-life singing, strumming, or drumming? You can design a science fair project to discover the answer! First, you'll need to think about how to measure how well someone is playing or singing a song in real life. Using the test you design, measure several musicians' ability to play or sing a few different songs. Then have your musical volunteers switch to practicing using a virtual music game, like Guitar Hero or Rock Band, whose control schemes resemble those of real instruments. You'll need to decide whether it is important for your volunteers to play the same songs in both real life and in the game and how long (minutes, hours, several days in a row) the volunteers should practice. Doing a bit of research on how practicing helps people learn will help you design a better experiment. Once the practice phase is over, use the same test to measure the musicians' song-playing or singing skills. Did virtual practice improve their real-world music playing?Share your story with Science Buddies!
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Last edit date: 2012-12-07
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