This week, I have been tasked with figuring out some ways the the Optron mini could be used to teach STEAM concepts in a way that would also fulfill Oregon academic standards.
I decided to first see about what standards there are for music and visual arts, and then consider ways that the Optron mini could facilitate such requirements. Looking at the music category, I focused on the requirements for:
- Music Grades 4-8
- Music – HS Composition and Theory
- Music – HS Music Technology
The standards among these ranged from improving skills of performing arts and understanding of rhythm, melody, and harmony, to development of multiple musical ideas into one project. There is a lot of range here, but to even narrow things down, I decided to go from the least advanced to the most advanced in possibilities for teaching.
The grades 4-8 standards focus on learning artistic ideas and work primarily.
- One way I thought that the Optron mini could be used in this way would be to use audio-visual queues to reinforce things such as chord/note progressions. This could be done by having color-coded sheets of music that correspond the note being played by the optron mini. Students could practice playing the optron and would be able to make the connection between the color shown and the note being played, which may aid them in their understanding the subject matter at hand. This could be applied to any of the grades in this category I believe.
in the High School Composition and Theory standards, there is an expansion on similar goals from the section, with an added focus on more advanced musical ideas.
- One idea that I had could be that the Optron could function as a metronome of sorts for helping students with difficult passages involving subdivisions in the timing. The Optron would be good for this because of the bright lights on it. There could even be a single Optron mini being used by an entire class of students at the same time.
- Another idea was that students could practice fingerings for their instrument on an Optron mini. I am unsure to what extent this could be done, and may require revisions of the instrument form factor, but it could be of aid because multiple people in one space could be practicing without making noise out loud. The color-coded notes could also improve audio-visual and visual-tactile connection in the brain by associating notes to colors.
In the High School Music Technology section, the focus is on generating and conceptualizing artistic ideas and work by using digital music tools. I felt like since the Optron mini is already a digital music tool, there would be a lot of potential in this area to use applications.
- One idea that I had was that you could use the Optron mini to help teach adjustable parameters in synthesizers by mapping individual knobs on a synth to axis on the gyroscope built into the Optron. This way students could heavily alter the sound wave being produced with the slightest adjustment to the orientation of the instrument. This I believe could be a more digestible way of introducing these variables and could be fun for many people without it being too confusing. When I started using synths, it was very hard to get an idea of what the different knobs did by only being able to adjust them one at a time. With the axis mapping, I think it would be much easier to form the connection and understand the effects by being able to control it all at once with such ease.
Next, I looked at the visual arts standards to see if there was any potential there. I focused on the sections:
- Visual Arts grades 4-8
- Visual Arts High School
The goals of both grades 4-8 and high school had the same primary goal, which is to create, generate, and conceptualize artistic ideas and work. Being a student who hasn’t been in any visual arts classes, it is a little hard for me to imagine ways the Optron mini could be used, but I still came up with some ideas.
- I could see the Optron being used in a live performance as it has bright lights on it and could easily catch the audience’s eye. Since it needs to be plugged into a computer, there would be limited portability, but if someone was stationary and playing it, there could be a place for the Optron mini in visual arts curriculum.
This concludes my list of STEAM concepts that I thought could be taught with the Optron mini in compliance with Oregon Academic Standards.
Another task this week was to continue researching differences between STEM and STEAM. I wanted to find some more current published works on the topic to further my understanding.
The first source I found with good information was:
A good explanation I read in this article was where it says:
“If we are to attract individuals who desire to work in the STEM fields, then we need to expand our thinking regarding the arts versus the sciences; neither should exclude the other. Rather, we should concentrate our energy toward sparking student imagination and interest in STEM through hands-on projects that require critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills.”
I thought this was relevant because it highlights how the STEM field needs students to be artistic and imaginative just as much as it needs them to be well-versed in STEM topics in order for them to succeed in their field. The author, Patty McGinnis, is a teacher at Arcola Intermediate School where some committee members wanted the STEM day to expand into STEAM, which indicates the traction is gaining.
Another source I found that had good information was:
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/3/122/htm
This paper was written about two different programs running where one was just STEM, and the other was STEAM to see what differences came in the end. The best section from this text in my opinion is where it says:
“The group of academically highest-achieving students improved their test scores the most after participating in the STEAM-learning module. This is an important, somewhat surprising finding, as often informal, outside of school learning has been found to benefit especially students with lower grade point averages”.
This study supports the importance of the arts in STEAM and shows how it helps the categories of STEM as well. It is becoming more and more clear how the arts are connected with the other subjects, and how it helps people to accel in them by having that skill.
One last writing I looked at compared STEAM to Leonardo Da Vinci in a way that I think was very clever, yet true.
http://sites.bu.edu/impact/files/2021/02/WINTER-2021-IMPACT-FV-1.pdf#page=24
The excerpt I chose from this paper is where it says:
“A classic and well-known example of arts’ integration with science is the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. He embodies the
integration of arts and science in his anatomic drawings and his arts based on his studies of human anatomy via postmortem human dissection (Sterpetti, 2016). Thus STEAM in the history of education and in practice existed long before
the acronym was coined”.
I like this because Da Vinci was such a historically prominent figure, that it really shines light on how topics in STEAM are important, but also have been relevant for centuries leading up to the actual creation of the acronym.
My final task this week was to continue experimenting and using the Optron mini.
I was informed by Chet Udel that there was a new software update and a tutorial video on how to use the Optron mini in a DAW. I had to wait until our meeting session to get my hands on the software update, but I was looking forward to trying out the Optron mini in FL Studio.
After downloading the software update, I ran into some trouble getting the midi set up. I was directed to some forums to help me solve the issue. As of now, I almost have things working. Hopefully in the next iteration of the Optron software, the feature is fixed.
As far as getting comfortable playing the instrument, I am getting a little more of a handle on playing it. I believe there is a little bit of a learning curve to play it, but the controls are fairly intuitive, and after spending a few hours on it, it becomes much easier to control.
This concludes my week 5 research.
