Relevant initiatives

DO.RE.MAT. Decrease Obstacles RElated to MAthematics Teaching

ENFAP Emilia Romagna

2012 -2014

European

Yes

Leonardo Transfer of Innovation

DO.RE.MAT.

ENFAP Emilia Romagna

2012-1-IT1-LEO05-02810

Teaching Methodology

Maths

Italian, Latvian, Other EU, English

Teachers

Do.Re.Mat is a Transfer of Innovation (ToI) project (LLP Programme - Leonardo da Vinci 2012-2014), focused on a methodology which fosters the teaching of maths through music, within compulsory education paths. The methodological approach proposed foresees the cooperation of maths and music teachers in realising lessons structured as maths-music labs where theory, listening and exercises alternate, so strengthening the participation and involvement of the students and raising their attention and interest on the didactic contents they need to learn.
Do.Re.Mat specific goals are consistently with the necessity of working out and programming of interventions at institutional level aimed at supporting the achievement of the benchmark related to the learning of science and maths disciplines. In particular:
1. Raising of the performance by increasing the motivation to learn maths on the side of the young involved in the transfer process.
2. Reduction of failures through the widening of the range of usable didactic languages (the result is a higher inclusion of students having learning difficulties).
3. Teachers involvement (in term of motivation) and fostering of the integration/relation among teachers of different subjects having diversified cultural backgrounds.
4. Development of the transfer process within school hours, in order to promote the integration of the method with the institutional curricula, given that the methodology proposed fosters the achievement of all didactic goals fixed by the maths education curricula for the students aged 15 years old.
5. Planning a more efficient inclusion of the foreign students, since the method proposed allows overcoming the linguistic barriers.
In order to experiment the Do-Re-Mat methodology it is necessary to contact the project promoter at normabai@enfap.emr.it .

This initiative proposes a didactic method that is innovative and conjugate mathematic and music. Like all the inter-disciplinary paths, the outcome is knowledge’s progress in every subject involved. Between the advantages that can be deduced from mathematics, the supervisors of the project have certified a growth of interest in the students for the discipline (widely known as hard and little attractive).
While this method represents for the music subject an opportunity to return, with full rights, in the scholastic curricula.
In addition to the presentation and explanation of the project and the method Do.Re.Mat (http://dorematleonardo.eu/index.php/it/progettoita), at the bottom of the homepage there is a deepened collection of videos and takes of the method’s application on the classroom. These videos are also available on YouTube channel (p.e. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0YBJDATGc4). Moreover on the website it is showed the email address: mbiagi@enfap.emr.it for everyone who is interested on the method.

The website that I have read and I proposed to the attention of my students unfortunately allowed me to perceive only the great interest and educational value of the project Doremat, but does not make me a real idea of what might be the applicability of this initiative in the teaching practice of my classes. In fact, I could download from the home page of the site only the pdf brochure that describes in a very precise and comprehensive way the origins, characteristics, purposes and tools of Doremat. However, unfortunately, I did not have the chance to see neither the examples of the nine lessons on the site nor the oral presentations made by project managers at the conference held in Bologna on 16th January 2014. All the videos are indeed strangely “private” and therefore not visible. Certainly, the idea underlying the project is innovative and absolutely fascinating. Some features of this new teaching method (e.g. doing the lesson from two teachers, a maths’ and a music’ teacher) make me doubt about its applicability in some school settings. In any case, I really would like to see in action the method and read the textbook that the project designers have developed to guide and accompany lessons and workshops in the Doremat learning course.

“Combining math to music I think Doremat can encourage students, and favour their learning ability in math since music always produce calm, relaxation and concentration.”

“Thanks to Doremat I realized how much math is linked with music. Many students absolutely do not connect this two disciplines; actually they hate math and adore music without realising that what they love is noting more than invisible math.”

“This project fascinates me because I think through music you can better understand math and I’d like to attend a lecture based on this educational methodology.”

“I had no idea of the existence of this project and I think that it would be nice to carry out that in Italian schools and classrooms. Nowadays music is the mean communications medium and combining it to mathematics should be an interesting idea. […] I also believe that laboratories of mathematical music could help many students to enter the Math World and love it.”

“The weak point of the the project is that viewing video spots and lessons lessons on website is not free for students. When you try to play a video you riceive the messagge - this video is private – so you cannot realize how Doremat methodology practically turns out well combining music and math.”

“It was not possible to access the video viewing because they are private and so I could not have a clear idea of what the site offers.”

Doremat project can be achieved mainly in primary or secondary schools, because they have more hours to the music than in high school. Moreover, to carry out this type of activity you need the participation of both the teachers of the two disciplines but many schools do not require the presence of the professor of music.”