Effects of engaging in an informal learning project using popular music on undergraduate education majors' music self-concepts

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how engaging in an Informal Learning Project (ILP) using popular music impacted undergraduate general education students’ music self-concepts. The secondary purposes of this study were: (1) to examine the relationship between undergraduate general education students’ music self-concept and attitudes toward music in the classroom and (2) to examine relationships among undergraduate general education students’ extent of prior experience in music, their attitudes toward the ILP, and their self-assessment of achievement on the ILP. General education majors enrolled in a fundamentals of music course (N = 71) were assigned to either the control group (formal, “traditional notation-based” curriculum only) or treatment group (the same curriculum, but with the ILP replacing one “traditional notation-based” assignment toward the end of the course). At the conclusion of the ILP, the treatment group had significantly higher music self-concept scores (p = 0.005) when compared with the control group, and there were moderate positive correlations between the students’ music self-concepts and their attitudes toward music in the classroom (r = 0.61). Considering that students’ varying levels of prior musical experience did not have an impact on either their attitudes toward the ILP or their self-assessment of achievement in the ILP, it is likely that informal learning naturally differentiates and allows students of widely varying musical backgrounds to feel authentically successful. Therefore, I would recommend that those teaching fundamentals of music courses include at least some informal learning opportunities as they may help students further develop both their music self-concepts and their positive attitudes toward using music in their future classrooms.