An Examination of the Performance Anxiety Levels of Undergraduate Music Teaching Students in the Instrument Exams According to Various Variables (Case of Tokat Province)

Abstract

Quantitative descriptive method was used in order to examine the state-trait and total anxiety levels of the students in the Undergraduate Music Teaching Program by gender, instrument difference, school year and academic achievement scores of students. The study has been conducted in the fall semester of 2018-2019 academic year in Turkey with Tokat University Faculty of Education, Fine Arts Education Department Music Education Program students (n = 77). For data collection, "The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory" developed by Spielberg et al. (1964) and adopted to Turkish by Öner and Le Compte (1983). The trait anxiety inventory was applied in a time period when the students were away from exam stress. The state anxiety inventory, on the other hand, was conducted just before the final exams. According to the results of the study, when the state-trait and total anxiety of the students receiving musical instrument education in Music Teacher Education Program is examined, it was found that there is a significant difference between trait and state anxiety, that female students' trait and total anxiety levels are higher, and the male students' state anxiety is higher; when it is considered in terms of instrument differences, it was seen that students playing stringed instruments have higher anxiety than those who play bow and wind instruments, A significant difference was found in terms of academic achievement scores in undergraduate freshman and senior students who have higher anxiety.

Characteristics of music performance anxiety among undergraduate music students: A systematic review

“…Furthermore, Dews and Williams (1989) identified some stressful situational factors that can generate anxiety, like music progress impatience, pre-performance nervousness, and burnout. Regarding instrument choice, one study mentions that string instrumentalists displayed more anxiety than bow and wind musicians (Umuzdaş et al, 2019), but did not describe the difference between string and bow players. Additionally, the same study did not present a representative and diversified sample of wind musicians (only flutists).…”

“…The differences in anxiety levels between classical and jazz music students can be related to two variants: (1) the type of instrumental training provided by educational institutions: Perdomo-Guevara, (2014) mentions that the emotion experienced by classical and nonclassical musicians may be related to the context to which they belong and, in his study, classical music students displayed more fear and concern, suggesting that MPA levels can be higher in classical training environments; (2) professional career expectations: according to Osborne et al (2005), students with established professional career goals dealt more naturally with MPA. According to Umuzdaş et al (2019), string instrumentalists display more anxiety than wind musicians, but this finding is based on a sample of only 77 musicians. This situation may vary according to the type of repertoire performed and instrumental settings, but more studies are required in order to determine correlated patterns.…”

“…However, Hamann and Sobaje (1983) also found that, although state anxiety increases in jury situations, performance ratings are better. Similarly, some studies found that students with high trait anxiety display or predict high performance anxiety (Cox & Kenardy, 1993;Kenny et al, 2011;Liston et al, 2003;Martin-Gagnon & Creech, 2019;Papageorgi et al, 2011;Umuzdaş et al, 2019). On the other hand, studies such as Tobacyk and Downs' (1986) relate the perception of threat to state anxiety and not to trait anxiety.…”

“…Regarding instrument choice, one study mentions that string instrumentalists displayed more anxiety than bow and wind musicians (Umuzdaş et al, 2019), but did not describe the difference between string and bow players. Additionally, the same study did not present a representative and diversified sample of wind musicians (only flutists).…”

Students Anxiety Experiences in Higher Education Institutions

“…Exam anxiety is widespread among college students [23,24] in different majors like math, history, geography, chemistry, physics, engineering, arts, and music. For example, some students specializing in music have anxiety in exams where they must use a musical instrument [25]. Also, some pharmacy students have anxiety about their clinical exams [22].…”