Journal Check #1

Question: How does listening to music while reading affect student

performance?

Independent Variable (the variable that you are changing):

The independent variable is whether students listen to music or do not

listen to music.

Dependent Variable (the variable that you will measure or will be changed by
the independent variable):

The dependent variable is the average student score on a multiple

choice quiz after reading.

Controls (the parts of your experiment that will stay the same):

1. Same amount of time (25 mins for reading)

2. Same reading difficulty (same textbook, 7th grade reading level)

3. Same quiz style (10 multiple choice on chromebook)

Hypothesis: If students listen to music while reading (independent variable)

then student performance on the quiz will decrease (dependent variable)

because the part of the brain that comprehends words while reading is

the same part of the brain that comprehends words in songs with
lyrics and therefore the brain will be doing too many jobs at once to

understand the words in the reading.