Design and Production of Music Educational Assistant and its Effectiveness on the Cognitive and Skill Learning of Music Students in Comparison with Face-to-Face Training

This study aims to design and develop an online teaching system (Nuance) for learning musical instruments compared to face-to-face training. The system performance was tested and analyzed to study the impact of the proposed system on cognitive and skill learning for a Persian music instrument named Setar. This study employed a "quasi-experimental post-test research with two control groups," with 900 Setar elementary students in Sanandaj city participating between 2021 and 2022. Sampling method was used to form two homogeneous groups, including the control group and the experimental group, so there were 15 learners in each group. The experimental group used an online instructional system, while the control group trained face-to-face. For data analysis, independent t-tests were used to compare their means and to assess the normality of variables and homogeneity of variance between groups, using Shapiro-Wilk and Levan tests. The results showed a significant difference between the groups and supported that the proposed system has better cognitive and skill learning performance than face-to-face training. Standard online training, organized by instructional design and based on the principles of music education, can be far more effective than conventional methods of music education (P 0.05). This study implicate the potential for well-designed online music education courses based on principles of music education to improve student outcomes compared to traditional face-to-face instruction. With proper structure and support, online learning offers a promising path forward for addressing challenges in the field of music education.