Music in the classroom
How does music facilitate student learning in
the classroom?
This is a completely new concept to me and I can't wait to try it. When my classes are small enough, we play musical chairs for the final review session and it has always gone over really well. I have students who whine about it at first, but once we get started everyone gets into it. I never thought about the fact that it could be the music that was making the differnce.
I actually like this idea when not lecturing. Typically it seems to make people happy and work faster.
I find that music during lab sets the mood for the students, they enjoy listening to it and I believe it gets them in a better mood. If I lecture I also turn the radio off so that the students are not distracted.
I found the suggestions about when to play music very enlightening.
I also get positive feed back when I play music. I even alter the type of music depending upon what the students are doing. For example I play more upbeat music when they are in groups brainstorming and slow, smooth music when they are reading or working on lab assignments individually. I also play a high commanding sound type music when they are entering the classroom to get them revved up and motivated for the days activities.
I like this idea because its something I do all the time. After lecture when students are working on thier individual assignments I play jazz music or a mixure of soft jazz mellow music in the backgroung and the students love it and it makes the enviornment so nice and at ease.
I know that the silence in a class room can be much more distracting than a carefully chosen piece of ambient music.
Gregory,
this is a great strategy & I'm guessing helps the students get the feel for the culture even more.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I teach International cuisine class. I will get the students in the mind set to learn about the culture and cuisine by playing some traditional instrumental music before lecture starts, while cooking and eating.
i have realized that with the population of students i have ,mjusic has created a very secured envioroment for learning new concepts
I have found that, not only in my own classroom but in those that i have learned in, music helps to involve a second or third sense to the experience aiding in the ability to recall the lessons using the memory of multiple sensory experiences.
I have played music as students are entering the classroom and during study sessions. I have had positive feedback.
I absolutely agree, Pilar. Music does more than soothe the savage beast as it were. It can be used to evoke memory on many different levels. I have taught at many grade levels from 4th grade through college and each seems to be receptive to the use of music accompanied by the poetry of the language in which we set the words to be remembered. It works every time. I've had students humming "our tune" all day long.
Melanie,
I think it's definitely something that has to be considered in light of the subject matter & dynamics of the classroom. While it can help in some situations, it's definitely not a cure all.
Dr. Ryan Meers
David,
you illustrate some great ways music to set the mood, etc without being distracting.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I have never tried music in the classroom. I'm not sure how that would work/help.
I know that music is used with teaching in sleep very successfully. I have never thought about using music in my class though. I teach a very high stress medical field and I always start my exams with a joke to try and relieve some stress but maybe an aquarium and music on the screen would be better.
I find that music at the beginning of class, as the students are entering, and as they are leaving, provides energy and a positive mood. As soon as the lecture begins I turn off the music, so as to focus their attention on the topic at hand. Our school has a few sites we can download mp3s that have already been paid for our use of copywrited materials, and there is a lot of great music that is not pop stuff with words.
Pilar,
You are definitely correct on this. Just remember the ABC song right? That is a song that we all remember & still teach to our children in order to learn the alphabet. Also throughout history songs have been one of the primary methods through which a culture's history, traditions, & legends have been transmitted from one generation to the next.
Dr. Ryan Meers
