Relaxed, try-and-fix music lessons made students feel more creative, but the paper is weak

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   About 900 students in 24 ordinary music classes in state schools in China, with 12 classes in each group. The paper doesn't give their ages, school years or how many were boys and girls.

2. 02

   What they did

   For nine weeks, one group of teachers ran a short warm-up of 2 to 3 minutes each day. Once a week, students also made up music for 6 to 10 minutes with no pressure to get it right. They did creative projects of 3 to 5 weeks and got quick feedback each week: praise, a question and one next step. The other classes kept their usual lessons of practising pieces and being marked on accuracy.

3. 03

   What happened

   At the end, students in the new lessons rated themselves as more involved in creative work. They also felt more sure of their creative skills. They felt their class was a safer, kinder place. Outside judges who didn't know the groups scored their music slightly higher. The paper has garbled text, numbers that don't add up and claims bigger than its results. It doesn't say how many students dropped out.

What the study found

1. Helped

   Students in relaxed music lessons with lots of made-up tunes and quick feedback felt more creative and sure of themselves.

   • Action: Aim to learn, not to impresstested
   • Rule: Get feedback on your progresstested
   • Rule: Make it enjoyabletested
   • Rule: Practise with a groupused

   Randomised trial of 912 students in school music classes in China · vs usual lessons of practising pieces and being marked on accuracy · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole groups were assigned, not people; numbers unreliable; summary claims more than the results show; many people dropped out

Source