Musical Charms: Which Genre of Music Will Boost Focus and Productivity the Most in Classrooms?

Overview

Music is universally incorporated into various aspects of life in a plethora of ways. From culture, to listening to music in stores and restaurants, music is present and is well-known to exhibit many benefits to listeners, such as reducing stress and anxiety, or increasing focus. However, there are conflicting viewpoints from various people, such as teachers and students, that argue on whether music is indeed a useful aide in studies or if it serves as a mere distraction. The goal of this investigation is to explore the relationship between music and student productivity and whether the effects of music are dependent on the genre while addressing common beliefs regarding this. The study was conducted using a physical science class and three biology classes. Students were tasked with completing lab activities while music plays in the background, and responses were recorded using colored paper that corresponds with perceived productivity levels for students. Ultimately, this research discovered that when completing hands-on tasks, more stimulating genres of music such as rock were more effective in increasing productivity. The knowledge gained from this will hopefully be applied in classrooms to create more engaging activities for students and thus improve educational outcomes.

Competition history

• ISEF 2025 Behavioral and Social Sciences · Entry BEHA017

Resources

• ISEF abstract page ↗

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.