#Listening to music while reading how to#

Studies have revealed that listening to music leads to positive changes in mood, as well as increased creativity. There is a positive aspect to music's effect on work performance. Data from this study revealed, once again, that silence was the best environment 'to maximize performance when engaging in cognitive activity.' Further, the type of music didn't matter-eschewing expectations, classical music didn't enhance performance. One study found that the louder the music, the worse the cognitive performance. Volume plays an even more important role than the type of music played. Music with a higher intensity (such as hip hop) was more distracting and had a greater (negative) effect on task performance and concentration. Students who performed the reading tasks in silence scored the highest. In one of several small Taiwanese studies, 133 participants performed reading comprehension tasks while listening to either light classical music, hip hop, or no music at all. Research offers little to back up the idea that listening to music improves concentration.

#Listening to music while reading how to#

Bad Brains? I know what my high school students say, but I wanted to find out what science had to offer.įurther Reading: How to Make Technology in Classrooms Effective and Exciting Silence Really Is Golden Every single time students need to write an essay or work on a problem, they say, 'Can I put my headphones on? I think better that way!' But is that really true? Does music help or hinder concentration? Is there a difference between listening to Bach vs. Deciding whether to allow students to listen to music in the classroom is a modern teacher's dilemma.