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Formerly known as the Engineering Education Advocate
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Engineering Graphics Teacher's Guide |
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Civil Engineering Teacher's Guide |
Teaching Engineering Made Easy: A Friendly Introduction to Engineering Activities for Middle School Teachers |
The Musical Engineer: A Music Enthusiast's Guide to Engineering and Technology Careers |
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High Tech Hot Shots: Careers in Sports Engineering |
Is There an Engineer Inside You?: A Comprehensive Guide to Career Decisions in Engineering |
Use Music to Build an Emotional Connection
Over the summer, I tuned into the Live Earth concerts (promoting green to save the planet) and heard a report that discussed the reasons why they use music to build consciousness about global issues. The announcer said they use music because music builds an emotional connection. It is through this emotional connection that people will hear a message that they may not be able to hear otherwise.So I got to thinking, why don't we do more of that in engineering? Studies show that students involved in music have better grades in math. It seems so obvious. Watch almost any commercial on TV and you'll hear music in the background trying to elicit some emotional response from the viewer. Kids are bombarded with so much stimulus (noise, color and movement) that by the time they get to class, they are tired and maybe having trouble concentrating in a quiet environment. Their world rarely lets them be quiet. And, now that so many middle and high school kids have cell phones, the odds of quiet time have seriously diminished. On one Saturday last month, my 15-year old daughter received 45 calls on her cell phone from friends!
As educators, we can begin the battle by trying to relay information in a way that they are more accustomed to receiving. For example, if you can integrate music into your everyday lessons, you may reach a few more students that otherwise wouldn't listen to your wisdom.
Here are a few examples:
- Put soundtracks into your PowerPoint presentations.
- If you hold a competition such as Bridge Building, Future City, Robotics, or Rube Goldberg, blast music in the background to build team spirit and an emotional connection between the students and their engineering project.
- If your class is rowdy and unfocused, sometimes, playing music can make the students settle down and focus on what you intend instead of on each other.
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Posted by Celeste Baine on April 30, 2008
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