Programs that engage young children in movement and song to help them learn are popular but experimental evidence on their impact is sparse. We use an RCT to evaluate the effectiveness of Big Word Club (BWC), a classroom program that uses music and dance videos for 3-5 minutes per day to increase vocabulary. We conducted a field experiment with…

Background: Arts therapies take different forms, including music, dance and drama therapies. Access to meaningful activities is limited for people with an intellectual disability. Music, dance and drama therapies could be relevant strategies to improve well-being of people with an intellectual disability. To encourage the inclusion of these…

Student enrollment in higher education is becoming increasingly diverse. Despite this increase in diversity, students from traditionally marginalized groups such as students of color or from low-income families continue to be underrepresented. A lack of cultural understanding and the presence of biases and prejudices are considered a root cause of…

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of rhythm and dance on the aggression levels of students with mild mental disabilities. The sample group of the study consists of 40 students with mild mental disability, 20 of whom are in the experimental group and 20 in the control group, who continue their education in schools affiliated with the…

Female and male students perform equally well on science standardized tests, yet there are disparities in gender in most science-related fields. There are far fewer women from underrepresented backgrounds represented in science-related fields, as they are less likely to enroll in advanced science courses because of a perceived lack of positive…

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are often associated with intellectual disability (ID). ASD-specific group concepts usually focus on people on a high functioning level. The Autism-Competence-Group (AutCom) combines a psycho-educative approach with music and dance/movement interventions in adults with ASD and ID. AutCom includes 16 structured…

Nigeria has a diversified culture with huge cultural resources for entertainment which includes rich songs composed for various social and religious functions. Even though dance movement is involved, traditional music and dance are not structured for physical fitness. This study determined the effects of indigenous aerobic dance music on…

Tap to Togetherness is a unique program designed to build and enhance family relationships through tap dance steps. Kansas State University researchers from the School of Music, Theatre and Dance and the College of Human Ecology, led by Julie L. Pentz, Associate Professor of Dance, Director of the K-State Dance Program, developed the program.…

In this paper, children attending a U.S.-sponsored private primary school serving orphaned and vulnerable children in Uganda were interviewed in focus groups about their participation in a peer-to-peer health education program in which they used music, dance, poetry, art, and drama to convey health information. The children reported enhanced…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the effectiveness of the international volunteer programme's dance4life (D4L) in Russia. The programme aims to address taboos, stigma, discrimination, HIV/AIDS prevention and the promotion of sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and a healthy lifestyle among adolescents. The programme uses an…

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to assess the construct validity of the modified Greek version of the "Scale of Athlete Satisfaction" presented by Theodorakis and Bebetsos (2003) in the broader academic research sector and specifically in the field of Open and Distance Learning; and (2) to examine if variables such as sex,…

The current interest in the role of lifelong learning and cultural engagement for change is not new. This article looks at a most unusual precedent and a neglected area in the historiography of adult education--the use of cultural education provision in asylums in the nineteenth century to promote cure and restoration of the "insane" to…

Music improves spatial reasoning, which is vital to strengthening the mental circuits used for mathematics. Dance develops critical thinking skills along with persistence and perseverance. Drama becomes a partner in the development of abstract thought and speaking skills. And the larger process of creating musical theater encourages cooperation,…

MUSSI is the name of a she-cat from an imaginary story invented and told by children from two elementary schools through different performing modalities. It is also the name of a pilot project of Applied Ethnomusicology funded by a major Portuguese Company, SONAE Sierra, through the local Loures Shopping Centre, which paid for the musical…

In 1990, the Settlement Music School Kaleidoscope Preschool Arts Enrichment Program, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, created a preschool program to teach music and other creative arts to three- to five-year-olds. This article describes how the program works: how music teaches language and math, how dance teaches action words and spatial concepts,…