Proposal- Design an Integrated Arts/Technology Project

By: Julie Salvatore, Cassandra Rubino, and Michael Roman

L (Look at the problem/challenge)

The problem that we have observed at DeWitt Clinton High School is that the students
are disengaged and inattentive in class. The students have side conversations during
the lesson and it causes distractions for all the students within class. The students do
not listen to the teacher when told to stop this disruptive behavior.

E (Examine what you know)

Quantitative evidence to support this problem is that at DeWitt Clinton High School
there is a four year graduation rate of less than 50 percent and a six-year graduation
rate of about 55 percent (New York Times – Nov. 16, 2017). This is one of the reasons
DeWitt Clinton is in danger of being closed down.

To demonstrate qualitative evidence to support this problem we will provide examples

from our observations at DeWitt Clinton High School. An example of this behavior was
displayed when a student asks to go to the bathroom and the teacher tells that student
politely to wait. The student abruptly leaves the room anyway ignoring the teacher’s
request. Teachers have to repeat themselves many times and must continually remind
the students to quiet down and be respectful when other students are speaking.

To engage the students, we propose to incorporate arts and technology into

mathematics classrooms.

A (Acquire new knowledge)

One study tested the effects of integrating music activities into mathematics lessons
with first and third grade students. Two teachers and two classes participated in this
study. The two teachers worked together to design and implement music activities as a
regular part of their mathematics lessons. Lessons incorporated singing activities,
composition activities, and keyboard and percussion playing activities. Students played
these various instruments while solving math word problems. Students applied the
newly acquired music knowledge to their understanding of math concepts, reasoning
skills, and everyday lives.

This study’s findings illustrated that music-math integrated lessons have positive effects
on the students’ mathematical abilities. In addition students’ abilities to draw pictures
and tables/charts effectively improved throughout this study. Factors such as increased
engagement and motivation could be contributing to the success of these students.

A quote this article incorporated from another source stated “Traditional mathematics
instruction that consists of assigning the same problem to every student, lecturing from
the textbook, insisting on one way to solve problems, and neglecting conceptual
understanding has not only been accused of being the cause for low mathematics
achievement, but also as the origin of mathematics anxiety” (Furner & Berman, 2005;
TIMSS, 2003). This quote is important because in order to engage students in class
and promote conceptual understanding we need a new method of teaching rather than
lecturing from the textbook and assigning the same problems to every student. This is
why an alternate model of mathematics instruction must be implemented, and in this
study that includes integrating music into math lessons.

An, S., Capraro, M. M., & Tillman, D. A. (2013). Elementary Teachers Integrate Music
Activities into Regular Mathematics Lessons: Effects on Students' Mathematical
Abilities. Journal for Learning through the Arts, 9(1), n1.

Another study demonstrated the effects an integrated classroom had on a high school
math class in Byron High School, a school located in Minnesota. The “flipped” part of
the flipped classroom means that students watch or listen to lessons at home and do
their “homework” in class. This is important because it demonstrates the impact
technology can have on education, even in the home. In one teacher’s Calculus I
classroom, Mr. Faulkner, students are greeted and Faulkner discusses the day’s task as
he displays several key problems on the electronic whiteboard to check for
understanding on the previous night’s video lesson. Once students are given ample
time, he discusses the solutions with them.

After this, the students get down to work at their own pace and in their own style. The
expectation is that they all watched a video of Faulkner teaching the lesson the night
before and are now ready to demonstrate their understanding using the day’s problems.
To monitor students’ progress, there are daily spot quizzes, often using clickers so the
students and teacher get immediate results. The feedback allows for group discussion
and peer instruction on the problems that many students are struggling with. This also
allows Faulkner to focus on instruction of concepts that students find difficult.

After every course, teachers surveyed students about the flipped classroom experience.
While many parents had a difficult time adjusting because the change was different from
the way they were schooled, parents and students were generally pleased with the
results of the flipped classroom. One eleventh-grade precalculus student said “I liked
the fact that I could get the more difficult problems in class and be able to ask questions
about them” (Fulton, 2012). This is an important benefit of a flipped classroom because
students often have trouble completing homework assignments and do not have any
way of asking for help at home, especially with higher level math. This could disengage
the student from the assignment and even the course itself. Therefore, a flipped
classroom is an effective strategy to help make students’ learning experiences more
positive while incorporating technology.

Fulton, K. (2012). Upside down and inside out: Flip your classroom to improve student
learning. Learning & Leading with Technology, 39(8), 12-17.

The final study observed a case in which the iPod Touch was used to help middle
school students learn about algebraic equations and, in particular, the concept of slope,
absolute value, and elimination. The development of math movies for use on the iPod
Touch provided students with a mobile means of informal math learning outside of the
classroom. While the study explored the use of mobile devices in an eighth grade math
classroom, the lessons learned are important for those seeking to implement teaching
using technology with typical software, such as iMovie, PowerPoint, and iTunes.

The comments, observations, interviews, and surveys all indicate that the iPod was
useful for students learning mathematics. The math educators in the study
overwhelmingly supported the use of the iPod Touch in formal and informal settings.
One teacher said, “I am glad we were a part of this study and used the iPods. I was
skeptical, but the students love to work with them, and the movies actually helped me to
understand what I need to teach better” (Franklin, 2008). While this research did not
explicitly test students’ achievement, the math educators and school faculty suggested
that a clearer understanding of some of the math concepts had been achieved and
could be identified in the building of the video. Clearly, this demonstrates another
example of how incorporating technology into the classroom can be beneficial to
students’ learning.

Franklin, T., & Peng, L. (2008). Mobile math: Math educators and students engage in
mobile learning. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 20(2), 69-80.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12528-008-9005-0

D (Devise a Plan)

In mathematics classrooms, teachers will integrate art and technology within their
lessons to keep students engaged with the content material. Based on our research, art
and technology have positive effects on students’ mathematical abilities and on the
motivation and engagement of the students. We will include lesson plans and various
art and technology related activities to demonstrate examples of our plan in action. Our
lesson plans will be executed with the 4Ex2 inquiry based model which breaks the
lesson plan down into four sections- engage, explore, explain, extend with reflection and
assessment the times two part. Teachers are encouraged to work together to come up
with additional ideas to integrate art and technology into mathematics lessons.

Link to Integrated Arts/Technology Project

http://salvatore-rubino-roman-proposal.weebly.com