How Does Playing Music While Studying Relate to College Students' Gpa?

Perhaps the most tangible benefit of music education for students is the increase in their performance in the classroom. People often say, “Music makes you smarter,” but where is the evidence? As South Dakota State University’s Professor Kevin Kessler eloquently stated via email, “How were you

“involves a subject conducting a certain task, in this case recalling a series of numbers, while listening to different kinds of background music. If sound exhibits acoustical variations, or what Perham calls an "acute changing-state," performance is impaired. Steady-state sounds with little acoustical variation don't impair performance nearly as much.”(Cutler).

“Musical is a universal experience. With few exceptions, all humans perceive musical pitch, tone, timbre, and harmony. We listen to music to relax, to help us think, to celebrate, and grieve. Our emotional responses to music have been noted in literature, poetry, and drama. The power of music to evoke an emotional response is used by advertising companies, film directors, and mothers singing their babies to sleep. Early education teachers are familiar with using music and rhythm as tools for learning language and building memory. (Foran, 2009) Several musical melodies are used in grade school to learn information. Music is used in my math classes across the world to enhance the learning process of formulas. English classes use music help children learn prepositional phrases, adjectives, adverbs, noun, and etc. However, after most scholars reached a certain grade level, using music to achieve new heights academically became a technique of the past. Most instructors didn’t bother using music in order to help retain information. It was almost as if it was forgotten about. But, if music is so important why isn’t it allowed in most classrooms today? Many teachers are not fond of music in the classroom. To many, it is seen as a distraction. Is it the type of music a person chooses to listen to? Would it be different if the music chosen by

Elementary schools and high schools across the U.S. have lately suffered from financial strain. Because of this, budget cuts have to be made and music programs often suffer before sports and academics. Although some people believe that music is not a key component in preparing for employment and higher education, yet several others express otherwise, who say music has been shown to stimulate other parts of a student’s mind that can help them excel. Statistics have shown that the correlation between music class and other academia is not only positive for students, but also can improve future scholastic abilities, and thus should not be cut from schools. Through the evaluation of various sources

This study attempts to prove that certain music can be used to improve attention, elicit good mood, which will in turn enhance study environment.

In a study done by Jennifer L. Lilley, Crystal D. Oberle, and Jon G. Thompson, Jr. at Texas State University, they tested the effects of grade consequences and music on test anxiety and performance. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of the participants grades if there were consequences and how music effects the participates anxiety and their test performances. There were previous works cited on how people improve their spatial cognitive task performances after listening to Mozart (Ho, Mason, & Spence, 2007). They also included studies where there were no benefits to people’s spatial cognitive task performances after listening to Mozart (Hui, 2006).

A big controversy of our generation today is concerning of a topic that many of us praise and could not live without. In fact, spin.com claims that the average American listens to four hours of music each day. So is music effective or hurtful to our studying? This may be an eternal topic for we don’t truly have one answer. In numerous ways listening to music is beneficial, belie some studies have come to find out it can also be harmful. Students should be given the option to listen to music in class, but whether they choose to take upon this privilege or not is up to them.

Peynircioglu of American University showed that among visual learners, music while studying increased the subjects ability to retain information better than it did in auditory learners or musicians. When tested to see whether meaningful melodies would be remembered better than non meaningful melodies, Musicians had a harder time remembering melodies that were determined to be meaningless than visual learners/nonmusicians but had a higher rate of

Over the years music education in schools has dropped dramatically for more reasons than one. Now, students are required to take little to no music classes throughout their schooling year which is causing the drive and ambition about school from students to decrease significantly. After analyzing several experiments, documents, and scholarly journals research discovered that the decrease in music education has affected students on all levels of their education. From elementary school all the way through the student’s final years in high school. This decrease has affected students with techniques such as memorization, motivation, self-confidence, and many more. On the other hand, some might say that not everyone likes music and some people’s learning styles don’t require any music education to help them succeed. This is true but the overall majority of the population of students has been affected due to the decrease of music education in schools. Due to the fact that music education is plummeting, the overall education and productivity of students is decreasing.

Mitch Lucker says, “Keep listening to music, it gets you through everything, I promise.” When it comes to studying he’s right. Over the course of the semester I’ve kept a journal of every time I studied or did homework, and what I found was that the most common variable was music. The more I listened the more of my work I could get done and comprehend which helped to improve my grades tremendously. For many complete silence is required to concentrates but Studies such as Effects on Reading Comprehension of Preferred Music and Frequency of Studying to Music reflect that frequently listening to music while studying improves reading comprehension and memorization. The hypothesis that was tested was whether or not how frequently you listened to your choice of music affected how you concentrated and if the music had comprehension benefits as well. The results being that not only did students who listened to music often have improved scores but that the music helped in blocking out the background noises that would have otherwise distracted the student. Throughout my journal my notes further prove the hypothesis, by echoing that frequently listening to music improved my understanding of the material, aided in blocking out the background noises, and improved my grades overall.

The article “The effects of music on achievement, attitude and retention in primary school English lessons” by Koksal, Yagisan, and Cekic show the impact music has in the classroom. The Article claims “best learning environment is one that includes music” (Köksal, et al. 1897). Meaning music activates different parts of the brain that coincide with memory. Through an experimental study mentioned in the article shows music has a “increased achievement in English vocabulary learning” (Köksal, et al. 1899). Memory channels are activated and students are able to retain what is being taught through the use of music. Therefore the article suggests music is a method that can be used in primary schools to exercise the mind helping students hold onto what they learn for longer periods of time. The authors argue music brings out a different level of intelligence in the classroom. However the article fails to briefly describe traditional methods, other possible methods, and possible defaults of a music learning environment jeopardizing a overall well conducted study of music used as a source of education.

In school all across America we focus on remembering the facts, remember this, read this, and listen to this PowerPoint. The education system needs to shape young minds and teach instead of forcing knowledge upon them. Brains of young children are like a water balloon, it has room to expand for knowledge although, if you fill it to fast water will erupt or leak. Americans move fast, we believe the faster we go the further we will succeed. Despite these beliefs this does not work for students, to fast and to much water in their balloon will make it pop. All students are different, and have a different style of learning. There are a total of 7 different categories that all students fall under for learning they include visual, aural, verbal, physical, logical, social, and solitary (Lepi). As a result some students learn by working this groups, or using a song to remember material for an upcoming test. Others may like to see graphs to compare; and some comprehend chemistry better from seeing and studying a model of water. As a result of this diversity it is hard for many students to sit through a power point with facts to fully understand what they are learning. A study was performed using “Academic music” at Hoover elementary school in California. After 6 weeks of the technic of learning using music the students scored 50% higher on a fraction test then students at the same score using

In recent years it’s become noticeable that students are using all different forms of music to help them while studying or doing homework. When listening to music one may notice how that person may tap their foot or drum their fingers, even though they appear to be focused on the task in front of them. The rhythm of the piece, whether it is fast or slow, causes the listener’s heartbeat to synch with it (How Music Affects Our Mood, 2014). The question however is which music to listen to. In some studies, test subjects show that the louder the music the more distracted the subjects became (Manthei, 2014). Doctor Emma Gray, a clinical psychologist in Britain, says, “If you choose the right music for the topic you are

Imagine the day when you see your child’s report card, and all you see are As, and you are speechlessly staring at your child’s grades. Are you still waiting for that moment to come when you will be proud of your child for getting good grades? Have you ever wondered why your child has not been able to do well at school?It is possibly because your child has not been exposed to listening to music while studying. Listening to musiccould be the golden solution for your child. Students definitely need to be granted the freedom to listen music during classes. Listening to music while studying helps to keep one’s mind relaxed. It also helps in finishing work faster and in memorization.

The report below tells us about the information regarding music and it’s classification. The report also describes about the effects of music on memory and studying.