Abstract
In this paper we present a study that took place in an elementary school in Mexico. The study aimed to explore the use of a digital application for the design and orchestration of collaborative, game-based learning activities for STEAM and to study the impact of group formation with respect to students’ background knowledge. In particular, our goal was to support students in practicing math skills using music in a series of workshops. The workshops took place in the form of a tournament where groups of students worked together to win sets of music and math rounds. We formed groups based on students’ background knowledge in math and we explored the impact of group formation with respect to students’ background knowledge on learning gains – as assessed in pre and post knowledge tests – and game score. The results indicate that homogeneous groups outperformed heterogeneous groups in terms of learning gains but heterogeneous groups achieved better results in terms of game score than homogeneous groups. The former does not confirm related research and it may suggest that the group formation impact on learning gains depends largely on the context. The latter may indicate the need for aligning the game objectives with learning goals in order to ensure that educational games indeed prioritize learning.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
An, S.: The effects of music-mathematics integrated curriculum and instruction on elementary students’ mathematics achievement and dispositions. Texas A&M University (2012)
An, S., Capraro, M.M., Tillman, D.A.: Elementary teachers integrate music activities into regular mathematics lessons: effects on students’ mathematical abilities. J. Learn. through Arts 9(1), n1 (2013)
Aronson, E., et al.: The Jigsaw Classroom. Sage, Beverly Hills (1978)
Beer, M.: How do mathematics and music relate to each other. East Coast College of English, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia (1998)
Bell, S.T.: Deep-level composition variables as predictors of team performance: a meta-analysis. J. Appl. Psychol. 92(3), 595 (2007)
Bengtsson, S.L., et al.: Listening to rhythms activates motor and premotor cortices. Cortex 45(1), 62–71 (2009)
Chounta, I.-A., Giemza, A., Hoppe, H.U.: Multilevel analysis of collaborative activities based on a mobile learning scenario for real classrooms. In: Yuizono, T., Zurita, G., Baloian, N., Inoue, T., Ogata, H. (eds.) CollabTech 2014. CCIS, vol. 460, pp. 127–142. Springer, Heidelberg (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44651-5_12
Darling-Hammond, L.: Surpassing Shanghai: An Agenda for American Education Built on the World’s Leading Systems. Harvard Education Press, Cambridge (2011)
Dillenbourg, P., Jermann, P.: Designing integrative scripts. In: Fischer, F., Kollar, I., Mandl, H., Haake, J.M. (eds.) Scripting Computer-supported Collaborative Learning, vol. 6, pp. 275–301. Springer, Boston (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36949-5_16
Erickson, H.L.: Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction: Teaching Beyond the Facts. Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks (2002)
Erkens, M., Manske, S., Hoppe, H.U., Bodemer, D.: Awareness of complementary knowledge in CSCL: impact on learners’ knowledge exchange in small groups. In: Nakanishi, H., Egi, H., Chounta, I.-A., Takada, H., Ichimura, S., Hoppe, U. (eds.) CRIWG+CollabTech 2019. LNCS, vol. 11677, pp. 3–16. Springer, Cham (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28011-6_1
Fiske, E.B.: Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning. Arts Education Partnership (1999)
Geist, K., Geist, E.A., Kuznik, K.: The patterns of music. Young Child. 2, 74–79 (2012)
Harkleroad, L.: The math behind the music. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2006)
Hiebert, J.: Relationships between research and the NCTM standards. J. Res. Math. Educ. 30(1), 3–19 (1999)
Hudson, N.J.: Musical beauty and information compression: complex to the ear but simple to the mind? BMC Res. Notes 4(1), 9 (2011)
Kramer, A., Bhave, D.P., Johnson, T.D.: Personality and group performance: the importance of personality composition and work tasks. Personality Individ. Differ. 58, 132–137 (2014)
Manske, S., Hecking, T., Chounta, I.A., Werneburg, S., Hoppe, H.U.: Using differences to make a difference: a study on heterogeneity of learning groups. International Society of the Learning Sciences, Inc.[ISLS] (2015)
Pozzi, F.: Using jigsaw and case study for supporting online collaborative learning. Comput. Educ. 55(1), 67–75 (2010)
Rajić, S.: Mathematics and music game in the function of child’s cognitive development, motivation and activity. Early Child Dev. Care, 1–13 (2019)
Rajić, S.B., Tasevska, A.: The Role of Digital Games in Children’s Life (2019)
Roschelle, J., Teasley, S.D.: The construction of shared knowledge in collaborative problem solving. In: O’Malley C. (eds.) Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, vol. 128, pp. 69–97. Springer (1995)
Tobias, S., Weissbrod, C.: Anxiety and mathematics: an update. Harvard Educ. Rev. 50(1), 63–70 (1980)
Tsovaltzi, D., et al.: Group formation in the digital age: Relevant characteristics, their diagnosis, and combination for productive collaboration (2019)
Vaughn, K.: Music and mathematics: Modest support for the oft-claimed relationship. J. Aesthetic Educ. 34(3/4), 149–166 (2000)
Zentner, M., Eerola, T.: Rhythmic engagement with music in infancy. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 107(13), 5768–5773 (2010)
Acknowledgments
The authors want to thank the elementary school “Colegio Anderson School” and Misael Hernández Leal (Lead programmer of MusicMath).
This project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 754462.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Roldán Roa, E., Roldán Roa, É., Chounta, IA. (2020). Learning Music and Math, Together as One: Towards a Collaborative Approach for Practicing Math Skills with Music. In: Nolte, A., Alvarez, C., Hishiyama, R., Chounta, IA., Rodríguez-Triana, M., Inoue, T. (eds) Collaboration Technologies and Social Computing . CollabTech 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12324. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58157-2_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58157-2_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-58156-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-58157-2
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)