Integrating visual arts into the mathematics curriculum: The case of pre-service teachers

Tags

Top Highlights

• pupils who studied an arts-integrated mathematics curriculum displayed higher achievements than did pupils whose curriculum did not include art at all

• The integrative learning approach links together two seemingly foreign realms of content – mathematics and art – one of which is usually associated with logic and the other with emotion

• Some scholars claim, however, that these domains are in fact deeply connected as both aim to explore natural phenomena using the same tools – e.g. patterns, proportions, symmetries, series – only in different ways

• Integrating art (a) promotes learning through inquiry, which encourages learners to think critically and creatively while seeking multiple solutions to a problem, phenomenon, or question; (b) leads learners to seek multiple solutions instead of a single correct solution that is usually based on previously known algorithms or rules; (c) develops learner ability to form connections between several different disciplines and even transfer knowledge from one discipline to another; (d) teaches learners to function in situations of uncertainty which lack precise definitions of the studied phenomenon; (e) emphasizes minute details, which may ultimately make a great difference in outcome; (f) leads learners to experience through their senses, allowing them to express themselves in ways that are more complex than words and numbers; and (g) is compatible with different learning styles and many different kinds of intelligence

• teachers who wish to adopt it must have content knowledge and professional confidence not only in teaching science and mathematics, but also in art, requiring teachers to undergo more extensive preparation

• the heavy pressure placed on teachers by policymakers for immediate improvements in pupil achievements resulting in dictating of detailed curricula, repressing teacher creativity and autonomy.

• this effect is preserved over time

• even after the engagement in art ended

• the cognitive theory of multimedia learning

• learning is an active process of filtering, selecting, organizing, and integrating key elements of information into what the learner already knows