Stuck on a tricky math problem? Start clapping. Grade school kids who learned about fractions through a rhythm-and-music-based curriculum outperformed their peers in traditional math classes. The work is inEducational Studies in Mathematics.
被一条数学题难住了？拍拍手试试吧。研究表明，小学生在有节奏感的音乐背景下学习分数知识的效果会好于传统课堂（具体研究发表在《数学教育研究》上的《学术性音乐：如何用音乐辅助三年级小学生学习基础分数》一文，作者：苏珊·科瑞等）。
Fractions let you divide up a measure of music into notes of varying length. For example, one four-beat measure could contain a single whole note held for all four beats, two half notes of two beats apiece, four quarter notes of a beat each, and so on. In the Academic Music program, based on the Kodaly method of musical education, students clap, drum and chant to memorize the lengths of musical notes—then solve problems in which fractional notes must add up to a full measure of music.
根据分数的概念，一节音乐可分成长短不一的几串音符。例如，一节四拍子的调子可包含一个代表四拍子的全音符，两个各代表一个二拍子的二分音符，四个各代表一个一拍子的四分音符……以此类推。在学术性音乐项目中，研究人员以科达伊的音乐教育方法为基础，让学生通过打拍子、敲鼓、合唱记住各音符的长度，学生必须把这些片段加起来，才能得到一节完整的音乐——如此实践可解决学生对分数的疑惑。
Sixty-seven students participated in the study. Half did math problems using the Academic Music system. And after six weeks, the students in the music program averaged 50 percent higher on tests than did the kids in regular math class. Fractions create a solid foundation for further math education—so mastering them is music to educators' ears.
有67名学生作为实验对象参与了本次研究，其中有一半在学术性音乐体系下解决数学问题。六周后，他们在测试中的得分要比普通班级中的学生平均高50%。分数是进一步进行数学知识教学的基础——如此看来，这还多亏了教育者的耳朵。