EDUC 451B: INQUIRY PROPOSAL
TITLE: What are the implications of phone usage in secondary school classrooms, specifically in terms of productive student output when they listen to music while studying?
- What is your question and how did it arise for you?
During my short practicum, I noticed many students had their wireless earbuds in during class, and I was never sure if the music was playing in their ears or if they were paying attention to the lecture. During one of the lessons, I walked by one student and he was looking down at his paper and it seemed to be stuck, so I started talking to him and I received no response because he didn’t even realize I was there, I had to nudge him to get his attention. My inquiry question is what are the implications of phone usage in secondary school classrooms, specifically in terms of productive student output when students listen to music while doing their work?
- Why is your question significant (to you and/or to others)?
When I was in high school, I too listened to music when I did my homework at home, but that was because I didn’t want to hear my parents talking in the background, and I wanted to drown all the other distracting noises. But overall, I didn’t feel that I was productive when I was listening to music, I felt more efficient when I just focused on one task. When I see students listening to music in class, I am assuming they are not entirely focused, even if the purpose is to drown out the other students. This can also perpetuate anti-social behavior; people stop talking to each other when they see someone else who is plugged in.
- What resources will you draw on to explore your question?
I will be using peer-reviewed journals as my primary resource, but I may also survey my students as a secondary resource.
- “What else do college students “do” while studying? An investigation of multitasking” by Charles Calderwood, Phillip L. Ackerman, and Erin Marie Conklin
This is an academic paper that examines college students who are multitasking while studying in a 3hr period. This study tracks students using remote surveillance cameras, a head-mounted point-of-view video camera, and a mobile eye tracker.
- Lemaire, E. C. (2019). The effect of background music on episodic memory. Psychomusicology, 29(1), 22-34. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1037/pmu0000234
This article examines the effects of background music on long-term episodic memory. Looking at the effects of stimulating or relaxing background music they had students memorize three-word lists and their memory was tested on their capacity for word recall.
- “Individual Differences in Working Memory Predict the Effect of Music on Student Performance” by Eddie A. Christopher, Jill Talley Shelton. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition.
This article examines the effects of background music vs silent conditions when students study. They had undergraduate students work on reading comprehension and math tasks under both environments and analyzed the scores each student received.
- “Human Resource Education: Does Listening to Music during Instruction Affect Jordanian Secondary Students' Academic Achievement?” The Hashemite University of Jordan.
This article investigates the academic achievements of 7th-grade students who listened to music during instruction and compared them to students who received traditional instruction with no music. The socials studies test was used to rate student academic achievement.
- “Eye movements and reading comprehension while listening to preferred and non-preferred study music” by Roger Johansson, Kenneth Holmqvist, Frans Mossberg, and Magnus Lindgren.
This study examined 24 university students who were asked to do reading comprehension tests while they listened to music they preferred, the music they did not prefer, cafe background noise, and silence. While they participated in these tests their eye movement data were recorded for all participants in all conditions.
- What do you expect to find out?
Through my initial research, there are mixed conclusions of the implications of listening to music when studying, but overall, I am expecting to find data that supports my own experience in terms of productive output. I am predicting that students who listen to music while studying will be less productive and score lower academically. However, the above research papers are focused on undergraduate students and do not accurately represent the high school demographic, so further research needs to be done.
- How do you wish to present your finding? What form will it take?
This research will be presented on a poster board that will be made using a PowerPoint slide or a website platform.
Learning Significance