Human resource education: does listening to music during instruction affect Jordanian secondary students' academic achievement?

The purpose of this study was to identify any differences in the academic achievement of 7th-grade students who listened to music during instruction (experimental group) and those who received traditional instruction (no music during instruction-control group). The Social Studies Test (SST) was administered pre- and post-test to measure differences between the two groups. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) on the post-test results of the SST with the pretest scores as a covariate indicated significant differences at the .05 alpha level on academic achievement for the experimental group. However, differences in academic achievement were not found based on gender or the interaction between the method of instruction and gender. A number of theoretical and practical implications for the field of study are offered. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]