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Description
Ke-nijah Holloman-Wilson, SWK 499: International Social Work Research
Faculty Mentors: Professor Beth Tripi, Social Work and Professor Kimberly Zittel-Barr, Social Work
My study uses a constructive approach by integrating dance into science and mathematics instruction in order to help pre-schoolers of all learning styles to learn and apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The study was intended to train pre-school teachers in Point Fortin, Trinidad to improve their students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills in science and mathematics studies. Background information pertaining to this topic comes from a Valls, Black, and Lee (2019) qualitative study about what can be learned by integrating dance into science. Valls, et al. found an increase of students' autonomy as they negotiated cognitive and personal problems, increased comprehension of science concepts, and an increase in students' motivation and interest in science. In the present study, my “eyeballing” method with data collection showed noticeable increases in teachers' comprehension of how dance and math connect, as well as understanding of how to use dance as a teaching tool. Future research with a larger sample size would be expected to yield even more statistically significant changes in these areas. The findings of this study include its participants’ viewing dance as a method to teach math and science as a user-friendly, creative, and integrative instructional tool for pre-K students.
Publication Date
2020
Recommended Citation
Holloman-Wilson, Ke-nijah, "Learning Science and Math through Dance" (2020). Health and Social Work. 22nd Annual Student Research and Creativity Conference. SUNY Buffalo State.
https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/srcc-sp20-hlthsw/7
