Music Education Department students attitudes towards “Turkish Music History” course

This research was conducted in order to analyze the attitudes of second, third, and fourth grade students at the Faculty of Education, Department of Music Education towards the Turkish Music History course. Descriptive research methods with quantitative and qualitative dimensions have been adopted with an integrated approach. The sample group includes 871 second, third, and fourth students from Music Education Departments of 12 universities in Turkey. Data have been obtained via a Turkish Music History Course Attitude Scale which was developed by the researcher. According to the findings of the research, students have stated that factors such as the inadequacy of the way the course was given, the attitude of the lecturer, the number of topics covered, the insipidity of the classes, the inappropriateness of the location and time of the classes, and the difficulty of the exams are the main reasons that negatively affected their attitudes. Nevertheless, they have stated that they enjoyed learning about Turkish music that the course contributed to their general knowledge and culture, that they liked the topics and that the course makes a positive impact on other courses; and they have made various suggestions.