"Musimath" - An Intervention Program for Understanding Patterns in Music and Its Contribution to Mathematics Learning In Third Grade

Introduction. Music and mathematics are two disciplines requiring abstract thinking and make use of symbolic notation. Findings from recent intervention studies indicate that musical experience enhances children's mathematical achievement. Findings from other studies, however, did not support this conclusion. Graphical notations can clarify the abstractness of music and math. The current study hypothesized that graphical notation for patterns in music and math can be studied in parallel, enhance children's understanding of patterns, and contribute to achievement in mathematics (Courey, Balogh, Siker & Paik, 2012).

Methods. In the current study, third grade students attended 6 lessons about patterns in two ways: The "MusiMath" students (n=25) learned to write graphic signs noting music duration or pitch, and analyzed their work in order to parallel music patterns to math patterns, while the control group (n=26) learned traditional math lessons. The student's music improvement was assessed every lesson. In addition, music and math tests were given before and after the experiment. Executive skills were assessed as well.

Results. The "MusiMath" and control groups were matched on age. gender, executive skills, and math scores of a school test on patterns. The "MusiMath" group learned to write music patterns. The "MusiMath" students improved in writing music patterns each lesson as well as from a pre- to the post-music test. Importantly, post-training, the "MusiMath" group achieved significant higher scores on the math test than the control group. Improvement in pattern learning was marginally correlated with the improvement in math scores. Students with low executive skills improved more in math and in music.

Discussion. Children that practiced the writing of music notations that highlight patterns improved their math scores on this subject. These findings are consistent with previous research on the positive impact of music related activities on students' mathematical ability.