Music to help, not hinder study

University of Queensland research into the impact of listening to music while studying has been so positive it is now a practical short course offered to all undergraduate students.

Professor Genevieve Dingle from UQ’s School of Psychology says music can evoke a range of emotional responses and this can be used to a student’s advantage.

“Many people, including parents and teachers, think playing music is a distraction to learning and completing assignments but our research shows that’s not necessarily the case,” Professor Dingle said.

“The work we’ve done at UQ has shown music helps students identify and then regulate their study-related emotions such as anxiety and disappointment.

“We’ve used our findings to develop an evidence-based program called Tuned In which teaches students to identify emotions in relation to energy and positivity and understand how their music choice can improve things like motivation or focus.

“A big positive to come out of this is learning how to overcome the feelings behind procrastination, which is a common problem reported by students.”

The Tuned In program is this year being offered free to all undergraduate University of Queensland students as part of the Sharper Minds package.

One of the contributing studies led by Dr Dianna Vidas compared the experience of students doing a reading comprehension task in one of 3 conditions: a silent environment, background café noise or listening to their own selection of music.

“The people in the background noise and silence groups reported decreased positivity after reading, while those listening to music maintained their positivity,” Dr Vidas said.

“The study participants felt less energised after reading in silence, while those in the music and noise groups experienced no change in energy levels.

“Importantly too, the type of music chosen by the students – the genre, its beat or whether it had lyrics – did not impact their reading comprehension score.”

In another recent controlled study, UQ international students completed an online version of the Tuned In course.

Participants reported increased intentional music listening and improved emotional awareness compared to a control group.

“We want students to feel confident that they can study with music they’ve chosen in a way that enhances their learning,” Professor Dingle said.