Overtime we have witnessed the elaboration and connection that links music and intelligence. Certain studies, typically conducted by universities, show the science that supports the fact that students who incorporate music into their education tend to perform better than their non-musical peers in subjects such as math, science, and language courses.
According to a study of more than 100,000 students conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia, students who were highly engaged in music were more likely to score higher across all subjects. In fact, students who started learning music early on and continued to do so in high school were shown to be one year ahead of their peers in terms of test scores. This trend was found to be especially true if the students were practicing instrumental music (APA).
One common counterargument to studies like this one is that the correlation between musical ability and academic achievement is not a direct relationship. Rather, some would argue that a variety of other factors are responsible for such findings and that music is not necessarily the link to higher scores or comprehension.
Researchers at the University of Kansas conducted their own study to determine if the relationship between music and academic performance would still be found even if factors such as race and income were controlled. To the surprise of Martin J Bergee, who conducted the study, despite accounting for these variables they did not affect the outcome. Regardless of location, race, and income, students who played any instrument tended to perform better in education such as math comprehension than those who were not involved in any musical activity. (Science Daily).
The researchers at UBC hypothesized that the relationship between music and essential skills in the classroom may come from the teamwork, hand-eye coordination, and better listening skills learned from music classes where students must learn to read musical notation and keep in time with other musicians while also training their ears to recognize the relationships between various pitches (APA).
But classroom benefits from music education are not exclusive to high school students only. One study published in 2014 in the journal Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences showed that musical education also enhances the development of children as young as three years old, specifically in the realm of language learning. The study determined that children who participated in music classes were better equipped for learning a second language (Procedia).
Furthermore, based on research and skills developed we can determine that music may have a strong link between education and comprehension and is overall a beneficial subject for students in the classroom. It is beneficial to students of all academic fields, including STEM!
Written by: Matthew Jenkins
Date: 2/8/2022
Sources:
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/06/music-students-score-better
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201130150413.htm
Influence of Music Training on Language Development. A Longitudinal Study – ScienceDirect
