supervisor: loes hogenkamp
Topic
Motivation and affect are important prerequisites for learning to occur. Instructional designers have been occupied with the question how to shape their learning materials in a way that motivation and positive emotions will be elicited. One such way to elicit positive emotions is by introducing background music while learning. Although sounding promising, research has found inconclusive answers about whether learning with background music will indeed lead to better learning outcomes, and which role emotions play here. One assumption is that learning with background music can be beneficial for people with certain personal characteristics, but not for others. Up to you to investigate if this is the case!
Method
For this study, participants will work on a learning task while listening to background music. You will gather data on students’ personal characteristics, emotions, motivation, and/ or learning outcomes. Possible research questions for your thesis could be:
- What is the effect of extraversion on experienced emotions during listening to background music?
- What is the effect of music affinity on experienced emotions during listening to background music?
The exact research question, design, and target group of investigation can be discussed with your supervisor.
references
Plass, J.L., & Horvey, C. (2021). The emotional design principle in multimedia learning. In R.E. Mayer, & L. Fiorella (Reds.), The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (pp. 324-336). https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108894333.034
de Araujo, A., Papadopoulos, P. M., McKenney, S., & de Jong, T. (2023). Automated coding of student chats, a trans-topic and language approach. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 4, 100123.