Do Arts Training Matter in School?
Friday, April 9th, 2010
Yes, says jensenlearning.com. Arts training changes the brain physically in ways that enhance academic and social performance of students, according to the writer. This might surprise people who believe that arts affect only one’s emotions.
Arts should be considered a stand-alone discipline on its own that can contribute to the goals we seek through teaching, viz. brain functioning in ways that are academically and socially useful. Arts training changes the brain in ways that other disciplines do not do.
As things stand now, teachers are likely to be overwhelmed with the variety of suggested teaching strategies. Choosing among the strategies becomes a hit or miss affair with no certainty of successful results. This situation, together with the pressure to produce better results, can lead to teacher burnout.
The author of the post advocates focusing on fewer things, on things that have demonstrated their effectiveness. Arts have proven their effectiveness in improving attentional and cognitive skills. Dana Foundation had funded a study to discover the effect of arts on the brain and the resultant findings showed that music enhances cognition, for example.
The brain is plastic, a constantly changing thing. And arts training changes in desirable ways. The article titled Musical training shapes structural brain development in The Journal of Neuroscience provides peer-reviewed evidence.
Read the post at jensenlearning.com
Tags: arts training, cognitive functioning, cognitive science, education, learning, social skills
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Video Games for Improving Memory and Thinking Skills in the Elderly
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
National Science Foundation of USA has made a $1.2 million grant to Carolina State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology for a research study. The study will examine whether video games can improve memory and thinking skills in elderly people, and if they do, how it occurs.
The grant will also cover using the findings of the study to develop a prototype video game that will improve the cognitive functioning of this group. With an improved memory, for example, the elderly will better be able to go about their daily routines.
The study will focus on identifying the specific qualities of a video game that help improve cognitive functions.
A set of guidelines will then be formulated for developing a new class of video games for use by older adults. A prototype game will be developed following the guidelines. ccording to the spokesperson of the research group, previous studies have indicated that the three qualities of attention demand, novelty and social interaction of video games can help improve cognitive functions.
Video games demand focused attention for successful play and developing the attention habit can lead to successful completion of other tasks. The novelty of encountering tasks one has not faced before can act as a catalyst for learning. Social interaction can also make the players devote more attention and effort to the game.
The study will start with a test of the cognitive functioning of the participants, who will be persons aged 65 and above. The participants will then play one of the two video games, BOOM BLOX or BOOM BLOX Bash Party. The cognitive functioning of the participants will then be tested again.
BOOM BLOX is a Wii console based video game developed collaboratively by Electronic Arts and Steven Spielberg. According to researchers, it was chosen because its “novelty, attentional demand and social interaction may be manipulated by the researchers.” It would thus be possible to identify the particular factors that improve cognitive functioning.
If, say, the novelty and attentional demand qualities are found to improve cognitive functioning, a new game focusing on these two qualities will be developed. Testing the new game on the participants will help researchers see whether the greater benefits in cognitive functioning can be useful in the real world.
Read more at: Cam Video Games Improve Thinking Skills in Elderly?
Tags: cognitive functioning, cognitive skills, elderly, memory, thinking, video game
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