Dive Brief:
- In a piece for eSchool news, Jilian Reynolds, digital integration facilitator for North Carolina's Moore County Schools, details the benefits her district has found in using music to teach STEM topics.
- Reynolds backs the use of music with her first-hand observations of students' captivation with music-based assignments, optimal group sizes, and increased engagement, as well as neurological research showing increased brain activity while working with music and the approach's ability to extend beyond paper and pencil.
- In the district's middle schools, a Chromebook-based recording studio program called Soundtrap is being used in conjunction with a customized curriculum to use music in the classroom.
Dive Insight:
This isn't the only example of music being utilized in STEM. Its use in teaching math has also been explored by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, as has the NYU Music Experience Design Lab. In October, the White House also took an interest in music education in a broader sense, inviting 60 students to participate in an educational workshop featuring Smokey Robinson, Keb’ Mo’, MC Lyte, Esperanza Spalding and Trombone Shorty.
Amid concerns about waning arts education opportunities in schools, finding ways to incorporate them into other subjects may be among the best ways to preserve them.
