The study is based upon Maehr and Braskamp's theory of personal investment which describes five observable behavioral patterns to determine how individuals are investing themselves in a given activity. The five behavioral patterns are direction of attention, level of activity (intensity), persistence, continuing motivation, and performance. The meaning an individual has for an activity determines his or her level of personal investment. Meanings consist of intrinsic or extrinsic personal incentives (why an individual is involved), thoughts about self (how he feels about his ability level), and acceptable and available options (what other choices of activities are possible). Past experiences and the resulting thoughts and feelings about the experiences influence the meaning a person has for the activity. Awareness of a person's meanings for an activity and the factors that influence meanings enables understanding of the resultant level of personal investment.

The study involved the selection of four beginning piano students who had motivational needs with regard to learning basic music skills. Specifically, they had difficulty playing the correct notes. These students then used an educational computer game at five consecutive weekly piano lessons. Qualitative data were collected using piano lesson observations, individual student, parent, and teacher interviews, and computer game session observations.

Each of the four boys in this study (aliases are used) came from a unique circumstance that nonetheless resulted in motivational needs similar to the others. In the case of Alex, a student who enjoyed music and was fairly confident in his ability to play piano but did not have strong personal reasons for taking lessons, the addition of educational computer games made the experience more pleasant. His level of personal investment improved during his piano lesson as did his level of skill. For Sam, a student who wanted to have fun playing songs that were not too difficult, the games offered an enjoyable time to play, not work. His level of enjoyment during lessons improved, but his level of effort and skill were the same. For Corey, a student who was willing to work at making music during his lesson, but was never very enthusiastic, the games were fun, but did not have a strong effect on his level of personal investment. For Daniel, a student who liked music but showed little enthusiasm for piano study, the games were just another required activity at his lesson with no effect on his level of personal investment. Personality differences were apparent in the various responses of the four observed students, therefore it is likely that there would be a wide variety of responses among a larger number of students. Teachers must consider the unique personality of each student before believing the software advertisers' promises to increase student motivation and learning.

The games were an enjoyable activity in which all of the boys wanted to do well. However, none of the boys demonstrated overwhelming enthusiasm for progressing to difficult game levels. All focused on the computer screen and were more engrossed in the games than they were in their piano lessons. Even though Daniel was not excited about playing the games, he made an effort, concentrated, and practiced his note reading while playing. All students concentrated on the computer screen and played the piano with greater focus than they had during their piano lesson. For Daniel, the level of intensity when playing the games was also stronger than it was during his piano lesson. The experience of "flow" that is often found when a person is playing a game (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, 1990) is not necessarily a common occurrence in learning situations. The MPTSS games were effective in encouraging learning while playing and losing one's self in the game activities. Because the MPTSS games were not designed to encourage players to go on to higher levels of difficulty, the students chose to repeat easy activities rather than challenge themselves. Some motivational method is necessary for students to move to more difficult activities where feelings of success are not immediate.

Alex's motivation to play computer games was a positive factor that likely affected (along with other factors) the meaning he had for playing piano and perhaps encouraged a greater effort and a subsequent increased level of performance. As noted by Wlodkowski (1984), motivational problems decrease when students have work that they want to do and expect to do well. Sam did not have any incentive to be successful on more difficult games, therefore he had fun by staying at easier levels of the games.

The use of the MPTSS arcade games in the four students' piano lessons over a five week period affected each student's motivation to play in a unique way. It is difficult to isolate the game's effect from other concurrent motivational, environmental, and individual factors. Over the initial five week period that the MPTSS games were integrated with their piano lessons, the following observations were made:

Four weeks after use of the MPTSS games discontinued, the following observations were made:

Descriptions of each student's motivational behavior before, during, and after use of an educational computer game provided foundational knowledge about the game's motivational potential. Knowledge of the motivational effects of educational computer games for these four music students with specific backgrounds may be helpful for teachers determining the most appropriate teaching methods for their students and may aid further research and understanding about the value of this type of software.