Lesson 9- Music as teaching strategy & reflective vide (assignment)

     Hooray!! The last two weeks of this semester have begun!👀👀 Dr Lina pleaded with a guest speaker to speak about music as a teaching approach in this week's lesson. It was enthralling!! The guest speaker discussed how we may use music to capture students' attention, keep them focused, and even help them learn something new. He facilitated a puzzle game with us to show how background music can help us focus. He also stated that music may be used to teach language and literacy. Dr Lina returned to the questioning strategies during the tutorial session to scaffold us further. She instructed us to create a question using the question circle.  She instructed us to create a question using the question circle. She went into greater detail on why we should improve our questioning strategies and provided various examples to connect us to real-life experiences. She also invited Luanne, me, and Shiwei to play a quick musical game. While listening to the song, we were supposed to fill in the blanks in the lyrics. She demonstrated how we might use this game to improve students' listening skills and vocabulary. She then discussed the necessity of having a sense of humour in the classroom. She did so with a sense of humour that could engage pupils and grab their attention. The sessions this week were exciting!

    To be honest, I had no idea that music could affect learning. I believe this is because I have no trouble concentrating on learning and have discovered that music frequently distracts me. Following this session, I received a fresh perspective on how music may help someone focus. I did realise that some of the students are audio learners who enjoy music. I also believe that music can aid in chunking and encoding as well as improving our memories in particular areas such as chemistry. I used to utilise lyrics to memorise the chemistry periodic table. It also reminded me of my secondary school, where my English teacher had us listen to the song and fill in the blanks in the words. Through songs, she indirectly engaged us in active listening and enhanced our vocabulary. 

    According to my research, music contributes some advantages to students' learning. First, music enhances cognitive abilities. Music has been related to better cognitive processes such as memory, attention, and problem-solving abilities (Hanna-Pladdy & Mackay, 2011). For example, background music improves reading comprehension (Hall, 1952) and mathematics (Rauscher & LeMieux, 2003). Music also improves general intelligence (IQ) among children. Schellenberg (2004) found that the combined musical groups improved much more (7 IQ points) than individuals who received drama classes or no instruction (4.3 IQ points). The effect was small to medium in magnitude (d, =.35). In contrast, only the drama courses group's parent-rated indicators of adaptive conduct increased from pre- to post-test. This is because music gives learners a new educational experience. Moreover, Bugos et al. (2007) discovered that elderly people who got music instruction performed better cognitively than those who did not.

    Second, music has been proven to improve academic performance and language skills among students. Jacob & Pillay (2021) discovered a correlation between music education and academic achievement, particularly in disciplines like mathematics and reading. Butzlaff (2000) discovered a strong favourable connection between music training and academic achievement in a meta-analysis. Furthermore, Musical training has been demonstrated to improve language development, especially phonological awareness and verbal recall (Moreno et al., 2009). Musical activities, such as singing and rhythm exercises, can help young learners learn to speak (Gordon, 2010) such as the Cocomelon programme. According to Lemaire (2019), there is some support supporting the influence of background music on episodic memory. It was proposed that the presence of music reduced the amount of effort required to encode the words by providing a helpful background such as chunking certain topics as scaffolding.

    The most extensively researched impact of music is its stress-reducing capabilities, according to Mehr et al.(2019). Music increases students' well-being and decreases stress across a wide variety of therapy populations, according to Landis-Shack et al. (2017). Music listening reduces stress by lowering physiological arousal, as seen by lower cortisol levels, heart rates and mean arterial pressure. Furthermore, music has been shown to increase good emotions and sensations such as happiness while lowering negative emotions and sensations such as subjective worry, state anxiety, restlessness or unease (Jancke, 2008). Research also shows that music might assist students to lower anxiety and become more focused (Alexandra et al., 202). It is not only beneficial to our health and emotions, but it also plays an important function in classroom management, particularly with special needs students.

    Although music supports students' learning, there are some aspects we should take into account when we are facilitating our class with music as a teacher. It is essential to remember that the attention span is limited and that several competing senses can prevent a person from absorbing certain sensory information (deHaan, 2010). This is because working memory can only process so much information at once, which is referred to as cognitive load. Reducing the amount of auditory input processed by the brain helps the mind to focus more on the visual data it receives. Moreover, Gonzales and Aiello (2009) discovered an almost significant main impact for loudness, a substantial main effect for music complexity, and significant interactions with each and participants' preference for listening to music while working for volume and music complexity. While modifying music was a major focus of this research into the impacts of music, other elements might be modified. The focus shifted to the individual characteristics of the participants. While music knowledge is useful, these studies are still focused on the individuals who listen to music, thus it is important to look at the qualities that distinguish people and study how they may relate to the impacts of music. This means that several factors should be considered when using music to enhance learning. As a result, teachers should be considerate of the aspects of subject matters, students' working memory capacity, students' behaviour and characteristics as well as their learning preference before integrating music into their teaching since not all students enjoy music. For example, pupils who do not have a foundation in music may struggle to grasp the material and will lose interest in learning. 

    The sessions were very insightful to me and I learned how to amplify the advantages of music to enhance my learning as well as my classroom in future after completing this blog. I understand that everything has two sides. Therefore, as a pre-service teacher, I would like to incorporate music in my classroom but not so much. Perhaps I will try to chunk some difficult content topics into music or rhyme to reduce my students' cognitive load. Furthermore, I would also like to play some soft and relaxing background music before the class starts and during a short break to reduce the stressful environment of the classroom. If there is an audio learner in my class, I would also try my best to help him or her by using music. 

Reflective video for assignment: https://youtu.be/QSpT9nKf-hA

References: 

Bugos, J. A., Perlstein, W. M., McCrae, C. S., Brophy, T. S., & Bedenbaugh, P. H. (2007). Individualized Piano Instruction enhances executive functioning and working memory in older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 11(4), 464-471. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607860601086504

Butzlaff, R. (2000). Can music be used to teach reading? Journal of Aesthetic Education, 34(3/4), 167-178.

deHaan, J., Reed, W.M., Kuwada, K. (2010). The effect of interactivity with a music video game on second language vocabulary recall. Language Learning and Technology, 14(2), 74-94.

Gonzalez, M. F., & Aiello, J. R. (2019). More than meets the ear: Investigating how music affects cognitive task performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 25(3), 431–444. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000202

Hall, J. 1952. The effect of background music on the reading comprehension of 278 eighth and ninth-grade students. Journal of Educational Research, 45: 451 – 458.

Hanna-Pladdy, B., & Gajewski, B. (2012). Recent and past musical activity predicts cognitive ageing variability: Direct comparison with general lifestyle activities. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6, 198.

Jacob, U.S., & Pillay, J. (2021). Effectiveness of music therapy on reading skills of pupils with intellectual disability. Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences, 16(1), 251-265. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1288684

Jäncke, L. (2008). Music, memory and emotion. Journal of Biology, 7(6), 21. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1186/jbiol82

Landis-Shack, N., Heinz, A. J., & Bonn-Miller, M. O. (2017). Music therapy for posttraumatic stress in adults: A theoretical review. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain, 27(4), 334–342. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1037/pmu0000192

Lemaire, C. E. (2019). The effect of background music on episodic memory. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain, 29(1), 22–34. https://doi.org/10.1037/pmu0000234

Mehr, S. A., Singh, M., Knox, D., Ketter, D. M., Pickens–Jones, D., Atwood, S., Lucas, C., Jacoby, N., Egner, A. A., Hopkins, E. J., & Howard, R. M. (2019). Universality and diversity in human song. Science, 366), https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax0868

Moreno, S., Marques, C., Santos, A., Santos, M., Castro, S. L., & Besson, M. (2009). Musical training influences linguistic abilities in 8-year-old children: More evidence for brain plasticity. Cerebral Cortex, 19(3), 712-723.https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1093/cercor/bhn120

Schellenberg, E. G. (2004). Music lessons enhance IQ. Psychological Science, 15: 511 – 514. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00711.x

 

 

    

Lesson 8- Teaching Demo

 Preparation & presentation

    It was our teaching demonstration, which was part of our assignment. Preparing this teaching demonstration was a fascinating and time-consuming experience for me and my group. From A to Z, we went through various stages of preparation. We had a conversation about the topic we should give during the teaching demo before the demo. We went over all of Dr. Lina's presentations together, thinking and discussing topics that can benefit education students.  Finally, we decided on a topic: German Expressionism, which several of us learnt about in last semester's Producing TV and Film module. We chose to teach this topic since it is related to one of Dr. Lina's classes on editing and filmmaking in teaching. Furthermore, German Expressionism is historically relevant. When it came to history, most of our group members said that they learned history in a traditional and boring way in school. As a result, we would like to present an alternate method and inspire educators to teach history more entertainingly. We would also like to emphasise the significance of imagination and digital literacy among us, particularly among students. 

    We divided the work equally after agreeing on a topic. We conducted Internet research, read articles, and even looked for videos about German Expressionism. To make our presentation critical and holistic, we also delved further into the context and history of the German Expressionism movement. After that, we jointly designed the short lesson flow and established our learning objectives using Bloom's Taxonomy and the ABCD approach. Following our preparation, we developed our slides and amended them with certain SIOP characteristics we learned in Dr Lina's class. In our presentation, we attempted to distribute some of the elements such as assessment and learning methodologies. We structured the presentation on cognitive learning theory, beginning with an introduction and linking previous knowledge, followed by a presentation, activity, conclusion, and assessment. Following our satisfaction check, we had a rehearsal with Dr Lina. During the rehearsal, we learned how to improve our performance and presenting skills by reorganising our slides into graphics and being more confident in presenting.

    During the actual day, I was satisfied with our performance and we were the best. We successfully caught their attention and taught them precisely. All of us put in our best efforts! However, I loved Wyaihon's group presentation about the solar system. I enjoyed the group activities they planned and they were really interactive. I learned a new way to make my teaching more engaging. Furthermore, I learned how Luanne's group organised all their points neatly in the slides. I learned that formatting is crucial for students' comprehension. 

Feelings & Experience

    I was nervous and excited at the same time. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to do it adequately in time. I practised in privacy on my seat several times. I also had a secret conversation with myself to motivate myself. We also encouraged one another. This teaching demonstration reminded me of last year's education showcase. We also need to plan a microteaching session for primary school children. However, we are planning a tertiary-level class at the moment. I found it a little difficult because I am also a tertiary student. Fortunately, I succeeded and had a good time overcoming the obstacles. I learned more from this teaching demo such as how to wrap up everything nicely in a summary compared to previous experience.

Strategies and theories in our teaching demo

    First, a pre-lesson using game-based learning (quiz game) is presented. Playing, according to Piaget's cognitive development theory, immediately engages pupils' schemes, allowing them to transcend their current reality and boost their situational interest (Rotgans & Schmidt, 2011). For example, using the cognitive information processing model, students can organise information representations in working memory during the game, integrate them with one another, and then link them to previously learned information from their long-term memories (Mayer, 2014) before learning new information (Joshi, 2006). Game-based learning also motivates students by giving them experiences that they want to repeat (Zusho et al., 2014). 

    Secondly, the presentation. Comprehension is important in cognitive growth based on Bloom's taxonomy. As a result, presentations are important. Based on Vygotsky's social cognitive theory, our teaching emphasises the whole class interaction, such as questioning and sharing during teacher presentations, which promotes students' knowledge construction (Wang&Wang, 2013, p.1387) and improves students' memory to increase students' understanding and capacity to integrate and synthesise content (Nasmith&Steinert, 2001). The use of exemplar theory in concept learning is also used to encourage students to build an understanding of the concept topics by thinking on logical examples because comprehension requires more cognitive processing than simply memorising (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). Furthermore, the usage of the example videos in our slides helps students start integrating knowledge into the cognitive systems they already have in place to make sense of the world, according to cognitive learning theory. Carless & Chan (2017) stated that some of the knowledge and assessment are difficult to transfer verbally or in writing, but is best illustrated through the use of exemplars. Moreover, adding the videos sparks students' curiosity about learning and helps them draw connections between what they have learned, which, according to Kaucak & Eggen (2012), stimulates students' attention and imagination and cultivates their interest to help them become more engaged in the material (Velandia, 2008, p. 11). 

    Thirdly, Patrick demonstrates how to create several angle shots. Teachers delivering demonstrations, according to Grimm et al. (2014), can be used to improve teachers' classroom practice and students' performance. According to Randler and Hulde (2007), teachers' demonstrations scaffold students' cognitive achievements and provide them with a deeper knowledge of how the topic works. It also keeps students on track by providing them with accurate and up-to-date information before their application (Ana & Savec, 2011), which can save both students and teachers time. 

 

    Moving on, the film analysis task and the after-class assessment. According to Bloom's Taxonomy, students' application and critical thinking are important. Numrich's critical thinking steps include observing, identifying, comprehending, translating, evaluating, and problem-solving (Numrich, 2009). We utilised a film as our main text. We followed Numrich's sequence, which required students to watch and note down the German Expressionism film features from the video, and this needed students to have a rudimentary comprehension of the individual features. Then, while watching the film, students were involved in the interpretation of the narrative before analysing it. Finally, scene creation was linked to problem solutions. Based on concept learning theory, the sharing session following the video analysis also allows teachers to assess the degree of their students' knowledge based on their sharing before scaffolding them. This session was also relevant to the thinking tool: metacognition (Guo, 2022).

  Finally, there are the visuals and rewards. The images used in this teaching demonstration serve two functions. For starters, because students' attention tends to shift from a single stimulus to a different one, images are believed to draw and hold their attention (Zhou et al., 2007). Students are more refreshed and concentrated in class when they see diverse photos. Second, as supported by the dual-coding hypothesis (Moşteanu, 2021), using images in lecturing improves students' sensory memory and helps students encode schemas through visualisation before leveraging on the information in long-term memory (Clark & Valivio, 1991). The rewards were based on Skinner's operant conditioning theory. Snacks serve as an instant positive reinforcer, improving students' engagement by amplifying the impact of reinforcers (Melanko & Larkin, 2013).

Improvements

    After watching our presentation video, we can make some changes for the next presentation. The first consideration is time management. Next time, I believe we should practise more and schedule ourselves effectively before the presentation to guarantee we can deliver all of our points within the time limit. The second factor is the tone of our presentation. I believe we should work on our tone more so that we can present with more emotions to create engagement. 

Reconstruction

    The utilisation of technology to facilitate my class is the most motivating aspect of this teaching demo for me as a preservice teacher. I would like to use more technology, images, films, and Numrich's sequence to scaffold my students' cognition and metacognition, especially in tough subjects. Despite the difficulty of the subject matter, I hope to pique their enthusiasm for learning. In the future, I aspire to find more fascinating and unique ways to teach and aid my students' learning.

References:

Ana, L., & Savec, F. V. (2011). Students hands-on experimental work vs lecture demonstration in teaching elementary school chemistry. Acta chimica Slovenica, 58, 866-75. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256983680_Students%27_Hands-on_Experimental_Work_vs_Lecture_Demonstration_in_Teaching_Elementary_School_Chemistry

Carless, D., & Chan, K. K. H. (2017). "Managing dialogic use of exemplars." Assessment & evaluation in higher education, 42(6), 930-941.https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2016.1211246

Eggen, & Kauchak, D. (2015). Educational Psychology. Pearson Education, Limited.

Joshi, M. (2006). Diversity in lecture delivery. Journal of NELTA, 11(1-2), 1-151.

Lina Guo (2022) Teachers’ mediation in students’ development of cognition and metacognition, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 50:5, 458-473. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2020.1846158 

Mayer, R. E., & Estrella, G. (2014). Benefits of emotional design in multimedia instruction. Learning and Instruction, 33, 12-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2014.02.004

Mosteanu, N. R. (2021). Teaching and learning techniques for the online environment: How to maintain students' attention and achieve learning outcomes in a virtual environment using new technology. International journal of innovative research and sciences studies, 4(4). https://doi.org/10.53894/ijirss.v4i4.298

Nasmith, L., & Steinert, Y. (2001). The evaluation of a workshop to promote interactive lecturing. Teaching and learning in medicine, 13(1), 43-48. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328015tlm1301_8

Numrich, C. (2009). Raise the issue: an integrated approach to critical thinking (3rd e.d). Pearson.

Randler, C., & Hulde, M. Hands-on versus teacher-centred experiments in soil ecology. Research in Science & Technological Education 2007, 25,329–338.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02635140701535091

Rotgans, J. I. & Schmidt, H. G. (2011). Cognitive engagement in the problem-based learning classroom. Adv in Health Sci Educ, 16, 465-479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-011-9272-9

Velandia, R. (2008). The role of warming up activities in adolescent students’ involvement during the English class. Profile Journal, 10, 9-26.

Wang, K., & Wang, X. (2013). Promoting knowledge construction and cognitive development: A case study of teacher’s questioning. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 3, 1387-1393.

Zusho, A., Anthony, J. S., Hashimoto, N., & Robertson, G. (2014). Do video games provide motivation to learn? In F. C. Blumberg (Ed.), Learning by playing: Video gaming in education, 69-86. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.