A study of the effects of music on middle school students' math test scores.

摘要

Purpose. The purpose of the study was to determine if playing classical background music (specifically Mozart) during weekly math tests will improve math test scores. Finding a technique to improve these test scores could make a positive contribution in the field of counseling, education, and the annual school report card.; Method. The researcher used a quasi-experimental, non-randomized control group, pretest-posttest design. Four average-ability groups of middle school students served as the population in this study. An Analysis of Variance and t-tests were used to compare group differences on the weekly exams and the final math test. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to compile the data. Two groups listened to Mozart's music while taking their weekly math tests, and the other two groups served as controls.; Major findings. Analysis showed no significant differences between the experimental (M=48.48.5.D.-15.49) and control groups (M=44.15, 5D-14.66), t (96) - 1.42, p, .08 (one-tailed). There were no significant differences found in the groups' math test scores when analyzed by group, gender, or ethnicity.