CHAPTER I

Rationale and Background of the Study

Introduction

Students have their own different roles and goals, and education is one of the best tools

to achieve those goals. It plays a vital role in the behavioral and intellectual development of a

learner. The acquisition of new knowledge, information and the way you respond to learning

environment makes you a holistic learner. Moreover, good study habits largely influence the

level of performance of students on school, on the other hand, according to (Oliver, 1997;

Schrieber, 1998) music exposure enhances cognitive performance or academic achievement.

Academic achievement is the key criterion in judging the skills, capabilities and the total

potentials and it also indicates the learning outcomes of the students. It accompanies the

learning outcomes of the students, knowledge attitude and design scores or test scores in every

subject indicating of what area they are strong or weak.

Music embodies the spirit and provides a powerful way of conveying meaning to the

human heart and mind. In fact, music like language is unique to the human species (Blacking

1973) because no culture, no people or group that is without some form of musical expression,

a good example are the students. Many students listen to music to alleviate the emotional

effects of stress and anxiety when engaged in complex cognitive processing, such as studying

for a test, completing homework assignments, or while reading and writing. This practice is so

common that it would be beneficial for students to understand the role that music plays on

cognitive performance.

Listening to music has a two way effect depending on the student. According to

Rentfrow and Gosling there are four music preference groups based on factor analysis including

“Intense & Rebellious” which included rock, alternative, and heavy metal music. “Upbeat and
Conventional” which included country, soundtrack, religious and pop music. “Energetic &

Rhythmic” which included rap, funk and electronic or dance music and “Reflective and Complex”

which included blues, jazz, classical and folk music (Rentfrow & Gosling, 2003)

Successful studying is very important to increase knowledge and survive life’s

challenges. It helps us grow mentally, intellectually or even financially in today’s world. Study

habit is the way students’ study either systematically, efficiently or inefficiently. Factors have

been highlighted to influence the ability of students to cultivate effective and efficient study habit.

Such factors include; state of health, motivation, anxiety, state of mind, conducive and suitable

learning environment for studying, and books. Thus these factors have a significant influence on

one’s learning style, using different strategies such as memorizing, elaborating, and controlling

and the other is the SQ3R method that have developed various methods of reading, interpreting

and coding the information. Study habit, skill and attitude inventories and constructs were found

to rival standardized tests as academic performance yielding incremental validity.

The discovered benefits of music in connection with enhancing the mental capabilities

and the good study habits among students lead the researchers to find out whether there is a

relationship in the music preference and study habits in the academic achievement of students.

Theoretical Background

Academic achievement represents performance outcomes that indicate the extent to

which a person has accomplished specific goals that were the focus of activities in instructional

environments, specifically in school, college, and university. School systems mostly define

cognitive goals that either apply across multiple subject areas (e.g., critical thinking) or include

the acquisition of knowledge and understanding in a specific intellectual domain (e.g.,

numeracy, literacy, science, history). Therefore, academic achievement should be considered to

be a multifaceted construct that comprises different domains of learning. The strong association
between the music preference and the study habit in the student’s academic performance is one

reason why the study was conducted.

This study anchors the theory of Mozart’s Effect suggesting that listening to Mozart’s

music temporarily boosted scores on one portion of the IQ test and produce many other

beneficial effects on mental function, while many follow up researches showed that listening to

music somehow helps the students to focus on what they are doing. Listening to music can also

help the students learn more efficiently. Though it depends on the degree to which they like the

music.

This study also is based on Social Cognitive Theory propounded by Albert Bandura as

early as in the 1960s. Social cognitive theory strongly lays emphasis on one’s cognition. It

suggests that the mind is an active force that constructs one’s reality selectively, encodes

information, performs behavior on the basis of values and expectations and impose structure on

its own actions. It is through an understanding of the processes involved in one’s construction of

reality that enables human behavior to be understood, predicted and changed. In view of the

theory, the student’s academic achievement is a product of interaction of his personality and

consequently, study behavior or the studying habits he develops is based on his expectations of

the outcome of his actions.

Theoretical Framework

Mozart Effect Social Cognitive Theory

-suggests that listening to music -suggests that the mind is an

could actually enhance active force that selectively
intelligence. encodes information.

STUDY HABITS
CNU
STUDENTS

MUSIC
PREFERENCES

ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE

FIG. 1. THEORITICAL-CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY

 The Problem

Statement of the Problem

It is the main purpose and aim of this study to know the different relationship between

the music preference, study habits and the academic performance of 3rd year students in Cebu

Normal University who took their college degree in the academic year 2016-2017.

Specifically, this study seeks to answer the following;

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:

1.1 Age;

1.2 Gender;

1.3 Religion;

1.4 Civil Status;

1.5 And No. of Siblings?

2. What is the music preference of the respondents in terms of:

2.1 Intense & Rebellious

2.2 Upbeat & Conventional

2.3 Energetic & Rhythmic

2.4 Reflective & Complex

3. What is the level of study habits of the respondents in terms of:

3.1 Memorization Strategies

3.2 Elaboration Strategy

3.3 Control Strategy

3.4 SQ3R Method

4. What is the academic performance of the respondents?

5. Is there a significant relationship between the:

 5.1 Profile & Music Preference;

5.2 Music Preference and Study Habits;

5.3 And Music preference and Academic Performance of the respondents?

6. Based on the findings, what recommendation can be proposed?

Significance of the Study

This study enables individual to enjoy and utilize music in acquiring knowledge. It gives

them awareness on what music preference is best to use while learning and what is suitable to

the respondent’s personality. This study concerns to the following:

Students.

Teacher. This study contributes ideas to the teachers and how to make teaching

effective and efficient.

Music enthusiast. This study gives information to all music enthusiast how music

affects the cognitive activity of an individual. Through this, music enthusiast can further develop

the music they compose and make.

Future researchers. This study helps future researchers to make the future studies

make compendious and structured and helps to develop writing and analysis.

Definition of Terms

For better understanding of this study, the following terms are defined:

Age. It refers to the number of years the respondent has lived.

Gender. It refers to the identity of the respondent. Whether the respondent is a male or

female.
 Civil status. It refers to the distinct relationship of the respondent to significant others.

Whether the respondent is single, married, divorced or widowed.

Religion. It refers to the respondent’s particular system of faith or belief. (Roman

Catholic, Muslim, Born Again Christian and Others)

Number of siblings. It refers to the total number of brothers and sisters of the

respondent including him/herself.

Academic Performance. Refers to the latest average final grade of the students in a

semester.

Music Preference. Refers to the taste of music the students prefer to listen while or

while not studying.

Intense & Rebellious. One of the four music preferences identified by Rentfrow and

Gosling that refers to rock music, alternative and heavy metal music,

Upbeat & Conventional. A music preference which includes country music, soundtrack,

religious and pop music.

Energetic & Rhythmic. A music preference which includes rap or hip-hop music, funk

music and electrical music.

Reflective & Complex. A music preference which includes blues, jazz, classical and

folk music.

Study habits. It refers to the habitual practices of the respondent to help them study and

learn.
 SQ3R Method. A standardized technique to make ones reading style effectives, SQ3R

stands for suvey, questions, read, recite and review.

Survey. Refers to how students view the contents, chapters, going through the headline

and sub-heading to the end for having a general impression of written material.

Questions. Refers how the readers should formulate the question on the broad ideas as

stimulating areas for later references.

Read. Refers to how students read the chapter based on the question that is formulated

and concentration of the word.

Recite. The state of stating or reciting the passage to familiarize.

Review. The state of re-reading the passage carefully to answer the question for better

understanding of the passage.