研究:会乐器的人学习成绩更好
近日高考放榜,亮点颇多,第二届中国诗词大会总冠军武亦姝在上海高考(满分660分)中拿下理科613分的成绩,即将入读清华大学新雅书院理科试验班类。 网友除了表示自己是清华永远得不到的人之外,还对武亦姝文理兼备的强大能力表达了钦佩。 有人发问,是文学的背景让她如此优秀,还是她本身就勤奋优秀才文理都好呢?孰因孰果,争论不休。 长久以来,“文科缺乏数理思维,理科不懂风月,艺术生成绩不行”这些既有偏见深入人心。 不过,英属哥伦比亚大学最近在官网上公布了一则研究结果,显示音乐生的成绩比非音乐生要更好(Music students do better in school than non-musical peers)。 注意,这里“音乐生”的概念跟我们通常的理解不一样,它指的是选修了高中开设的音乐课的学生。因此“非音乐生”指的就是未选修音乐课的学生,而非我们理解的“文化生”。 High school students who take music courses score significantly better on math, science and English exams than their non-musical peers, according to a new study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology. “The students who learned to play a musical instrument in elementary and continued playing in high school not only score significantly higher, but were about one academic year ahead of their non-music peers with regard to their English, mathematics and science skills, as measured by their exam grades, regardless of their socioeconomic background, ethnicity, prior learning in mathematics and English, and gender,” said UBC education professor and the study’s principal investigator, Peter Gouzouasis. 这项研究调查了2012年至2015年在不列颠哥伦比亚省公立学校完成12年级学业的所有学生的数据。数据样本由超过11.2万名学生组成。 Students who studied at least one instrumental music course in the regular curriculum counted as students taking music. Qualifying music courses are courses that require previous instrumental music experience and include concert band, conservatory piano, orchestra, jazz band, concert choir and vocal jazz. The researchers found the predictive relationships between music education and academic achievement were more pronounced for those who took instrumental music rather than vocal music. The findings suggest skills learned in instrumental music transfer very broadly to the students’ learning in school. 英属哥伦比亚大学人口与公共卫生学院的助理教授Martin Guhn表示: “A student has to learn to read music notation, develop eye-hand-mind coordination, develop keen listening skills, develop team skills for playing in an ensemble and develop discipline to practice. All those learning experiences, and more, play a role in enhancing the learner’s cognitive capacities, executive functions, motivation to learn in school, and self-efficacy.” 但也有网友表示,正因为这项研究没有设置社会经济背景、族裔、性别,以及额外的文化课补习等变量,所以并不能表明任何因果关系,无法证明是学音乐才成绩好,还是本身就成绩不错才学有余力去学好音乐。这条评论得到了1.3万人的赞同。 这类文化成绩名列前茅,还身兼各种才能的学生一般被叫做“通才”,也是很多人眼中的“人生赢家”。 英语中这类人有非常多称呼。 有趣的是,根据大众对于“通才”的态度,大致分为两类。 一类是褒义的,包括polymath, renaissance soul, multipotentialite, multipassionate, multitalented。 另一类略带贬义的词有dabbler, scanner, jack of all trades, master of none。 前者都是“全才”或者“通才”的意思,后者指的是“对什么浅尝辄止的半桶水”。 或许是由于幸存者偏差(一种逻辑谬误,也是一种选择偏差,指过度关注“幸存了某些经历”的人或事物,忽略那些没有幸存的,造成错误的结论),我们会注意到某些通才人物,并根据他们的事迹,得出自己偏向性的结论。 往远了说,古代有亚里士多德和达芬奇这样的通才。 Aristotle (/ˈærɪstɒtəl/) was a Greek philosopher. His writings cover many subjects – including physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics and government. Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian polymath of the Renaissance whose areas of interest included painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and cartography. He has been called the father of palaeontology, ichnology, and he is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. The Mona Lisa is the most famous of his works and the most popular portrait ever made. 往近了看,有之前提到的第二届中国诗词大会总冠军武亦姝。 Literature lover Wu Yishu, whose school in Shanghai is affiliated with the prestigious Fudan University, wowed judges with her encyclopedic knowledge of China’s poetry corpus, which stretches back over two millennia. 通才与专才的辩论从来就没有结束过。不过近年来新高考的改革似乎意在给对文科理科都有兴趣的学生机会。 江苏、河北、重庆、辽宁、福建、湖南、湖北和广东共8个参与第三批新高考改革试点的省份将采用“3+1+2”的模式,即在语数外三门基础科目以外,先在物理和历史二者中选择一个,后在政治、地理、化学、生物四门中选择两门。 新高考的改革目的之一就是改善原本文理分科一刀切的弊端,真正给学生发展多样学科兴趣的机会。同时,许多老师也建议不要选纯文或纯理的搭配,两种选择可能都会在大学填志愿选专业时面临很多专业不能选的状况。 专才与通才哪个更能满足社会需要,我们没有确凿的答案。 但有一点毋庸置疑,专才和通才都需要努力。 Notes curriculum /kə'rɪkjʊləm/ n.(学校等的)全部课程 |