Music during lectures: Will students learn better?

SUMMARY: Experimental Study

This study focuses on the influence of music during learning to the academic performance. Aim to investigate how listening to music during learning influences the affective states of undergraduate students and their performance. It is hypothesized that learning with music would result in better exam performance due to the elicitation of positive affect. 249 undergraduates students were divided into a control group and an experimental group. Both groups attended the same multimedia presentation, with the addition of classical music for the experimental group. At the end of the lesson, both groups had to fill out a multiple choice questionnaire (MCQ) in order to assess their learning of the lesson. As a result, MCQ score of the experimental group was higher compared to the control group. However, the limitation is that their MCQ-score might have been influenced by prior knowledge of the students which was not assessed beforehand. In conclusion, this study could help us to have valuable insight on the influence of the learning environment on academic outcome.

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Use of reinforcement practices in educational institutions and its impact on student motivation

SUMMARY: Descriptive Study

One of descriptive study about the use of reinforcement practices in educational institutions and its impact on student motivation has mentioned by Ali, Iqbal, Shahzad, Qadeer, and Khans (2011) in their journal. The main objective of this study to identify between positive and negative reinforcement practices in the rural and urban educational institutions in Pakistan. The method of check list developed by the researcher and t-test been use to analyzed the data collections. The result shows the intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation of the high schools students increase by using reinforcement practices. Urban teachers’ attitude towards students in various forms of reinforcement practices is more positive as compared to the rural teachers.

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A Correlational Study between Brain Hemisphericity and Academic Majors

Summary: Correlational Study

This research was done by Amany Saleh and this article investigated the correlation between students' choice of academic majors and their brain hemisphericity. Research is needed to demonstrate the importance of understanding brain behavior as it relates to learning styles and personality traits. 429 graduate and undergraduate students in a university at the southern part of the United States were the participants of this study. The participants were asked to complete a demographic survey as well as McCarthy's Hemispheric Mode Indicator (HMI) instrument to determine each individual's brain hemisphericity. SPSS and SAS computerized statistical programs were employed. ANOVA was used to determine the influence of brain hemisphericity on students' choice of academic majors and the results of a one-way ANOVA indicate a significant difference between academic majors and brain hemisphericity. The results of the study are important in assist administrators in secondary schools and advisors in higher education to place students in programs that are well-matched with their interests and abilities.

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