Popular music in the history classroom: A case study

Many students find history to be boring and irrelevant. Ineffective or exclusive use of lectures and textbooks has been identified as a problem associated with teaching history. Calls have been made for varied, innovative methods and materials that stimulate students' interest in history. Some has suggested using popular music can meet this need.;A case study was conducted to determine why and how popular music might be used in teaching history. Study participants included a history professor, who uses popular music, and students from his classes. Data collection included a survey of students, classroom observations, individual interviews of the professor, focus group interviews of students, and a review of instructional materials. Data were analyzed via content analysis, coding, and indexing. Categorical matrices were used to organize and synthesize the data to identify emerging themes.;The study's findings indicated that using popular music can have positive impacts on the teaching and learning of history. Popular music can serve as an introductory device to capture and focus students' attention. Using popular music can enhance the classroom atmosphere and students' attitudes toward learning about history. Playing carefully selected songs can have powerful effects due to the emotional and entertainment value implicit in the lyrics and music. The use of popular music in the classroom can connect students, music, and the study of history in interesting, relevant ways. However, this study revealed that the effectiveness of the use of the popular music did not depend solely upon the music. Rather, the use of the music was intrinsically related to and dependent upon the personality and the demeanor of the professor as well as why and how it was used.;Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that popular music can be used in the teaching of history (e.g., the Vietnam War). It is also recommended that popular music can be used to interest and instruct students, and it can be taught in the same way that textbook material is taught. The results of the study indicated there is a need for further research in the following areas: (a) using popular music of other eras and topics in history, (b) using popular music in teaching history at varying grade levels, (c) using other kinds of music in the history classroom, (d) using popular music in other classrooms and/or by other teachers, and (e) the impact of popular music on student achievement and/or motivation.