Binaural music and educational attainment: Evidence from longitudinal and quasi-experimental data

Música binaural y logro educativo: evidencia con datos longitudinales y cuasiexperimentales

Edgar Demetrio Tovar García, Universidad Panamericana, Guadalajara, México; HSE, Moscow, RussiaFollow

DOI

10.22550/2174-0909.4164

Abstract

This article investigates the impact of background binaural music on educational attainment within the context of a natural experiment. In a university business school, 73 undergraduate students participated in this study, providing a maximum of 707 observations at 16 points in time. The students were divided into three groups (Microeconomics A and B, and International Economics) and were further categorized into control and experimental groups at different stages of the courses. All students attended classes from January to June 2021, with the addition of binaural music as a treatment in either the first or second part of the courses (divided into three parts). After each lecture, students completed a multiple-choice quiz designed to assess their learning during the lecture. Utilizing t-tests for mean comparisons and panel data econometric techniques, the study found that the scores of the experimental groups were significantly higher than those of the control groups. Overall, binaural music was observed to increase quiz scores by 8 to 20 basis points.

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Author Biography

Edgar Demetrio Tovar-García. PhD in Economics from the University of Barcelona. He has worked as a Short-Term Consultant for the World Bank and held roles as a Research Professor at several universities in Mexico and Russia. He is a member of the National System of Researchers in Mexico (SNII level II). His research interests include the economics of education, language policy, the economic aspects of religion, and entrepreneurship, among others. He pursues a diverse, multidisciplinary research approach, emphasizing policy implications and econometric modelling, particularly regression analysis employing panel data.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8826-0004

Citación recomendada | Recommended citation

Tovar-García, E. D. (2024). Binaural music and educational attainment: Evidence from longitudinal and quasi-experimental data [Música binaural y logro educativo: evidencia con datos longitudinales y cuasiexperimentales]. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 82 (289), 667-693. https://doi.org/10.22550/2174-0909.4164