Central Washington University ScholarWorks@CWU All Master's Theses Master's Theses 2004 Music and Test Taking Learning Strategies (part 1) Theresa Lynn Ogan Central Washington University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd Part of the Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, and the Educational Methods Commons Recommended Citation Ogan, Theresa Lynn, "Music and Test Taking Learning Strategies (part 1)" (2004). All Master's Theses. 6. https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/6 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Master's Theses at ScholarWorks@CWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@CWU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Music and Test Taking Learning Strategi 924 2 51955 MP c lllllllllllllllllHlllllllllllll Ogan, Theresa Lynn MUSIC AND TEST TAKING LEARNING STRATEGIES A Project Presented to Tue Graduate Faculty Central Washington University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Education • Master Teacher by Theresa Lynn Ogan March2004 • ABSTRACT MUSIC AND TEST TAKING LEARNING STRATEGIES m E by Theresa Lynn Ogan I March2004 I The relationship of the Washington State Learning Assessment, (WASL) math I scores between two 4th-grade classes in the greater Wenatchee area was compared. Class A listened to classical music before taking the test and Class B did not listen to music I before taking the test. Any significant differences between their scores were evaluated . .. The average of each class's test scores was compared without any student's name listed. m This study was a normal educational assessment being performed in a normal school setting and parental permission was not required for such activities. Review of the I literature supports evidence that it's both reasonable and prudent that exposure to specific I kinds of music before and during test taking can help engage the student's brain to recall material at a higher level of concentration. Hence, students should produce a more I desirable outcome on tests when incorporating music and brain-based learning strategies. E ~ I ,. 111 ~ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I The author wishes to thank I Dr. Lee Plourde and Dr. Jeanine Butler for their help and encouragement I during the process of this master's thesis. I Their wisdom and insight were invaluable. I I To my family for all of their support. - And, especially to my grandparents, I Gudrun Solheim Hansen and Walter Leonard Hansen, I who have inspired me throughout my life. I I I I I ,. iv B TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I IN1RODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................. 2 Significance of the Study ............................................................................. 3 Purpose of the Study .................................................................................... 4 Research Question ....................................................................................... 7 Hypothesis .................................................................................................... 7 Definition of Terms...................................................................................... 7 Limitations ................................................................................................... 8 I Project Overview ......................................................................................... 8 I II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ....................................................... 10 Introduction ................................................................................................ I 0 Background ................................................................................................ I 0 Challenges .................................................................................................. 13 Rationale .................................................................................................... 17 Music's Influence on Academics ............................................................... 20 Summary .................................................................................................... 24 III METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................................26 Participants ................................................................................................. 26 Procedures .................................................................................................. 27 The Project Question.................................................................................. 28 Measurement Tools ................................................................................... .30 I Analysis Tools .......................................................................................... .31 Summary ................................................................................................... .31 I IV THE PROJECT ............................................................................................... .32 m Participants ................................................................................................ .32 w Demographic lnformation .......................................................................... 32 Results ....................................................................................................... .32 E e ~ v B TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Chapter Page I V INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS ........................................ .34 I Interpretation of Results ............................................................................ .34 Recommendations and Implications .......................................................... 35 I REFERENCES ............................................................................................... .36 I APPENDIXES ................................................................................................. 41 Appendix A-Definitions of Musical and Neurological Terms ................ 41 Appendix B--Completion Certificate ...................................................... .43 I Appendix C-Images and Illustrations of the Brain.................................. 44 I Appendix D-Pamphlet ····················'·······················································49 I- I I I 6 I m (9 vi e I CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION I "Through music, a child enters a world of beauty, expresses his inmost self, tastes the joy of creating, widens his sympathies, develops his mind, soothes I and refines his spirit, and adds grace to his body" (U.S. Child Welfare Association; as I cited in Anderson, March, & Harvey, 1999, p. 91). According to Dr. Jeanine Butler (personal communication, September 19, 2003) I recent research provides significant evidence that learning is a complex process that I begins in the brain. Since the United States is requiring students to produce higher test I scores and mandating that education leaves no child behind (Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction [OSPI], 1998), it is imperative that all educators understand the importance of brain-based learning strategies and how music can help I- enhance learning. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD] I (1999), reported that of those children who cannot read at the end of first grade, fewer I than one in eight will ever catch up with their peers to read at grade level. According to Mullis, Campbell, and. Farstrup (1993), those students will drop out of school at higher I rates than their classmates. E LaBerge and Samuels (1974) identified predictors, or reading patterns that enabled experts to predict future reading success in young children. Thls research E identified automaticity and fluency as having a major impact on reading achievement. E Policy-makers and educational leaders have pushed to assess behaviors that characterize ~ 1 I ~ 2 ~) fluency traits (accuracy, rate, and phrasing) in young readers in an early intervention E effort based on findings from research (Pinell et al, 1995; Stanovich, 1980, 1990). • E However, even though comprehension is the ultimate goal in reading (Adams, 1990; Braunger & Lewis, 1998; Clay, 1991; Fountas & Pinnell, 1996; OSPI, 1998), the impact B and benefits that music can have on learning have truly been overlooked in our m educational system. Statement of the Problem I Can listening to music improve a person's cognitive learning abilities, retention of I information and/or test taking? According to educator, Eric Jensen (personal communication, February 24-26, 2003), many revealing scientific experiments, studies, • and research projects have been performed to try and discover the extent of the power of music. Up until 1970, most of the research done on music had to do with studying the •] effects of the beat of the music. It was found that slow music could slow the heartbeat • and the breathing rate as well as bring down blood pressure. Faster music was found to ~2 speed up these same body measurements. 1 How does music stimulate the brain? In the early 1990s, an innovative research team of the University of California, at the Center for Neurobiology of Learning and I Memory in Irvine, found causal relationship between the brain's ability to process music ~ and to reason. Scientists and the public