With Computational Thinking in Sound, veteran educators Gena R. Greher and Jesse M. Heines provide the first book ever written for music fundamentals educators that is devoted specifically to music, sound, and technology. Using a student-centered approach that emphasizes project-based experiences, the book provides music educators with multiple strategies to explore, create, and solve problems with music and technology in equal parts. It also provides examples of hands-on activities that encourage students, alone and in groups, to explore the basic principles that underlie today's music technology and freely available multimedia creation tools. Computational Thinking in Sound is an effective tool for educators to introduce students to the complex process of computational thinking in the context of the creative arts through the more accessible medium of music.

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Review​

For those interested in interdisciplinary thinking in general education settings in college, this book provides a wonderful accounting of how to do this with music, music technology and computing. The writing here celebrates notions of creative thinking, collaboration, project-centered learning, and constructionist philosophy and is a must read for those who want to explore the context of technological applications by today's college students. ― Peter R. Webster, Ph.D., Vice Dean of Division of Scholarly and Professional Studies, Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California

Computational Thinking in Sound is a long overdue resource providing educators with practical strategies for developing and facilitating authentic, interdisciplinary collaborations among the Arts and STEM fields. Through a specific focus on the overlapping processes and domains of computing and music, Greher and Heines make the case that both musical and computational thinking are everywhere and for everyone. Though many of the projects and pedagogical strategies were designed and piloted for use with undergraduate students, the middle and high school educator and informal educators will also find this book highly useful, especially to those who work with MIT's Scratch visual programming environment. ― S. Alex Ruthmann, Associate Professor of Music Education & Music Technology, NYU Steinhardt; President, Association for Technology in Music Instruction

About the Author​

Gena R. Greher is a Professor of Music Education at UMass Lowell. Her research focuses on creativity and listening skill development in children and examining the influence of integrating multimedia technology in urban music classrooms and music teacher education through School-University partnerships. Jesse M. Heines is a Professor of Computer Science at UMass Lowell. His primary teaching responsibilities include object-oriented programming and graphical user interfaces. His research focuses on computer science education, particularly interdisciplinary approaches that blend computer science with music and other fields to enhance instructional effectiveness in both.