THE EFFECT OF MUSIC ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF PUPILS IN MATHEMATICS: A SURVEY OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN TUBAH MUNICIPALITY, CAMEROON

This study investigated the effect of music on pupils’ academic performance in nursery and primary schools of Tubah Municipality. In order to achieve this objective, we used a quasi-experimental research design with both quantitative and qualitative research methods. From the total population of 3,070 pupils and 300 teachers in 45 schools, 120 pupils, 40 teachers and 04 schools were sampled using the non-probability sampling technique that is the convenient. The purposive sampling technique was used in deciding which part of the accessible population constitutes the sample population which in this case was made up of nursery school children, primary two pupils and teachers. The Krejcie and Morgan table was used to decide how many teachers and pupils make up the sample. Four instruments were used to collect data; a structured questionnaire designed using the likert scale, an interview guide for teachers, working memory test and participant’s observation guide. Descriptive statistics (in the form of frequencies, percentages, charts and tables) and inferential statistics were used for data analyses. Specifically, the two- way ANOVA and Regression analysis tests were used to test the hypothesis at a 0.05 level of significance. The finding revealed that there is a significant relationship between the use of music in the teaching and the pupils’ academic performance in Mathematics. That is, when music is used the pupils perform better in Mathematics. Based on these findings, it was recommended that more attention be given to ensure the employment of music pedagogy within the competence/project based approaches