AI-Powered Music Education and Holistic Development in Vulnerable Children
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has great potential to enhance preschool teachers’ pedagogical practices, which in turn may positively impact on young children’s development and learning. Within the context of Hong Kong kindergartens, the use of AI-powered applications may be particularly beneficial in music education, as many teachers lack pedagogical skills and confidence to design and implement high-quality music activities that contribute to children’s holistic development. Being consistently exposed to quality music education is important for all young children, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, who tend to have limited access to enriching learning opportunities. With this Departmental Research Grant (DRG), our team seeks support to conduct preliminary work and pilot research that will lead us to a Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) application. We are a group of researchers from three UGC-funded universities (EdUHK, HKU, HKBU) interested in investigating how AI may improve Hong Kong kindergarten teachers’ music education pedagogical practices, as well as the impact that such improvements may make in a wide variety of cognitive, behavioral, and neurocognitive measures. Conducted in local kindergartens serving vulnerable children, the subsequent CRF project will: a) Develop an AI-powered application that allows kindergarten teachers to design and implement music activities with proven positive benefits for child development, specifically the areas of musical development, cognition, and language; b) Use a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) to analyze the impact of prolonged usage of this AI-powered music application in kindergartens during the timeslot assigned for music, comparing across the three kindergarten levels. While this AI application will be applicable by any kindergarten teacher in Hong Kong, the study will be conducted in kindergartens that primarily serve children from disadvantaged backgrounds.This DRG application seeks support for our team to achieve three specific aims: (1) Conduct a systematic review centered on the usage of AI-powered music applications to foster children’s development and learning. This review will be submitted for publication in a high-quality journal; (2) Conduct market research and suitability analyses for potential AI-powered music applications, in preparation for the work to be conducted in the CRF project; and (3) Pilot the measures that will be used to collect cognitive, behavioral, and neurocognitive data from K1, K2, and K3 children in the CRF project.
Project Start Year: 2026, Principal Investigator(s): BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo
SDGs Information: 4 - Quality Education
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Impact of Online and Blended Professional Development on Hong Kong Kindergarten Teachers: Preparatory Work for a Randomized Controlled Trial based on “Chat With Children”
The present project seeks support to carry out the preparatory work for a future randomized control trial (RCT) focusing on the “Chat With Children” teacher professional development (PD) program. The overall research question of the RCT will be: What is the effectiveness of the Chat With Children PD course in promoting teacher change when embedded in increasingly sophisticated PD models? The RCT will employ a 4 (delivery model: control, online with no interaction/support, online with interaction/support, blended) x 3 (time points: pre-test, immediate post-test, delayed post-test) split-plot design, with repeated measures on the last variable. The between-subjects variable, delivery model, will consist of four levels that are progressively more complex, in the sense that each model includes all the features of the prior model.
Project Start Year: 2026, Principal Investigator(s): BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo
SDGs Information: 4 - Quality Education
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Robot Programming Through Play: Effects on Kindergarten Children’s Engagement and Computational Thinking
Project Start Year: 2024, Principal Investigator(s): YANG, Weipeng (BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo as Co-Investigator)
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Moral Education in Arts Education: Pedagogical Implications in the Greater Bay Area
Morality is considered the most essential element of Chinese tradition (Fung, 2019). Philosophers and sages throughout history have asserted the importance of arts education on the moral formation of the young and the reproduction of a responsible, cohesive, and robust society in both Western and non-Western worlds (Ho, 2010). Cultivating positive moral values help children build up their personality and handle social problems more appropriately at the preschool stage, and early intervention will benefit their learning and future development (Reynolds et al., 2001). In response to the Hong Kong and Chinese governments’ recent emphasis on moral development in the domains of early childhood education, with particular reference to the Greater Bay Area, this proposed comparative study aims to examine in-service kindergarten teachers’ views on the introduction of moral concepts through arts education and complex comprehension of moral education and pedagogical implications. The study will adopt a mixed-methods approach, drawing data from (1) a target of 800 questionnaires and 60 interviews with teachers from kindergartens, (2) class observation, and (3) teaching and learning materials used in moral education in kindergartens. Synthesis of qualitative and quantitative data will help address the following four research questions:1. How is moral education integrated into various disciplines of arts education teaching and learning activities in kindergarten?
2. How do teachers perceive the implementation of moral education in arts education, and what challenges do they face?
3. To what extent do social and cultural factors at the micro- to macro-level impact teacher self-efficacy in moral education, and how is this related to teacher engagement and emotional labour in the context of arts education?
4. Are there any differences in integrating moral education into arts teaching and learning activities between cities in the Greater Bay Area?
By synthesising the data and drawing exemplars from kindergartens in the Greater Bay Area, the study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the implementation of moral education in arts education in kindergarten, including the impact of teacher self-efficacy on teacher engagement and emotional labour and teachers’ perceptions. Additionally, the study will examine potential differences in integrating moral education into arts teaching and learning activities between cities in the GBA.
Building on insights from prior research conducted by the Arts and Creativity RIC, which focused on identifying high-quality pedagogical practices in Hong Kong kindergartens across various art forms, this proposed study will elaborate on the design of a set pedagogical conditions and develop a collection of learning and teaching resources for the efficient building of moral development through arts education in kindergartens.
Project Start Year: 2023, Principal Investigator(s): KONG, Siu Hang, Eric (BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo as Co-Investigator)
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The Effect of Language-Learning-Devised Music-Pedagogical Methodology on the Reinforcement of Acoustic Sensitivity
Music and speech exhibit acoustic commonalities. Extensive study has proven the interchangeably reinforcing effect between music and language learning and that humans are equipped by nature for music acquisition in much the same ways as they are programmed for language. Proposed by OPERA hypothesis, musical activities which fulfil five conditions (i.e. overlap, precision, emotion, repetition, and attention) are predicted to enhance the neural encoding of the speech (Patel, 2011). Musical training leads to adaptive plasticity in speech-processing networks, and would, therefore, improve linguistic reading abilities (Patel, 2011). However, a recent study revealed that music training did not necessarily enhance one’s musical ability from the perspective of the acoustic sensitivity (Choi, 2022). Music training should strengthen acoustic sensitivity to capture the reciprocal benefits between speech and music. This proposed study, adopting an experimental design, aims to (1) devise a music-pedagogical methodology based on commonalities between the learning of music and language; and (2) investigate whether such pedagogical methodology might, if incorporated into music training intervention, enhance one’s musical ability, particularly one’s tonal-rhythmic sensitivity. Thirty-six kindergartens will be recruited and assessed for their musical ability, using the Primary Measures of Music Audiation (PMMA) and Absolute Pitch Test (APT) to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed pedagogical methodology.
Project Start Year: 2023, Principal Investigator(s): KONG, Siu Hang, Eric (BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo as Co-Investigator)
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Developing Pre-service Teachers' Musical Competence and Teaching Confidence: A Training Programme for Transforming Musicianship into Pedagogy
Music education is regarded as high-brow culture in Chinese society and a specialised educational discipline. As in other places in Asia, teacher training in early childhood education in Hong Kong provides interdisciplinary education, with non-music specialist trainee teachers having minimal specialist musical knowledge. Lack of subject discipline-oriented education about music results in teachers’ low confidence levels when teaching music. Teachers’ lack of confidence in their ability to play musical instruments and read music is often a major obstacle, particularly for pre-service teachers without musical training. Research has proven the association between teacher beliefs and teacher behaviour (Bernard, 2009) and that teachers’ beliefs about the priority and challenges of music education will impact their attitudes and practices when teaching in schools (Russell-Bowie, 2009). This could become a barrier to children’s music learning and enjoyment.
These two proposed three-hour professional development sessions in music will present a training approach to transforming musicianship into pedagogy, constructed by the project leader. This training programme incorporates intensive yet efficacious musicianship training in teacher education to enhance teachers’ musical competence and pedagogical skills for conducting music appreciation, music performance, and music creation activities in an early childhood setting. As active possessors, student teachers acquire musicianship, which simultaneously informs their pedagogical skills. They are given opportunities to consolidate their pedagogical knowledge and skills by demonstrating the learned musicianship by implementing music activities.
Project Start Year: 2023, Principal Investigator(s): KONG, Siu Hang, Eric (BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo as Team Member)
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High-Quality Pedagogies in Hong Kong Kindergartens: Towards Glocalization
The present Research Impact Cluster (RIC) project will draw on the existing pedagogy-related RICs in the Department of Early Childhood Education (ECE). Based on the theoretical framework of glocalization in ECE, our team aims to conceptualize, theorize, and feature high-quality glocal pedagogies within the Hong Kong local kindergarten system. Such pedagogies are likely to be relevant and applicable in other Asian societies, although the main focus of the project is the Hong Kong context. We argue that glocal pedagogies in the various curriculum areas (e.g., language, mathematics, arts) and other classroom activities (e.g., play) should be based on notions that are: (a) aligned with Hong Kong’s philosophical and cultural values as a Confucian society; (b) responsive to societal mindsets (e.g., concerns, expectations, demands); (c) sufficiently open to different pedagogical approaches, and therefore inclusive; and (d) sensitive to the contextual limitations and constraints in local kindergartens (e.g., space, time, staffing, resources). The main objective of this RIC is to produce an edited book that builds upon the work previously carried out by the pedagogy-related RICs. Chapters for this collaborative book will be contributed by the existing teams and will rely on unpublished data that the various teams already have, collected in the context of prior or ongoing RICs. Chapters will be primarily qualitative in nature, providing Hong Kong ECE practitioners with practical case studies and examples that are easily applicable in classroom settings. The project will contribute new knowledge to the field because such cases will be analysed conceptually, from the point of view of glocalization theories.
Project Start Year: 2023, Principal Investigator(s): BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo
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Influences of Parental Cultural and Social Capital on Children’s Music Activities: A Comparative Study of Chengdu and Hong Kong
Inequality is a critical issue in education. Differential access to resources and cultural and social capital profoundly shape social advantage. While education can compensate for social inequality, it can also breed inequality. When China’s and Hong Kong’s governments introduced equality in education policies, middle-class parents deliberately sought to maintain the existing inequalities to get their children into elite institutions through intensive investment in extracurricular cultural activities. This competition for cultural endowment is motivated by the current generation’s emphasis on credentialism in Chinese culture. Music education, a middle-class cultural endowment, maintains the familial and social status quo and legitimates inequality. While financial support is explicitly related to opportunities to learn music, children’s unequal cultural capital and achievement in music learning require examination of parents’ cultural and social capital.
In the context of the pervasive “education fever” in contemporary China, this study will elucidate the complexity of cultural (Bourdieu, 1986, 1989) and social capital (Coleman, 1988) to explain the intergenerational transmission of capital via at-home or out-of-school music activities. The study captures the role of capital in allowing privileged parents to secure for their children a patina of cultural sophistication that underprivileged parents struggle to provide. The study will also provide insights into how parents’ orientation toward music education affects their support for and influences children’s music learning motivation and unequal school education opportunities. By comparing the contextual differences between Chengdu and Hong Kong, this cross-cultural comparative study provides further insights into how social and cultural factors drive parents’ capitals to dynamically influence children’s participation in cultural activities.
Project Start Year: 2023, Principal Investigator(s): KONG, Siu Hang, Eric (BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo as Co-Investigator)
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'Rhythm and Movement for Self-Regulation' (RAMSR) in Hong Kong Kindergartens from Low Socio-Economic Backgrounds: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Using a cluster Randomized Controlled Trial intervention design with 14 kindergartens serving children from low socio-economic status, we will investigate: (1) the effectiveness of the online training program on teachers’ ability to implement the ‘Rhythm And Movement for Self-Regulation’ (RAMSR) intervention, as measured by self-reports and expert observers; (2) the factors associated with different levels of implementation fidelity; and (3) the impact of RAMSR, as implemented by teachers, on Kindergarten K1 children’s self-regulation immediately after the intervention and six months later.
Project Start Year: 2022, Principal Investigator(s): BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo null
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‘Rhythm And Movement for Self-Regulation’ (RAMSR): Piloting Key Measures and Developing Teacher Learning Materials
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Project Start Year: 2021, Principal Investigator(s): BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo null
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Role of Distraction on Children's Math Performance
Math is a key subject that paves the way for success in higher education and in many professional areas. Indeed, early math performance is closely and linearly related to future earnings. Research on math development and math learning has documented the main determiners of children’s math performance. Children’s performance in math is influenced by a variety of parameters, including participants’ characteristics (e.g., their age, school level, working-memory and executive control skills), stimulus features (e.g., problem size, side of larger operand), strategies (e.g., retrieval, counting), as well as situational or task environment (e.g., speed-accuracy pressures, culture). In addition to determining which factors influence children’s math performance and learning, research has focused on determining the key underlying mechanisms, as knowing these mechanisms is important for developing intervention to improve math education and math development. This project will contribute to this endeavour by examining how distraction influences children’s performance in math, by determining how its influence changes with children’s age, and by establishing which key individual characteristics are crucial in children’s sensitivity to distraction. By comparing children from Hong Kong and from France, this project will also further document cultural differences in math learning.
Project Start Year: 2021, Principal Investigator(s): LEMAIRE, Patrick, LEE, Kerry, BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo
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Arts and Creativity in Hong Kong Kindergartens: Towards 'Glocal' Pedagogies
The aim of this research is to define how Hong Kong Early Childhood Education (ECE) practitioners understand the notions of Arts and Creativity, which is one of the learning areas articulated in the Kindergarten Education Curriculum Guide (2017). In this project, we want to give voice to kindergarten teachers, principals, teacher educators, and specialists/curriculum designers. Based on Hong Kong’s context and cultural values, we want to better understand how different ECE stakeholders define what creativity means and how they implement arts-based creativity-fostering activities that are viable and realistic within local kindergartens. This research has the potential to guide the design of curriculum frameworks that are more culturally specific and realistic in Hong Kong.
Project Start Year: 2020, Principal Investigator(s): BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo null
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Rhythm and Movement for Self-Regulation (RAMSR) in Hong Kong Kindergartens: Development, Piloting, and Teacher Training
‘Rhythm and Movement for Self-Regulation’ (RAMSR) is a classroom intervention that uses fun rhythm and movement activities to improve children’s self-regulation (behavioral control, attention, emotional regulation, etc.). RAMSR was developed by Dr. Kate WILLIAMS in Australia. RAMSR involves 16 20-minutes classroom sessions that run over eight weeks. The activities can be implemented by regular kindergarten teachers. This project has three goals: (1) Adapt RAMSR to the reality of Hong Kong kindergartens, translating the teaching materials from English to Chinese/Cantonese; (2) Pilot several measures (teacher questionnaire, parent questionnaire, children direct measures) that will be used in a subsequent study focusing on the effectiveness of RAMSR in Hong Kong kindergartens; and (3) Conduct training workshops to disseminate RAMSR among Hong Kong kindergarten teachers.
Project Start Year: 2019, Principal Investigator(s): BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo
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Hong Kong Kindergarten Teachers’ Professional Development Needs and Preferences Regarding Music and Movement: A Survey Study
The aim of this study is to survey the professional development (PD) needs and preferences of Hong Kong kindergarten teachers regarding music and movement. Our target population are all trained kindergarten teachers from all local and non-local kindergartens in Hong Kong. The survey is anonymous and confidential. Completion time is 6-8 minutes. Findings will allow local teacher educators and PD providers to design courses and workshops that are customized or more responsive to teachers’ specific needs and preferences, and therefore more likely to enhance music and movement teaching practices in kindergartens.
Project Start Year: 2019, Principal Investigator(s): BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo
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Music and Movement in Kindergarten Education: Hong Kong Teachers' Training Needs and Perceptions of the RAMSR Intervention
The first objective is to investigate Hong Kong kindergarten teachers’ perceived training needs pertaining to music and movement. A better understanding of this topic will allow local teacher educators and professional development providers to design courses and programs more aligned with the interests, motivations, and preferences of practitioners. The second objective is to investigate their perceptions of ‘Rhythm and Movement for Self-Regulation’ (RAMSR), a new early childhood intervention designed to help young children manage self-regulation of their emotions, attention and behavior. More specifically, we will explore teachers’ views and opinions about the feasibility of RAMSR within the Hong Kong context, gather feedback to make the program more suitable to the reality of local kindergartens, and assess teachers’ willingness to apply RAMSR in their classrooms. This information will inform our subsequent research and development efforts.
Project Start Year: 2019, Principal Investigator(s): BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo
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A Multi-disciplinary Research Programme in Child Development
This research programme is directed at research that seeks to improve key child developmental outcomes (physical and psychological well-being, numeracy, literacy, cognitive and socio-emotional skills), and research designed to understand how these outcomes develop. The project that is the subject of this application is the first phase of a longitudinal study. It will examine the interplay between children’s psychological and physical characteristics and how they interact with their experiences in kindergarten to influence the aforementioned developmental outcomes. Deliverables of this research programme include population representative data that can guide policy decisions and programme design. In the longer term, findings will aid in the development of novel interventions that can transform childhood education practices (e.g. practices that improve executive functioning and socio-emotional skills).
Project Start Year: 2018, Principal Investigator(s): LEE, Kerry (BAUTISTA ARELLANO, Alfredo as Co-Principal Investigator)
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