Historic and Ethnic Music Found to Increase Geographic Understanding: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Author(s): Richardson, Ronald; Brouillette, Liane | Abstract: This article summarizes a quasi-experimental study, which demonstrated that integration of historic and ethnic music into the American history curriculum may lead to increased knowledge of the cultural and physical geography of the United States as well as enhanced student engagement.An experiment (n=215) conducted with eighth grade students investigated the effect that implementing supplementary music history workshops had on student attitudes and understanding of geographic concepts. Two instruments were used as pre-post tests: the Standards-Based Geography Test, Intermediate Level, from the National Council for Geographic Education and the Test of Geography-Related Attitudes. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that students in the treatment group showed greater growth in geographic knowledge (effect size=.854) and more positive attitudes toward geography (effect size=.569).