Music can be beautiful, and fun too! But can it also be a useful tool to communicate scientific contents? We are a group of academic researchers interested in developing novel tools for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) education and science communication. Over the last 5 years we have been experimenting in the areas of Earth and Biological Sciences. Interested in collaborating? Please contact us! giacomo.eramo@uniba.it
The main objectives of the SoSTEAM project are 1) developing and evaluating educational and dissemination methods based on sonification of chemical, physical, and biological entities and phenomena; 2) creating a network of interested partners and stakeholders; and 3) structuring a project proposal under the Horizon Europe 2030 program aimed at fostering and facilitating the dissemination of STEAM in education and society, with an inclusive approach.
Our society needs a solid scientific foundation in order to adequately deal not only with emergencies but also with our daily existence by overcoming the pitfalls of increasingly aggressive and damaging misinformation.
In this context, any research activity on communication strategies aimed at increasing the interest of young persons in scientific issues overcoming limitations and cultural barriers is not only desirable, but an absolute priority in the perspective of advancing knowledge.
Over the past decades, this problem has been addressed by numerous national and international bodies, including the EU, which have supported programs to disseminate scientific culture in various forms primarily targeting educational institutions. While the importance of these activities is unquestionable, there is also a need to work on the implementation of communication approaches that foster and facilitate the dissemination of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) disciplines. The new call of the Horizon Europe Work program 2023-2024 “HORIZON-CL2-2023-HERITAGE-01-08: Cultural and creative approaches for gender-responsive STEAM education” goes in this direction.
In the last 5 years we have been working on new teaching-learning strategies based on sonification, capable of promoting students’ motivation and engagement starting from secondary schools in our territory (Apulia, Southern Italy), with particular reference to science teaching and science communication. In addition, we aim at studying the effects of the proposed teaching strategies on reducing the gender gap in students’ careers and related learning performance in science. Preliminary experimentation conducted in recent years by some of us gives indications of the effectiveness of this innovative approach in scientific communication in mineralogy and crystallography (Aural Structures). The peculiar musical experience resulting from sonification strategies is inclusive and provides an opportunity for personal cultural growth.
January 2023: The Sound of Sciences meets contemporary dance! Bodies like interacting atoms and molecules in an exciting extension of our previous work on crystal sonification. Enjoy!
December 2016: Conference-Concert “The song of Crystals” Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Bari https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGQf8kZsRgw
The music of crystals: Award-winner in the video contest of the Italian Geological Society 2018
Excerpts of crystal sonification https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o983UZmAZWg
Merry Crystal from Sound of Sciences!
Giacomo is Associate Professor of Georesources, Mineralogy and Petrography applied to the Environment and Cultural Heritage at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Bari Aldo Moro (UniBA). He graduated in Geological Sciences (2001) from UniBA with a thesis in Mineralogy and Applied Petrography on archaeological ceramics and received his Ph.D. in Mineralogy and Applied Petrography (2005) from the University of Fribourg (CH). He is involved in the mineralogical, petrographical and chemical study of natural and man-made geomaterials of archaeological interest, with a focus on ceramics, stone materials, mortars and glass. He has studied materials from archaeological contexts in Italy, Croatia, Egypt, Iraqi Kurdistan, Libya, Sudan and Switzerland. He conducts his teaching in the Degree Courses in Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Heritage and Master’s Degree in Archaeology and in the School of Specialization in Archaeological Heritage.
As saxophonist and composer, he studied composition with Gianluigi Giannatempo and Gianni Lenoci and graduated (2020) in Jazz Music at the “Nino Rota” Conservatory in Monopoli (BA). He has been a finalist in several composition and arrangement competitions. He formed and directed the Zeitgeber Ensemble, with which he released the album “Resalio” (2014, Dodicilune). Since 2016, he has been involved in the project of sonification of crystalline structures “Aural Structures” for teaching and musealization, awarded in the International Competition “On the Rocks” of SGI (Italian Geological Society), with the video “Aural Structures: the music of crystals.” His involvement in STEAM teaching is also aimed at high schools as an external expert in the PON-FSE “I want to be in school!, DoReMat – Learning Mathematics with Music.”
He is currently the principal investigator of the project “The Sound of Science(s): Sounds for STEAM teaching and science communication”(SoSTEAM) funded by UniBA and aimed at developing a European project on the promotion of scientific culture in society.
Valeria is Associate Professor in General and Social Pedagogy at the Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, where she teaches “Social and Intercultural Pedagogy” and “Pedagogy of the Marginality”. She is member of the PhD Board in Human Relations Sciences. Her research interests deal with early childhood education, teacher training, family education, school inclusion. She wrote about a hundred essays and articles on books and national and international scientific journals, and five monographs.
Serafina, PhD in Educational Assessment, is Associate Professor of Education Assessment and Instructional Design at the University of Bari, Italy. She is a Fulbright Research Fellow (2016-2017) and currently serves as Senior Editor of the Curriculum and Teaching Studies section -Cogent Education Journal (Taylor & Francis). Her research has been published in national and international journals, and has been recognized through several awards including, in 2018, the first Emerging Scholar Award in Measurement and Assessment in Higher Education, Special Interest Group 64 – AERA (American Educational Research Association). Serafina’s research examines the complex intersections of assessment practice, teacher education and educational policy as operating within the context of school and university innovations. Her recent work focused on teacher assessment literacy
Angela is Associate Professor in General and Social Pedagogy (MPED/01) at the Department of Political Sciences of the University of Bari Aldo Moro. She has been an honorary judge and member of the adoption team at the Juvenile Court of Bari since 2015. She is the author of numerous essays, articles and monographs on the subject of labor pedagogy and pedagogy of juvenile law, social service and welfare. Among the monographs we highlight: A pedagogical reflection between training and work (Laterza, 2019); The educational dimension in social assistance. For a pedagogical fusion of horizons in social professions (Franco Angeli, 2019), Pedagogical reflections between juvenile law and social interventions. Unease, deviance, antisocial behavior, bullying, cyberbullying (Laterza, 2019), Competences and capabilities. How training changes (Progedit, 2012).
Valeria is Associate Professor of Plant Ecology at the University of Bari, Italy. She received her M.A. in Biology and her Ph.D in “Environmental Science – Phytogeography of Mediterranean territories” from the University of Catania, where she was involved in phytogeographycal researches in central-southern Italy. From 2001 to 2019 she has been researcher at the CNR (National Research Council of Italy) – Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources of Bari, taking part in national and European projects dealing with the monitoring of vegetation and habitat types in protected areas. Her research interests are: analysis of plant diversity at species and community level in Mediterranean environments; habitat monitoring and mapping; plant phenology and seasonal changes of natural and disturbed vegetation.
Alessandro (Sandro) is Assistant Professor of Museology at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Bari. His research activity is focussed on the themes of diagnostics and conservation of cultural heritage. A talented piano and guitar player, singer and band-leader, Sandro was the first one of us to see the potential of connecting music with science education.
Mario is Associate Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Bari, Italy. He received his master degree in Biology and his Ph.D in Plant Physiology from the University of Bari, and followed that with postdoctoral positions at the University of Kassel (Germany), the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and the University of London, Royal Holloway College (Egham, UK). In 2007 he was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of California–Berkeley, where he worked on the role of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in the redox regulation of plant development. Over the years, Mario has been teaching classes in Plant Biology and Science Teaching. He developed a genuine interest in science communication for the implementation of effective and inclusive teaching tools using new media and a more appealing approach to science. He plays historical oboes and took part to recordings of baroque operas by XVIII Century Italian composers including Piccinni, Duni, and Paisiello.
Ernesto is Assistant Professor of Mineralogy at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Bari. Over the years, Ernesto has been teaching classes in Mineralogy, Crystallography and X-ray diffraction Teaching. His scientific activity is mainly focused on the crystal chemical characterization at room and high temperature of silicate minerals using a combination of analytical techniques (EPMA, Single Crystal X-Ray Diffraction and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy). The emphasis is on the investigation of their role in the crystal-structure, on the identifications of substitution mechanisms operating, on the relationship between crystal chemical features, formation environment and on the speciation of transition elements in minerals.
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