ScienceSing Vol.1 is available through Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple Music and at most music stores |
The projectThe aim of the ScienceSing Project is to create song-based educational resources that engage children with science.
Primary school teachers play a pivotal role in developing childrens’ engagement with, and interest in, science. However, evidence suggests that many primary teachers are uncomfortable teaching science and need support. Songs can be effective in engaging students with science and a review of songs currently available was conducted. Most songs were not linked to the Australian curriculum and limited in the range of pedagogical practices they would support. There were many songs for lower primary but very few for upper primary. The ScienceSing project will result in a set of teacher-tested song-based educational resources that are linked to the Australian Curriculum:Science. Although they may appeal to other age groups, they are specifically designed to engage upper primary students with science. Eight curriculum-linked songs have already been professionally produced. They were recorded at Vienna People Studios and mastered by King Willy Sound. The songs are contemporary and, along with linked teaching resources that will be developed from the research project, will be freely available for use under a Creative Commons licence. A study to determine the value of these songs as an engagement tool and the potentially to extend their use to support learning of scientific concepts and as a basis for student-centred and collaborative pedagogies is NOW RECRUITING TEACHERS! |
Why the focus on upper primary?
Keeping upper primary children - tweens (pre-teenagers aged 8-12) - keen on science is particularly important as their brains are entering an important phase of development when unused areas are pruned away. We don’t want that to be science. It’s been shown that songs can enhance recall, reduce stress and increase enjoyment when learning science but current song-based resources are directed at lower primary or secondary and neither are suitable for tweens. The ScienceSing project fills this gap with quality professionally created songs that teachers can use in their classroom. Teachers are pivotal in developing children’s engagement with science and these resources will be a valuable, free, curriculum linked teaching tool that can be used to help tweens stay switched on to science. The eight songs produced were released on 12 February and will be tested in primary schools later this year. If you want to participate, please go to my Help me with my research page.
Keeping upper primary children - tweens (pre-teenagers aged 8-12) - keen on science is particularly important as their brains are entering an important phase of development when unused areas are pruned away. We don’t want that to be science. It’s been shown that songs can enhance recall, reduce stress and increase enjoyment when learning science but current song-based resources are directed at lower primary or secondary and neither are suitable for tweens. The ScienceSing project fills this gap with quality professionally created songs that teachers can use in their classroom. Teachers are pivotal in developing children’s engagement with science and these resources will be a valuable, free, curriculum linked teaching tool that can be used to help tweens stay switched on to science. The eight songs produced were released on 12 February and will be tested in primary schools later this year. If you want to participate, please go to my Help me with my research page.
Songs for Engagement
ScienceSing songs were created for use in the Engage (or ‘Engagement’) phase of the 5E Instructional Model and so they aim to promote curiosity and initiate a discussion about a new topic. The science in the songs is accurate and the words have been chosen carefully to introduce a topic without being content laden. ScienceSing songs can be used in other phases of the learning sequence and part of this research is looking out how teachers can creatively extend the use the songs. ScienceSing Vol.1
was released on 12.02.2021 |
You can listen to ScienceSing Vol.1 on the creative commons site Soundcloud
Click on the play button below to hear the songs
Go to The Songs page to find out more about the songs.
Videos
There are eight songs and I am currently producing videos with just one more to go ... Thank a plant. When in youtube please subscribe to my channel if you want to easily find new videos as they are released or just go to my channel at this LINK.
Below are links to two of my videos...
Below are links to two of my videos...
Testing the songs
Are you a primary teacher and want to participate? ... go to my Help me with my research page to find out more. |
I am doing two studies, a survey based teacher review of the songs and an exploratory study. For the Teacher Review study I need teachers to listen to a ScienceSing song and tell me what they think of it in a survey.
For the exploratory study I need teachers to help me evaluate the usefulness of ScienceSing songs to engage primary students with a new science topic. I need teachers to play the song for their students when they start the new science topic and then ask the students to complete a 3-5 minute online (or paper) survey to say what they thought of the song. Teachers may then choose to use the song again elsewhere in the learning sequence (I hope they will). At the end of the topic I will ask the teacher about their experiences using the song in a 30-minute interview. |