Teaching mathematics with music: a pilot study

Tara Julia Hamilton; Julieanne Doai; Andrew Milne; Vicky Saisanas; Andrea Calilhanna; Courtney Hilton; Micah Goldwater; Richard Cohn

doi:10.1109/TALE.2018.8615262

Teaching mathematics with music

a pilot study

Tara Julia Hamilton, Julieanne Doai, Andrew Milne, Vicky Saisanas, Andrea Calilhanna, Courtney Hilton, Micah Goldwater, Richard Cohn

School of Engineering

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A solid foundation in mathematics is paramount to a comprehensive STEM education. Many students, however, struggle with connecting mathematical concepts with their everyday life and find its symbolic nomenclature unintuitive; subsequently this can be a significant barrier for many students in undertaking further STEM studies. In this paper we describe a pilot study which aims to determine whether understanding in mathematics, and specifically, fractions, equivalence, ordinance, and division, improves when we employ music and musical rhythm in our lessons. This pilot study is currently being trialed at a public high school in Sydney's South-West and despite the fact that the study is ongoing, preliminary data suggest students are responding to this novel teaching methodology. In this paper we report increases in both test performance and, importantly, student engagement.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of 2018 IEEE International Conference onTeaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE)
Editors	Mark J. W. Lee, Sasha Nikolic, Montserrat Ros, Jun Shen, Leon C. U. Lei, Gary K. W. Wong, Neelakantam Venkatarayalu
Place of Publication	Piscataway, NJ
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Pages	927-931
Number of pages	5
ISBN (Electronic)	9781538665220, 9781538665213
ISBN (Print)	9781538665237
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/TALE.2018.8615262
Publication status	Published - 2018
Event	2018 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering, TALE 2018 - Wollongong, Australia Duration: 4 Dec 2018 → 7 Dec 2018

Publication series

Name
ISSN (Print)	2374-0191
ISSN (Electronic)	2470-6698

Conference

Conference	2018 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering, TALE 2018
Country	Australia
City	Wollongong
Period	4/12/18 → 7/12/18

Keywords

STEM education
STEAM education
K-12 mathematics
music education
analogical encoding

Access to Document

10.1109/TALE.2018.8615262

Link to publication in Scopus

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Cite this

Hamilton, T. J., Doai, J., Milne, A., Saisanas, V., Calilhanna, A., Hilton, C., ... Cohn, R. (2018). Teaching mathematics with music: a pilot study. In M. J. W. Lee, S. Nikolic, M. Ros, J. Shen, L. C. U. Lei, G. K. W. Wong, & N. Venkatarayalu (Eds.), Proceedings of 2018 IEEE International Conference onTeaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE) (pp. 927-931). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). https://doi.org/10.1109/TALE.2018.8615262

Hamilton, Tara Julia ; Doai, Julieanne ; Milne, Andrew ; Saisanas, Vicky ; Calilhanna, Andrea ; Hilton, Courtney ; Goldwater, Micah ; Cohn, Richard. / Teaching mathematics with music : a pilot study. Proceedings of 2018 IEEE International Conference onTeaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE). editor / Mark J. W. Lee ; Sasha Nikolic ; Montserrat Ros ; Jun Shen ; Leon C. U. Lei ; Gary K. W. Wong ; Neelakantam Venkatarayalu. Piscataway, NJ : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2018. pp. 927-931

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abstract = "A solid foundation in mathematics is paramount to a comprehensive STEM education. Many students, however, struggle with connecting mathematical concepts with their everyday life and find its symbolic nomenclature unintuitive; subsequently this can be a significant barrier for many students in undertaking further STEM studies. In this paper we describe a pilot study which aims to determine whether understanding in mathematics, and specifically, fractions, equivalence, ordinance, and division, improves when we employ music and musical rhythm in our lessons. This pilot study is currently being trialed at a public high school in Sydney's South-West and despite the fact that the study is ongoing, preliminary data suggest students are responding to this novel teaching methodology. In this paper we report increases in both test performance and, importantly, student engagement.",

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Hamilton, TJ, Doai, J, Milne, A, Saisanas, V, Calilhanna, A, Hilton, C, Goldwater, M & Cohn, R 2018, Teaching mathematics with music: a pilot study. in MJW Lee, S Nikolic, M Ros, J Shen, LCU Lei, GKW Wong & N Venkatarayalu (eds), Proceedings of 2018 IEEE International Conference onTeaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Piscataway, NJ, pp. 927-931, 2018 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering, TALE 2018, Wollongong, Australia, 4/12/18. https://doi.org/10.1109/TALE.2018.8615262

Teaching mathematics with music : a pilot study. / Hamilton, Tara Julia; Doai, Julieanne; Milne, Andrew; Saisanas, Vicky; Calilhanna, Andrea; Hilton, Courtney; Goldwater, Micah; Cohn, Richard.

Proceedings of 2018 IEEE International Conference onTeaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE). ed. / Mark J. W. Lee; Sasha Nikolic; Montserrat Ros; Jun Shen; Leon C. U. Lei; Gary K. W. Wong; Neelakantam Venkatarayalu. Piscataway, NJ : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2018. p. 927-931.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution

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AU - Saisanas, Vicky

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AU - Goldwater, Micah

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AB - A solid foundation in mathematics is paramount to a comprehensive STEM education. Many students, however, struggle with connecting mathematical concepts with their everyday life and find its symbolic nomenclature unintuitive; subsequently this can be a significant barrier for many students in undertaking further STEM studies. In this paper we describe a pilot study which aims to determine whether understanding in mathematics, and specifically, fractions, equivalence, ordinance, and division, improves when we employ music and musical rhythm in our lessons. This pilot study is currently being trialed at a public high school in Sydney's South-West and despite the fact that the study is ongoing, preliminary data suggest students are responding to this novel teaching methodology. In this paper we report increases in both test performance and, importantly, student engagement.

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Hamilton TJ, Doai J, Milne A, Saisanas V, Calilhanna A, Hilton C et al. Teaching mathematics with music: a pilot study. In Lee MJW, Nikolic S, Ros M, Shen J, Lei LCU, Wong GKW, Venkatarayalu N, editors, Proceedings of 2018 IEEE International Conference onTeaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). 2018. p. 927-931 https://doi.org/10.1109/TALE.2018.8615262