Scaffolding Project
Does Music Increase Productivity?
The
three-different readings/ sources that I decided to work with for this project
provide a wide array of information on the subject of music’s effects on
productivity. Through the use of Multimodal, Print Based and Culturally students
should be engaged as they learn all the different ways that music can interact
with our brain. From talking about the ways companies have used inaccurate data
to market products such as Mozart for Young Minds, a CD of classical music that
will “enhance children’s study and learning.”; to explaining how different
types of music allow our moods to change to help our overall performance
through engaging soundtracks, these sources provide a large range of
information on the subject, giving students the opportunity to fully explore
and understand how music cant negatively and positively influence us.
I feel that
a lesson of this nature would be best suited for students in high school. High
school is a time where you really need to start developing your study skills,
and I think that this would help students to possibly find a study solution
that could benefit them as they continue on in their academic career. As well
as this, students in high school begin to break out from the norm and are far
more willing to listen to music like this than students who are still searching
for a sense of identity and belonging. As well as this, I am not convinced that
students younger than mid to late high school can fully comprehend all that is
being said in the Ted Talk as well as more scientific “Music Moves Brain to Pay Attention”.
The overarching goal for this lesson is to
educate students on the history of music being used as a tool for increased
productivity, as well as to give them the tools needed in order to hopefully
find the right source of music for themselves as a tool to help productivity.
Perhaps this comes as a result of being an art teacher, but if I can teach
students something and then allow them to apply what they have learned as they
go forward throughout life I believe that the lesson would be a success. These
readings build off of each other in different ways that allow for students to slowly
be brought into the topic, and from there students can continue to do research
on their own to divulge more information about why certain types of music
influence our brains in the ways that they do, as well as personal research
into what types of music play the biggest role in keeping them focused as they
work. This could be something that is done simultaneously as well, students
doing experimentation while doing research.
To be most
successful when having students go through these readings I would start with “Should
You Listen to Music While You Study?” an article that is culturally as students
are beginning to learn study techniques.[1]
This article talks about how listening to music with
lyrics can be compared to trying to learn while on a roller coaster because of
cognitive limitations. this would be comparable to trying to learn things from
two different people as they talk to you. this can be a very daunting task due
to the way that brains take in information. but music can improve mood and help
the brain to stay active. this is why music such as movie and video game
soundtracks without lyrics can be very beneficial when studying. Once this
article is completed we would obviously discuss, the next step I would have
them take is to watch the Ted Talk “Music and the Brain” while having them take
notes to help remember the important information. [2]This article discusses the
different studies behind the marketing of products such as Mozart for Minds,
debunking them based on a lack of scientific evidence. She continues to explain
studies that followed, which revealed that the main way music affects brain
function comes as a result of the mood you have as a result. This means that if
you enjoy the song and are in a better mood you will show an increase in
performance, however if the song has a negative effect on your mood you are
most likely going to perform worse than you normally would. After having
students talk about what they took notes on the last piece of academia I would
have them dive into is[3] “Music Moves Brain to Pay
Attention” which has to do with the effect of music on the brains ability to
pay attention. Music engages the areas of the brain that are involved with
paying attention, making predictions, and updating event in memory. This
article also talks at great length about how when listening to the same song
two people’s minds can be in very different places; however, at that moment in
between a compositions movement the two brains come back into focus intently.
1.
Tickell, Sofia Castello y. “Should You Listen to Music While You Study?” USA Today,
Gannett Satellite Information Network, 16 July 2014,
college.usatoday.com/2012/09/10/should-you-listen-to-music-while-you-study/.
Music
and the Brain: Jessica Grahn at TEDxWesternU
3. Baker, Mitzi. “Music Moves Brain to Pay
Attention, Stanford Study Finds.” News
Center, 1 Aug. 1970,
med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/07/music-moves-brain-to-pay-attention-stanford-study-finds.html
Due to the nature of all of these articles being closely
tied together, before getting started on any reading activities I want to focus
on vocab for the students so they are prepared for any troublesome words. As
well as this thee will be a lot of overlapping terminology, so learning the
vocab beforehand will help students to better understand the content of the
articles. For this I would use the square method for vocab so that students are
able to easily reference the words throughout the readings, also this would
allow them to compare the usage of the word to see how it plays a role in
several different contexts. This will build their knowledge of the vocab word
to increase the amount of information that they retain from the lesson. Since
one of the things they will be doing is watching a video I would like them to
take notes while they watch it on points that they find interesting of
relevant, then meet with a partner or small group after viewing to discuss
this. This way they can see the video from possible multiple perspectives, and
students are able to explain what they learned as well as possibly teach
material to other students. This peer collaboration allows for the pooling of
information and sharing of ideas about the same topic. For the final article I
would have students mark up their sheet to identify things they found
interesting, as well as parts that they may not have fully understood. Once
complete I would have them do a bit of writing reflation to talk about what it
is that they don’t understand to try and work through the problem before we
would come together as a whole group to discuss any points of confusion that
arose as they read.one the assignment is completely over I would like students
to leave and do their best to find some music that improves there productivity
that they could share on a group playlist for the whole class to use.
