Music Learning Motivation of College Students Majoring in Early Childhood Education: An Empirical Study from China

This study aims to explore the music learning motivation levels of Chinese college students majoring in early childhood education, and analyze the differential effects of demographic variables such as gender, age, grade, and hometown background. The research design used descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U test to conduct statistical analysis on the collected questionnaire data. The results showed that age and hometown background have a significant impact on students' learning motivation. Students aged 17 to 19 scored higher on internal learning motivation than students aged 20 to 22; students from rural areas scored higher than urban students on both motivations. Although the effects of gender and grade exist, they are not significant. These results suggest that the specific needs of diverse student groups should be taken into account in music education practice. To improve students' music learning motivation, it is recommended that educators should design more personalized and culturally relevant courses, while using diverse teaching evaluation methods to stimulate students' intrinsic interest and identity.