The Effectiveness of School Activity Classes in Music Education for Seventh-Grade Students

Abstract

The research problem stems from the limited and ineffective use of the school activity periods for teaching musical elements to seventh-grade students, despite the well-documented, multifaceted benefits of music education on students’ development. This gap prompted the researcher to investigate the issue. This study aimed to teach a selection of musical elements using a custom-designed training program tailored for seventh graders during school activity periods, and to examine statistically significant differences between pre- and post-test scores in music education. The researcher used the statistical analysis of Cronbach’s alpha, means, standard deviations, and paired t-tests. To achieve the study’s objectives, the researcher adopted an analytical and quasi-experimental methodology. A pre-/post-test instrument was developed and validated, consisting of three main sections: musical theory (10 items), musical instruments (5 items), and general musical culture (5 items), using a multiple-choice format. The sample comprised 60 seventh-grade students selected via simple random sampling.

The findings revealed that the proposed training program significantly enhanced music education outcomes among seventh-grade students, as demonstrated by the contrast between pre- and post-test scores. Specifically, the overall pre-test mean was 8.33 (SD = 2.64), which increased substantially in the post-test to a mean of 17.30 (SD = 1.71), reflecting a high level of achievement.