Collection of Swedish OER for m²-cm MOOC
- What Reasearchers tell us about Music and Movements in Math Teaching
- Videos from Youtube about Music and Movements in Math Teaching
- Lesson Plans
- Math Movement Activities in Videos from Viksjöfors
- Konferensprogram
Before we start - what are MOOC and OER?
Massive Open Online Courses are rooted in the ideals of open education and Open Educational Resources. MOOC and OER respond to the needs and desire to learn from all people, without demographic, economic and geographical constraints. (Yuan & Powell, 2013)
What Reasearchers tell us about Music and Movements in Math Teaching
We let Dance teach us Math
Paul Moerman is a dancer, actor and translator. He teaches at the Teachers Training at Södertörn University in Sweden. At the same time he is writing his PhD in Art Pedagogics at Jyväskylä university in Finland. He offered a workshop at the m²-cm international conference in Edsbyn: ”We dance and let Dance teach us Math.”
In his work Paul Moerman tries to look at pedagogics with a dancers eyes and at dance with pedagogic eyes.
In a paper from 2016 Moerman stresses some interesting benefits of using Dance in Math teaching. One example is the visual representation: “When using the space of the classroom and the numbers we have around us we can give the children a new level of the understanding of mathematical concepts?” Another is the team building benefit. It’s a great tool for teachers’ class management and a possibility to inspire the students: “In integrated classrooms, where Music and Movements are used combined with Mathematical problem-solving, group dynamics are boosted and children become more active in their learning process, making them reach curriculum goals more easily.“
As teachers nowadays very often face groups of different nationalities and with different languages, Dance can be a kind of universal communication: “Dance is speechless”, Moerman points out, “but can give an extra dimension to the communication within a classroom. In a multi-linguistic class this can help ease the language-obstacles.”
Another problem for math teachers (and students!) is math phobia and anxiety, but Moerman shows that help that can be found in Music, Rhythm and Dance. It “can help children forget about their social anxiety and also their fear of not understanding the math that they feel they are supposed to understand in the class room.”
In a later paper from 2018 Moerman stresses the positive effects that Dance can have on concentration and creativity: “Art can awaken attention in those that experience it. Music, rhythm and creative movement can help students with their concentration on curricular subjects.”
Moerman, P., (2016), Dancing Math: Teaching and Learning in the Intersection of Aesthetic and Mathematical Literacy. Proceedings of Bridges 2016: Mathematics, Music, Art, Architecture, Education, Culture, Tessellations Publishing, Phoenix, Arizona, isbn: 978-1-938664-19-9, Iss: 1099-6702, p 269—276. http://archive.bridgesmathart.org/2016/bridges2016-269.html
Moerman, P. (2018). Dance Art, Math, Education – An Eternal Triangle. Proceedings of Bridges 2018: Mathematics, Art, Music, Architecture, Education, Culture, Phoenix, Arizona, 2018, p. 347-350. http://sh.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1244292&dswid=-1240
It Doesn’t Feel Like a Job to Learn
Song A An and Daniel A Tillman are both associate professors at The University of Texas at El Paso, US. Song A An earned his Ph.D. in mathematics education while Daniel A Tillman received his doctoral degree in Instructional Technology. Dr. An is”commited to an interdisciplinary philosophy” and Dr Tillman’s creative history tells us that he directed and edited documentary films for eight years before entering the Ph.D. program.
Song A. An and D. Tillman and their fellow researchers made a research study in 2014 about Mathematics Disposition through Music-Mathematics Integrated Lessons.
Two classes of third grade students (n=56) from an elementary school located on the western coast of the United States participated in this study. A pretest-posttest control group design was utilized to examine changes between two groups of participating students’ in mathematics achievement and dispositions, including beliefs about success, attitude, confidence, motivation, and usefulness. The students in the music group received music-mathematics integrated lessons, while the students in the control group received traditional lecture and textbook based mathematics instruction.
In the study they saw, among other things, the problem of some students’ math anxiety: “Some teachers tend to focus on the ability to understand mathematical concepts and neglect negative mathematics dispositions. Incorporating art into the mathematics classroom are shown to improve mathematical disposition and also performance in math.”
The study ended with a lot of new questions and the researchers wanted to dig deeper in the subject. Thus in 2017 Dr An and Dr Tillman formed a new team and organised another study:
“A series of dance activities were introduced to preservice teachers (n = 76) to help them understand how mathematics concepts could be associated with dance performance and choreography processes. A total of 468 pieces of qualitative data were collected, including 147 online discussion entries with 248 follow-up comments, and 73 individual reflection essays. The main themes for the various benefits that emerged across the preservice teachers’ reflections were: - improving students’ dispositions toward mathematics and creating an enjoyable learning environment for reducing mathematics anxiety; - allowing students to develop their creativity and allowing teachers to meet different students’ needs; and - developing students’ conceptual understandings of mathematics through multiple types of connections, representations, and communication. The findings support practical approaches for teacher educators who wish to employ dance in instructing mathematics teaching methods to their preservice teachers.”
When you make a visual representation of Mathematics, they found, you are “developing students’ conceptual understandings of mathematics through multiple types of connections, representations, and communication.”
When using this universal communication, they saw that “integrated math and dance lessons helped teachers to meet the children’s different needs.
They also found that dance-themed math education helped the students overbridge anxiety and math phobia by ”improving students’ dispositions toward mathematics and creating an enjoyable learning environment for reducing mathematics anxiety”.
In an even later study An, Tillman and their fellow researchers, again stress the benefits of math-dance. I.e when it comes to team building, class management and inspiration: “Art-themed mathematics education activities have been proven to increase teachers’ innovative capabilities and strengthen their pedagogical self-esteem.
An, S.A., Tillman, D., Boren, R., Wang, J. (2014). Fostering Elementary Students’ Mathematics Disposition through Music-Mathematics Integrated Lessons. The University of Texas at El Paso, United States. https://www.cimt.org.uk/journal/an.pdf
An, S.A., Tillman, D., Kim, S., J., Robertson, W., Juarez, M., Guo, C. (2017). “It Doesn’t Feel Like a Job to Learn”: Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions of Dance-Themed Mathematics Education. Journal of Dance Education, Vol. 17. Iss 4, p. 138-146, November 2017. https://doi.org/10.1080/15290824.2017.1299153
An, S.A., Tillman, D., Kim, S., J., Tinajero, J., Wang, J. (2019). Teaching Numbers Through Dance: Developing a Choreography-Themed Mathematics Curriculum for Early Childhood Students. Journal of Dance Education. Vol. 19, Iss 4, p. 148-157, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/15290824.2018.1472380
VIDEOS FROM YOUTUBE about music and MOVEMENTs in math teaching
1st Graders Learn Math Concepts Through Dance
Foothills Elementary School uses dance elements to teach 1st graders the mathematical concept of greater than and less than. If you watch the video on YouTube you can follow the written manuscript underneath (“show transcription”) to fully understand.
https://artsintegration.com/ is a consultant company in Arizona, US. You can find it on Facebook (Arts Integration Solutions) and YouTube (@Rickwamer8118).
Math & Movement
Simple counting for young children with excellent moves. If you watch the video on YouTube you can follow the written manuscript underneath (“show transcription”) to fully understand.
Made by: https://mathandmovement.com/ Business for Math & Movement Tutoring in New York, US.
Movement with Math
In celebration of International Dance Day, April 29 2021, MIND’s Content Designer Nina Wu created some Movement With Math activities for all to enjoy: 1. Introduction, 2. Body Angles and 3. Digit Dances. These activities focus on using our bodies to make numbers and turning number sequences into a dance.
Learn more and play ST Math: https://www.stmath.com/
MIND Research Institute is a research based non-profit organization aimed at providing students a solid foundation in math impacting million students across 50 states in the US. Learn more about MIND Research Institute: http://www.mindresearch.org and join the learning community on social media!
Math Movement with Oak Meadow
A Math Teaching Unit for grades 3-5 developed to engage students in learning and applying essential mathematical concepts, while performing, studying, and composing rhythms. If you watch the video on YouTube you can follow the written manuscript underneath (“show transcription”) to fully understand.
Teacher and math visionary Linda Akiyama, Rhythm of Math uses Keith Terry’s Body Music Rhythm Blocks. The technique is easy to learn, even with little or no music experience. Keith Terry is the Founding Director of Crosspulse, a 32-year old Oakland, California-based arts organization dedicated to rhythm-based intercultural music and dance. https://crosspulse.com/product/rhythm
LESSON PLANS
Lessonplan Coordinated Grid Disco Dance.PDF
Overall learning goals:
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- Taking part and understanding simple mathematical systems
- Using and understanding mathematical terms to navigate on paper and in physical space.
- Working independently and communicating in group
- Improve in counting skills and basic arithmetic.
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Lessonplan Dance Measurement Activity.PDF
The aim of this activity is to engage children in learning math through dance while teaching them basic measurement concepts.
Lessonplan Geometric Choreography.PDF
The aim of this activity is to have the children further understand how to recognize shapes in their environment while seeing the value in their creativity.
Lessonplan Circular Multiplication Clap Watch.PDF
The aim of this activity is to help children understand and differentiate various multiplaction tables with help of rhythm and movement.
Lessonplan Dancefreeze Geometric.PDF
The aim of this activity is to engage children in learning math through dance while having fun with physical activity, music and movement.
math-movement Activities In VIDEOS from viksjofors
Playlist for 15 Swedish m²-cm Videos on Youtube
See more films (there are almost 200!) from us about Art in Education here>>
Check our impressing programme for the final Conference!
Klicka för att komma åt m2cm-sv-konferensprogram-8-jan-2024-ratt-logga.pdf
Online Networking and Training
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- Bring teachers together, among Europe to exchange ideas and practices
- Teachers will be educated in an asynchronous environment
- Online support during the project + 1 years form music and dance experts
- Training will be posted on School Education Platform
- Teachers can upload on the platform their own examples after the training
- Through the platform there will be access to other PPRs
Online Networking and Training Tasks
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- Collection of 30 OER (10 each partner)
- Development of the content of e-learning platform
- Design and development of online modules.
- Technical development of the e-course
- Evaluation of the modules by a group of teachers, and music and dance experts
- Finalization of the online training
artinedviksjofors av Viksjöfors Kulturpedagogiska Skola är licensierad under en Creative Commons Erkännande-DelaLika 4.0 Internationell licens.Based on a work at https://artinedviksjofors.se/.