Teaching science with music: so many models, so little data
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An overview of different approaches by which content-rich music may be incorporated into science courses.
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Teaching science with music: so many models, so little data
- 1. Teaching science with music: so many models, so little data Gregory J. Crowther, Ph.D. University of Washington & South Seattle College & SingAboutScience.org
- 2. How did I get here? 1985-1991 Piano lessons and choir 1987 Wrote my first science song 1991-1995 Wrote poem/song parodies for college cross-country team; B.A. in Biology 1996 Met Do Peterson 2002 Ph.D. in Physiology; started teaching 2004 Created science song database; Muscles & Magnets (CD) 2007-2013 Mostly lab research 2014 Back to teaching! Do Peterson / Science Groove
- 3. ↑ readiness to learn ↑ absorption of content ↑ recall of content ↑ processing/ integration of content ↑ demonstration of knowledge ↑ Time on Task ↓ stress ↑ enjoyment ↑ in-depth exploration ↑ memorability ↑ channels of content delivery M U S I C+MUSIC How might music aid learning?
- 4. Can songs aid STEM learning? Author (Year) Finding C.R.W. VanVoorhis (2002) College students who learned jingles in a statistics class scored better on related test items than students who read definitions. Scores correlated with jingle familiarity. S.M. McCurdy et al. (2008) Certain subgroups of high school students (those taught by experienced instructors and those in small classes) scored higher on food-safety knowledge than control groups following exposure to 9 food- safety songs. K. Smolinksi (2011) 7th grade students who learned the “Cell Song” in chorus scored higher on a biology test than students who did not.
- 5. Models of incorporating music into classes 1. Prerecorded song/video from outside source 2. Teacher writes/performs own song 3. Teacher & students perform together 4. Song-based discussion or activity 5. Students write songs Advantages and limitations of each?
- 6. Model 1: prerecorded song/video from outside source • Example: Monty Harper, “My Molecular Eye” Monty Harper, Stillwater OK Dr. Wooter Hoff, OSU http://montyharper.bandcamp.com/track/my-molecular-eye
- 7. Model 2: teacher writes/performs own song • Example: “Myofibrils” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC_CUfLP6Pc • Related issue: parodies vs. originals Image:BiologicalScience byScottFreemanetal.
- 8. Model 3: teacher & students perform together • Example: “Medulla Oblongata” Medulla oblongata! Medulla oblongata! If you have never learned of its importance, then you oughta! Located in the hindbrain, the rhombencephalon, The medulla oblongata is just caudal to the pons. It regulates parameters such as your rate of breathing, The pressure of your blood, and the rate your heart is beating. Medulla oblongata! Medulla oblongata! Perhaps the lower brainstem is more vital than you thought-a! http://faculty.washington.edu/crowther/Misc/Songs/medulla.shtml
- 9. Model 4: song-based discussion or activity • Simple example: “Smooth or Striated?” Smooth or striated? Smooth or striated? Smooth or striated? Smooth or striated? Your biceps’ two parts? The walls of your heart? The walls of your veins? The difference is plain… They are smooth or striated! Smooth or striated! Smooth or striated! Smooth or striated! http://faculty.washington.edu/crowther/Misc/Songs/smooth.shtml
- 10. Model 4: song-based discussion or activity • Complex example: Dr. Lodge/DEN video contest Students in Mahoney, MI illustrate the song “Afraid of the Dark.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e44NYisYavc
- 11. Model 5: students write songs • Example: Tom McFadden’s Science History Rap Battles “Rosalind Franklin Versus Watson & Crick” by Oakland 7th graders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35FwmiPE9tI
- 12. Model 5: students write songs • Songwriting as “Writing to Learn” • Example: Poiseuille’s Law of Laminar Flow Figure: Smith & Kampen 1990
- 13. Model 5: students write songs • Example: Nernst equation Eion = 2.3 𝑅𝑇 𝑧𝐹 log10( ion extracellular ion intracellular ) For a z (valence) of +1, Eion = 58 mV ∗ log10( ion extracellular ion intracellular ) Find the concentration of ions out and in; Figure out the quotient, and find the log (base 10). To solve for the potential that’s sometimes known as E, You multiply by a constant like 58 mV. If the valence is plus-one (said Walther Nernst), Your calculation’s done (said Walther Nernst)!
- 14. Model 5: students write songs • Example: Nernst equation (revised) Eion = 2.3 𝑅𝑇 𝑧𝐹 log10( ion extracellular ion intracellular ) Simplified, Eion = 58 𝑚𝑉 𝑧 ∗ log10( ion extracellular ion intracellular ) Find the concentration of ions out and in; Figure out the quotient, and find the log (base 10). Multiply by a constant like 58 mV; Divide by ion valence to find potential E. At the voltage you have found (says Walther Nernst), There's no flux in or out (says Walther Nernst)!
- 15. A unified model of science music?
- 16. My compromise: short sing-along jingles Advantages: • Quick to create • Quick to perform • Quick to learn • Students are active • Easy for others to adopt • Relatively painless for students who don’t want to learn science this way Limitations: • Little student creativity • Non-professional music limits engagement & outside adoption
- 17. My (other) soapbox issue Music is not just a scaffold on which to hang words! We should use the music to encode/reinforce content!
- 18. Encoding content in the music http://faculty.washington.edu/crowther/Misc/Songs/calcium.shtml
- 19. image from John W. Kimball (biology-pages.info) [LEADING STRAND] The leading strand elongates toward The moving replication fork; Continuously it extends Out from the primer to the end. [LAGGING STRAND] Okazaki . . . Okazaki . . . Okazaki joined by ligase Okazaki joined by ligase Encoding content in the music http://faculty.washington.edu/crowther/Misc/Songs/okazaki.shtml
- 20. Dance: the final frontier? “Na Na Na Na Na Na – sodium can’t get in!” Photo by Trevor Harrison
- 21. Toward true kinesthetic movements “Quads & Hamstrings” Let’s kick it! Muscles of the quads. Kick it! Muscles of the hamstrings. Kick it! Can you guess the odds That we’ll remember every one of these damn things? Vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, Vastus medialis, rectus femoris. Semimembranosus, semitendinosis, Biceps femoris. Now let’s do it as a chorus! Vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, Vastus medialis, rectus femoris. Semimembranosus, semitendinosis, Biceps femoris. Our teacher will adore us! http://faculty.washington.edu/crowther/Misc/Songs/quads.shtml
Editor's Notes
- [Key of C? Start on C?] A, C D E F G. H I K L M N P. Q R S, T V. W & Y. What kind of alphabet was that? 20 amino acids; have 1-letter abbreviations. (May not have picked up which letters were missing.)
- Show of hands: how many of you have encountered music about science or STEM, either educationally or in other contexts? Any volunteers to share?
- Here is a theoretical framework for how music might enhance science education. I’m focusing here on formal academic settings. Gray boxes represent immediate effects of music; blue rounded rectangles at bottom represent learning goals. Notice the many plausible effects – intriguing, but not easy to test! So, how are we doing in terms of testing the validity of these arrows? [next slide]
- Overall, pretty LIMITED evidence from controlled studies. So we must rely on intuition and reasoning….
- ADVANTAGES: some songs are very professionally written/recorded; don’t need to create your own songs. LIMITATIONS: cost; content may not align with what you want to teach, or may even be misleading; teacher and students are relegated to passive roles unless some activity is added on!
- Ooh my little filaments, filaments -- Actin and myosin myofibrils: Proteins that are long and dense, long and dense, Making up the structure of the myofibrils. Signal from the brain rides the nerve to the muscle, Where the myosin inside will slide past the actin of the My-my-my-y-y, woo! Muh-muh-muh-myofibrils. *************** ADVANTAGES: More dynamic presentation by teacher; more enjoyable for students; teacher tailors song to their own content emphases. LIMITATIONS: Most teachers don’t write songs; some do, but not that well; students still are passive listeners.
- ABC song was 1 example of this model; here’s another. Afterwards: note that students don’t necessarily have to be singing words to be learning content. ADVANTAGES: Students are finally active participants. LIMITATIONS: Takes more class time, more creativity to incorporate students.
- [Key of F. Start on F.] Sing, then go back and discuss lines 3, 4, and 5. Is each type of muscle smooth or striated?
- Lodge’s model: he records a content-rich song; then students learn (or create) content-rich movements to reinforce the lyrics. Then they make a video, which raises the stakes and provides positive reinforcement. ADVANTAGES: Student-centered; showcase for student creativity/talent. LIMITATIONS: Can be much more of a time commitment! (Requires studying lyrics, practicing movements, operating videocamera. Uses lots of time for non-science stuff.)
- “Writing to Learn”: writing as a way of discovering gaps in your knowledge, and filling them in as you go. This is as opposed to writing simply to report what you already know. A couple of examples from my own songwriting that will illustrate the kind of learning that students can do as well when THEY write songs…. Context of course: covering blood vessels and flow through them. Flow increases in proportion to radius to the 4th power! So small changes in radius have a big effect on flow. We don’t ask them to solve Poisseuille’s equation, we just want them to understand it. So, anyway … I was writing a jingle about this, had the formula … but what exactly does that equal? What are the units? My point is that when students write their own songs, they make similar discoveries about the limits of their understanding, and will need to improve that understanding to make a song that is both artistically compelling and scientifically accurate. [Key of G. Start on B.] When you wanna think-a like Poiseuille, There's a formula you employ. When the blood flows around and around and around, The flow rate through a given vessel can be found As R times R times R times R (That's R to the fourth) Times delta-P, And that's all divided by Eight over pi Times the length of the vessel Times viscosity.
- Here’s another example from my own teaching that illustrates
- ADVANTAGES: Potentially deep engagement with material; students become creative and take ownership. LIMITATIONS: Very hard to teach/coach! Huge time commitment! Lots of time devoted to things other than science per se.
- So given all of these different models, and their advantages and limitations, what should one do? Different instructors will have different answers. Here’s mine….
- (1st soap-box issue: get students involved with the music.)
- How does the music reinforce the content here?
- Here’s a somewhat more challenging example…. This concerns the mechanism of DNA replication. As the 2 strands are unzipped, new DNA is made by an enzyme called DNA polymerase. On the left, DNA is synthesized continuously; on the right, it occurs in short sections that have to be joined together later by another enzyme (DNA ligase). I’ll be the leading strand; they’ll be the lagging strand. Key of F. Notes: A, G, F, E-flat.
- My concern about people who respond well to music vs. people who don’t. Is there a way to make jingles more broadly appealing without making things too complicated?