No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Cognitive load theory assumes that effective instructional design is subject to the mechanisms that underpin our cognitive architecture and that understanding is constrained by the processing capacity of a limited working memory. This thesis reports the results of six experiments that applied the principles of cognitive load theory to the investigation of instructional design in music. Across the six experiments conditions differed by modality (uni or dual) and/or the nature of presentation (integrated or adjacent; simultaneous or successive). In addition, instructional formats were comprised of either two or three sources of information (text, auditory musical excerpts, musical notation). Participants were academically able Year 7 students with some previous musical experience. Following instructional interventions, students were tested using auditory and/or written problems; in addition, subjective ratings and efficiency measures were used as indicators of mental load. Together, Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated the benefits of both dual-modal (dual-modality effect) and physically integrated formats over the same materials presented as adjacent and discrete information sources (split-attention effect), confirming the application of established cognitive load effects within the domain of music. Experiment 3 compared uni-modal formats, consisting of auditory rather than visual materials, with their dual-modal counterparts. Although some evidence for a modality effect was associated with simultaneous presentations, the uni-modal format was clearly superior when the same materials were delivered successively. Experiment 4 compared three cognitively efficient instructional formats in which either two or three information sources were studied. There was evidence that simultaneously processing all three sources overwhelmed working memory, whereas an overlapping design that delayed the introduction of the third source facilitated understanding. Experiments 5 and 6 varied the element interactivity of either two- or three- source formats and demonstrated the negative effects of splitting attention between successively presented instructional materials. Theoretical implications extend cognitive load principles to both the domain of music and across a range of novel instructional formats; future research into auditory only formats and the modality effect is suggested. Recommendations for instructional design highlight the need to facilitate necessary interactions between mutually referring musical elements and to maintain intrinsic cognitive load within working memory capacity.

This study explored the curriculum change experiences of five social studies teachers, from three high schools within one school district located in a western Montana city, integrating an economics curriculum in their eleventh grade U.S. history classrooms for the first time. A review of the related literature on this topic revealed several areas of consideration regarding teachers' curriculum change experiences which guided the data collection and analysis process: commitment, workload, capacity, collaboration, and perception of the teaching profession. This qualitative, within case study was designed to add to the body of quantitative research on curriculum change. Data collection sources include: pre and post interviews, observations, electronic journals, field notes, and document analysis. Five themes emerged from the data analysis of the participants' curriculum change experiences: support, time, motivation, adaptation, and student learning. A skyscraper depicts a visual model of the complex and inter-dependent relationship of themes in the curriculum change process as determined in this study. Each of the themes is presented in narrative format as a vignette giving voice to the teachers' curriculum change experiences. Overall, teachers are positive about curriculum change and look at it as an on-going process to improve curriculum in an effort to increase student learning. The conclusion offers several suggestions to ease the curriculum change process for teachers. Teachers need the support of the community, administrators, colleagues, and outside agencies for continued, successful curriculum change. Teachers need time and space for collaboration, planning, curriculum development, and knowledge building. Teachers need to be able to easily adapt curriculum materials to their own teaching styles and district curriculum guidelines. Teachers are motivated by what interests them and so are students. Curriculum developers and planners need to keep the interests of teachers and students in mind when creating curriculum materials and professional development. Students and teachers demand relevant, current, local examples to increase their understanding and reach the ultimate goal of curriculum change in the classroom: curriculum improvement and increased student learning.

This study examines the teacher, leader, and curriculum variables predictive of student achievement in Indian Education for All (IEFA). IEFA, a Montana educational mandate based on Montana constitutional law, was first funded in 2005, and little research had previously been conducted on the effectiveness of implementation efforts. While compulsory, implementation had been piecemeal and wrought with misunderstanding, differences in opinion, prejudice, and questions about its legitimacy. The challenges inherent in the implementation of an ambiguous educational reform with no state-adopted curriculum or benchmarks for student achievement have become evident. With the dearth of research, it was not known how well students were learning what was mandated, nor was it known which precise variables impact or measure this learning. To determine this, second through fifth grade elementary school teachers and school leaders located in Missoula County completed a survey questionnaire, and Missoula County fifth grade students completed a student assessment based on the Essential Understandings of Montana Indians and the Montana Standards for Social Studies. Descriptive data provided information on mean fifth grade student IEFA scores, teacher and leader demographics, professional development participation, and implementation needs, and frequency of use of materials provided to all schools by the Montana Office of Public Instruction. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine if relationships exist between the predictor variables (teacher, leader, and curriculum variables) and the outcome variable (student achievement). However, none of the independent variables was found to have significant predictive value. Educators, including the Montana Office of Public Instruction, may use these findings to determine strategies that might most successfully impact IEFA implementation and to direct the course of further research.

The purpose of this study was to understand what occurred when music was infused into a seventh grade poetry unit. Music was used as a co-text in this study, meaning that it was given equal time, energy, and respect as the poetry used in the unit. The unit was nineteen days long, during which, students learned about narrative, free verse, and lyrical poetry. The students also learned about author's intent, language use, mood, metaphor, interpretation, and the role of the audience. During this unit, the students completed two projects that allowed for students to choose to work with either poetry or lyrics. While the use of music caused no significant growth in content knowledge, there was no negative learning effect either. Students found the unit to be engaging and appreciated the amount of choice given to them. Teacher observations, along with student statements, conclude that the use of music raised interest levels in the poetry unit and made the unit fun. The students also noted that a variety of lesson structure played a positive role in the overall effectiveness of the unit. The issues that were raised in the implementation of this study pertain to the allowance of explicit lyrics, time constraints, and managing the duel roles as both teacher and researcher. Finally, the teacher gained new insights into her teaching and came up with several recommendations for future implementation.