From class assignment to a formalized clinical trial approved by Indiana University, undergraduate Luke Troyer utilized resources at his disposal in the Hoosier Sport course to find out the impact music makes on encouraging middle school children to become more active. Troyer will be sharing the results of this study at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting and Expo in San Antonio this coming November.
An Exercise Science major in the Department of Kinesiology, Troyer was initially drawn to Hoosier Sport when Assistant Professor and program founder Kyle Kercher talked about the opportunity during one of his freshman year classes.
“When I heard about this service-learning course that involved coaching, working with kids in schools, it sounded great as I grew up playing sports and had been a camp counselor for a couple of years," Troyer adds.
Troyer got the idea for the music study in September 2024 thinking about the way songs impacted him when he was physically active and how that is a common motivational thread amongst adults. This formulated the question: Can music increase kids’ enjoyment of the program and increase their step counts?
“Kyle Kercher and I planned it all out in summer 2025, deciding all the surveys we were going to do and the measures we were going to use,” says Troyer. “I had a lot of mentorship from Kyle, Assistant Professor Vanessa Kercher, and our Ph.D. student Julianna King. They helped me get the materials together and make sure everything was ready to start recruiting in the fall of 2025.”
In spring 2026, the clinical trial was conducted with 26 students in fifth and sixth grade at Hoosier Sport partner school Clear Creek Christian in Bloomington, Indiana. The cohort was split into two groups of 13, one which had music to listen to during exercise and the other did not. Troyer says the team discovered similar studies which recommended music at 120 beats per minute, and the students involved were asked what kind of music they would like to listen to.
“We had to be very clean, with no cussing, and we had a good amount of genres, definitely some throwbacks,” says Troyer. “At the very end of the study, we asked the students how the music made them feel and we got overwhelmingly positive responses.”
While the results of the data are still pending, Troyer has already presented on this clinical trial at SPH-B Research Day and at the Undergraduate Symposium for Creative Activity and Research. Troyer was also recognized with the Level 5 Leadership Award along with fellow rising senior and undergraduate research assistant Alexandra (Lexi) Juday at the annual Hoosier Sport colloquium in April 2026. After a few proposals, this Hoosier Sport clinical trial was accepted for presentation by APHA for the annual conference, and Troyer is thrilled to present his findings this fall.
"One of my main goals coming into Hoosier Sport was to present at some kind of professional conference, and it feels good that I can do that my senior year,” says Troyer. “Even if the data doesn’t show a huge spike in their step count or their enjoyment of the physical activity, we can make these classes more fun for students and that’s still a positive thing.”
After graduation in May 2027, Troyer will attend the Anesthesiologist Assistant Program at IU School of Medicine. Troyer says the leadership and communication skills he has learned through this Hoosier Sport experience will aid him in his future career goals.
“Having a growth mindset is one of the Hoosier Sport core values and that was super important as I went out of my comfort zone a lot creating this clinical trial,” says Troyer. “So much of this was brand new to me. Having the support of my mentors to know that even if something is difficult or uncomfortable to do in the moment that I will figure it out was definitely super helpful.”
For more trailblazing stories about our students, faculty, and staff, visit go.iu.edu/48bx.