Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The nexus of presenting an authentic environment and engaging audiences has been at the core of debate around living history museums since their inception in the 1960s. Conner Prairie's transition from a folklife model to a learning theory and research-based organization is traced in this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The purpose of this study was to question the frequent use of field dependenceindependence (FDI) measures in past cross-cultural learning styles research, to illustrate generalizations this research has made about minority groups, and to examine applications of cross-cultural learning styles studies to composition. In the Part I of the study, 101 undergraduates (37 African-American, 47 Anglo-American, and 17 Hispanic) completed Witkin's Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) (designed to measure FDI) and Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI) (an instrument never used in cross-cultural learning styles research). An ANOVA determined a significant difference among mean GEFT scores for ethnicity and gender, results consistent with past research. Results of the LSI, which introduced a new definition of learning styles, however, produced no significant differences among cultural groups. In Part II of this study, six students (one female and one male from each cultural group) volunteered for case studies. The test results and case studies illustrate that past FDI studies have made inaccurate generalizations of minority groups and have ignored individual differences within cultural groups. Further use of Kolb's LSI in future research and in teaching composition is explored. / Department of Anthropology

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis is a study of how people in the nine counties of central Indiana learned, appreciated, and performed music from 1800 to 1840. A concluding proposal for a public history application of this research is included.