The Effects of Classical Music on the Retention of Mathematical Concepts in Elementary StudentsPresented by Victoria J. PayneResearch in Curriculum and Teaching EDUC 379December 9, 2009

Introduction Math helps students’ minds reason and

organize complicated situations/problems into clear and logical steps.

In the upper elementary grades, math phobia is very common as students have to transition from concrete math to logical math (i.e. fractions and percentages) (Cordes, 2001).

Historically, music has been coupled with education, and the ancient Greeks believed that music was both an abstract science and a branch of mathematics.

In the past 10-15 years, attention has been drawn to music as a means of improving academic performance.

Purpose Since America’s schools are not producing the

math excellence required for global economic leadership and homeland security in the 21st century, there has been a national focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programs.(NAEP, 2009).

Only 39% of fourth and 32% of eighth grade students were proficient in math (NAEP, 2009).

The mean score for African American students starting college in 2009 was 426, compared to 515 for all races (The College Board, 2009).

The purpose of this study is to examine classical background music’s ability to help students retain and then recall mathematical concepts.

Review of Literature Music has been noted that music helps us “store and

retrieve rich, multi-sensory memories (Davies, 2000).

Background music can reduce stress and anxiety, cause arousal, motivate, increase on task performance, aid concentration, enhance creativity, and aid in memorization (Griffin, 2006).

Classical background music helped increase the enjoyment of a math class and decreased the perceived challenge posed by math in college students (Orel, 2006)

Significant gains found in math scores in Chicago elementary school after music intervention in classical background music, teacher-made songs, and School House Rock video (Bryant-Jones et al, 2003)

Review of Literature Significantly better performance on paper-

folding activity in Australian study of elementary students with classical background music (Ivanov & Geake, 2003).

United Kingdom reseachers saw students able to complete more problems while listening to background music, but no difference in number of correct responses (Hallam et al, 2002).

Mid-western city researchers did not see significant improvement in math scores for music groups after music and games intervention program (Haught et al, 2002).

Review of Literature An increase was observed in the of α₁-

rhythm power, primarily in the left lobe of the brain, and the children exposed to classical music tired less easily than those not exposed to the music (Strickland, 2001).

Background music increased students’ mean scores significantly among students with emotional and behavioral difficulties (Hallam and Price, 1998).

Music improves memory and learning, boosts productivity, strengthens endurance, and unlocks creative impulses (Campbell, 1997).

Research Question & Hypothesis

Question: Can classical music played in the background of a math lesson help students retain and recall more of the information learned?

Hypothesis:When students in an urban elementary school have background classical music in both the instruction and assessment of the instruction, they will have the highest performance rates. Conversely, with the background music removed from either the instruction or the assessment, they will have lower performance rates.

Independent Variable: Background music

Dependent Variable: Retention of Mathematical Concepts

Methods Design

Convenience Sampling Action Research Study

Participants Urban elementary school In tact 5th grade class Ethnic/Racial Profile of class:

Predominantly African-American Sizeable number of Latino students (may

be ESL)

Methods Procedures

Day 1 Pre-test 20 minute lesson No music during lesson

Day 2 20 minute lesson No music during lesson 10 minutes for completion of 6-question assessment No music during assessment

Day 3 20 minute lesson Background music played during lesson

Methods Procedures (cont’d)

Day 4 20 minute lesson Background music played during lesson 10 minutes for completion of 6-question assessment No music during assessment

Day 5 20 minute lesson Classical music played in background

Day 6 20 minute lesson Classical music played in background 10 minutes for completion of 6-question assessment Background music played during assessment

Methods Instruments

Mozart’s Sonata in D Major

Portable Stereo

3 teacher-made tests

Methods

Methods

Methods

Methods Data Analysis

Differential Statistics Mean scores of Assessments Range of scores of Assessments Standard Deviations of Assessments

Ethical Considerations Parents will receive letters of

informed consent to allow their child to participate in this study.

Principal will be asked for permission to perform study.

Limitations Action Research Studies are not

generalizable.

Student Teaching limits researcher’s work to a limited number of students.

Possibility that daily lessons may have a cumulative effect on the information retained whereby students will do better towards the end of the lesson because of increased practice and instruction.

The End