The effect of an e-content-enriched 5th-grade music textbook on students' academic achievement and motivation

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of enriching the 5th-grade music textbook, currently used as a secondary education course material, with e-content on students' academic achievement and motivation. An experimental method was employed in the research, and a post-test control group design was employed throughout the research process. The study group consisted of 59 5th-grade students (experimental group: 29, control group: 30) attending Ömer-Dönmez Toklu Secondary School and Ertuğrul Gazi Imam Hatip Secondary School, affiliated with the Ministry of National Education, located in the provincial center of Uşak. The students' academic achievement and class size were taken into consideration in determining the study groups. In the experimental process of the study, three units deemed suitable for the addition of e-content to the 5th-grade music textbook were selected, and the videos designated as e-content for these units were integrated into the textbooks by the researcher. Prior to the experimental process, 29 books to be used by the experimental group were prepared for use in the application. Pedagogical objectives such as suitability for students' audiovisual perception, ensuring active participation in the lesson, and individualizing the learning process were considered in the selection and use of e-content to be added to the textbooks. During the experimental process, the experimental group used the e-content-enriched textbook during the course, while the control group continued the music course as taught with the existing textbook. At the end of the experimental process, the "Music Lesson Achievement Test" was administered to measure the academic achievement of the students in the experimental and control groups in music class, and the "Music Lesson Motivation Scale" was administered to assess students' motivation in music class. The Music Lesson Achievement Test was prepared using the evaluation questions located at the end of the units in the 5th-grade middle school music textbook. The Music Lesson Motivation Scale was adapted to the music field from the Mathematics Motivation Scale developed by Aktan (2013) within the framework of the scale use permission received for this study. The research data obtained after the experimental process were analyzed using the SPSS 29.0 package program, and non-parametric tests were used to determine the significance levels of the findings in statistical evaluations. The research findings indicated that the use of a music textbook enriched with e-content in music lessons increased students' academic achievement. An examination of students' music lesson motivation revealed that the use of a music textbook enriched with e-content increased students' music lesson motivation. When the music lesson motivations of the experimental and control groups were examined in terms of sub-dimensions, it was observed that there were significant differences between the experimental and control groups in the dimensions of intrinsic goal orientation, subject value, self-efficacy, and test anxiety, while no significant differences were found between the groups in the dimensions of extrinsic goal orientation and learning beliefs. The findings of the study indicate that integrating educational technologies into course materials provides significant gains in the learning process. In this context, the use of digital content in textbooks positively impacts students' motivation for learning, increasing their interest in lessons and academic achievement. Consequently, it can be argued that integrating e-content into music textbooks in music education not only increases student interest in lessons but also makes lasting contributions to the learning process. Supporting textbooks used in education with technological tools and innovative methods is crucial for developing 21st-century learning skills.