The impact of video teaching on the music cognition of children

June 24, 2019

Xuan Nguyen, Media Management MA student, Department of Culture and Media, Arcada UAS

Supervisor: John Grönvall     Examiner: Dr. Mats Nylund

Have you ever watched a video online without listening to its music? The music of videos directly affects our emotional and cognitive levels: it helps us become more excited; and increases our ability to absorb information. Music also helps to develop linguistic skills by sharpening them through various musical tasks including rhythm, melody, and chord progression (Anvari et al, 2002).

Music plays an indispensable role in forming a child’s cognitive ability, judging from the fact that there is real evidence of a mutual relationship between music and future creativity (Ross, 2007). Therefore, in terms of music, the possible relationship between sound and behavioral thinking can be built during a child’s cognitive development.

The thesis was conducted with the aim of studying the effect of teaching videos in music awareness of learners at an early age. The study comprises of interviews with 240 students and 150 teachers from various music training organizations including schools, centers and tutors in Hanoi. It can be observed that young students find it more interesting to attend classes that incorporate media technology. 78% of students preferred classes that used communication technologies, in which visualization and video effects were included. Teachers also responded positively to media teaching methods and most agreed that student participation levels improved.

Although this kind of knowledge distribution channel is not perfect and available for all criteria, video has shown it has a strong influence on how students learn new information. From another perspective, video users are still in interpretation and digest mode when they use this medium in any form: presentations, video clips or two-way videos. But the role and impact of video on learning activities is undeniable. For best results, content creators must build videos according to pedagogical needs and content must be carefully controlled. The results showed that although video is not a panacea for teaching, it is a good tool to increase the ability of students to retain information.

The thesis process at Arcada has made a big impact on my professional career since I now have an understanding of how to conduct a professional study step by step. Furthermore, I have contributed to the actual situation of music training in Hanoi. It is expected that, from the findings and figures of this study, my research can play a role in applying video and digital classes in an education environment.  Based on the suggestions, the music training centers which are involved in the study are now increasing the number of classes which include video and interactive learning activities which can support student’s interest. I do believe the result of this study can help the application of music and video in improving learning and studying abilities, especially in Hanoi.

Key Readings

Allam, C. (2006) in Bijnens, M., Vanbuel, M., Verstegen, S., Young C., Handbook on Digital Video and Audio in Education, Creating and using audio and video material for educational purposes, The Videoaktiv Project.

Anvari S. H., Trainor L. J., Woodside J., Levy B. A. (2002). Relations among musical skills, phonological processing, and early reading ability in preschool children. J. Exp. Child Psychol. 83, 111–130 10.1016/S0022-0965(02)00124-8

Moreno S., Marques C., Santos A., Santos M., Castro S. L., Besson M. (2009). Musical training influences linguistic abilities in 8-year-old children: more evidence for brain plasticity. Cereb. Cortex 19, 712–723 10.1093/cercor/bhn120

Norton A., Winner E., Cronin K., Overy K., Lee D. J., Schlaug G. (2005). Are there pre-existing neural, cognitive, or motoric markers for musical ability? Brain Cogn. 59, 124–134 10.1016/j.bandc.2005.05.009

Rauscher F. H., Shaw G. L., Ky K. N. (1993). Music and spatial task performance. Nature 365, 611 10.1038/365611a0

The full thesis may be downloaded from Theseus.fi from July 2019.

Are you looking for tools to manage the rapidly changing media industry? Or do you find yourself in the media industry struggling to see the bigger picture? Learn more about our MA in Media Management here: https://www.arcada.fi/en/master/media-management