Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Kristian Veit
Project Type
Honors Program project
Scholarship Domain(s)
Scholarship of Discovery
Presentation Type
Presentation
Abstract
Background
Past research indicates that music education has a positive influence on academic achievement and self-esteem. Intrinsic motivation is an accepted predictor of high academic achievement, and research suggests that students involved in music are intrinsically motivated. One study showed that undergraduate musicians possessed high levels of academic intrinsic motivation. This study attempts to explore the motivation, academic achievement, and self-esteem of collegiate musicians as compared to collegiate non-musicians.
Methods and Procedures
A survey link was emailed to all undergraduate students at a small, Christian university in the Midwest. Participants answered questions pertaining to their music involvement prompting for music involvement and music proficiency, and demographic information like major, GPA, and ACT score. The participants also completed 28 items from Vallerand’s Academic Motivation Scale as well as 10 items from Rosenthal’s Self-Esteem Scale. 628 students completed the survey, and four levels of musicianship emerged: music majors/minors (n=40), non-music majors/minors in collegiate level music ensembles (n=216), non-music majors/minors not in collegiate level music ensembles (n=136), and non-musicians (n=164). Inferential statistics were used to compare the academic achievement, academic motivation, and self-esteem of the groups.
Results
Using an independent t-test, it was found that musicians (both music majors/minors and non-music majors/minors in collegiate level ensembles) had higher academic intrinsic motivation than non-musicians. No other statistically significant differences were found between the other groups.
Permission Type
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
The Relationship Between Musicianship, Academic Motivation, Academic Achievement, and Self-Esteem
Reed 330
Background
Past research indicates that music education has a positive influence on academic achievement and self-esteem. Intrinsic motivation is an accepted predictor of high academic achievement, and research suggests that students involved in music are intrinsically motivated. One study showed that undergraduate musicians possessed high levels of academic intrinsic motivation. This study attempts to explore the motivation, academic achievement, and self-esteem of collegiate musicians as compared to collegiate non-musicians.
Methods and Procedures
A survey link was emailed to all undergraduate students at a small, Christian university in the Midwest. Participants answered questions pertaining to their music involvement prompting for music involvement and music proficiency, and demographic information like major, GPA, and ACT score. The participants also completed 28 items from Vallerand’s Academic Motivation Scale as well as 10 items from Rosenthal’s Self-Esteem Scale. 628 students completed the survey, and four levels of musicianship emerged: music majors/minors (n=40), non-music majors/minors in collegiate level music ensembles (n=216), non-music majors/minors not in collegiate level music ensembles (n=136), and non-musicians (n=164). Inferential statistics were used to compare the academic achievement, academic motivation, and self-esteem of the groups.
Results
Using an independent t-test, it was found that musicians (both music majors/minors and non-music majors/minors in collegiate level ensembles) had higher academic intrinsic motivation than non-musicians. No other statistically significant differences were found between the other groups.