This study uses qualitative research methodologies to explore the ways in which the Learning by Design framework facilitated the introduction of Multiliteracies and multimodal learning into the classrooms of three Queensland middle schooling teachers as they participated in a professional learning project during the second half of 2004. Recent Queensland education policy initiatives recognise the need for students to espand their 'lilterate' repertoires in this increasingly diverse cultural, linguistic, techno, and global-economic based society; an outcome that has drawn attention to the crucial role of professional learning in giving teachers the skills to produce curriculum and pedagogical designs in line with such a goal. While the documentation of conscious pedagogical choices in teachers' approaches to teaching and learning about Multiliteracies and subsequent classroom practice in Queensland has varied according to teachers' individual preferences and conte xts, this study aimed to investigate what differences occurred when teachers deployed the Learning by Design pedagogy to produce a deliberate articulation of the micro teaching and learning conditions necessary for multimodal learning. From the cross-case analysis and interpretation of the research data, five propositions have emerged: the relationahip between the depth and breadth of teacher expertise in multimodality and its effect on instruction/design, learner engagement and performance; the alignment of pedagogical choices to learning goals, pedagogical alignment to learner goals; pedagogical alignment to learner needs and dispositions; consideration of flexibility in preparation of learners in transition points during the middle years of schooling; and the importance of quality multi-supportive professional learning environments to produce reflective practitioners with genuine and purposeful new knowledge. In this research the effectivity of the Learning by Design pedagogical framework was found to be directly related to the extent of professional learning and expertise that teachers had developed in both multimodality and the theory and principles informing the Learning by Design framework itself. The teaching of multimodal literacy creates an enormous pedagogical challenge for teachers as well as students. The research raises important considerations, therefore, not only about pedagogy but about the importance of developing professional learning initiatives to euip teachers to achieve the policy goals set out in recent initiatives. The highlights the need for the development of an in-depth and wide-ranging approach to the issue of professional learning. It is clear from this research that the Learning by Design framework can be used to transform classroom practice. However, it is equally clear that there must be a greater emphasis on professional learning and more resources channelled into building the groundwork for these new teaching initiatives.

Grounded in the a Pedagogy of Multiliteracies (New London Group, 1996), this dissertation reports on the implementation of a fourth semester French curriculum informed by Cope and Kalantzis's (2000, 2009, 2015) framework of learning by design, with a focus on visual and critical media literacy development to enable intermediate French students to consider multimodal texts from the perspective of consumers as well as producers and to understand the meaning potential that exists between and within the semiotic resources afforded in media production (Nelson and Kern, 2012). Drawing upon "the value of postmethod [and] postlinguistic teaching… which are not looking at language learning in the traditional sense… [but] rather at learners’ acquisition of… the ability to reflect on textualization and contextualization, considering language as one important dimension of semiosis among others" (Nelson and Kern, 2012, p. 61), this dissertation project examined how the frameworks of visual and critical media literacy within the process of design enhanced students' voice and agency in the foreign language classroom. The first inquiry aims to explore if and how a curriculum centered around visual and critical media literacies creates the conditions to 1) foster students' awareness of media ethics in the consumption and production of everyday media, and 2) engage students in a process of reflection upon the meanings created by semiotics resources used in mediated-texts, and their impact on shaping their vision of the world. Findings demonstrated that the implementation of visual and critical media literacy frameworks gave students the opportunity to reflect on their use of media and the ethical implications, and to foster students' greater understanding and interest in self-reflection and considerations of others. The second inquiry aims to demonstrate, through the production of digital storytelling, how instructors might address diversity in foreign language classrooms by 1) allowing students to connect universal themes (e.g. technology, friendship, immigration) with their personal stories, and 2) by giving them the opportunities to display their uniqueness by using their own voices and positioning themselves as participative agents for social change. Findings demonstrated that digital storytelling fosters classroom diversity by allowing the exploration of individual differences and enhancing the understanding of the distinctiveness of every individual. The third inquiry, a case study explores how Digital StoryTelling (DST) 1) contributes to students' understanding of the way semiotic resource choice and orchestration construct layers of meaning and satisfy the purposes of the message conveyed to the audience, and 2) supports students' agency through the process of design. Findings showed the potential of using multimodality projects as they allow students' emerging literacies to take center stage in the foreign language classroom and increase students’ agency and ‘semiotic agility’ (Prior, 2010; Thorne, 2013).

Students at an inner city school have low test results despite making progress. The study examines the problem that technology plans implemented by the Board of Education could not improve student achievement. Educational policy recommends to increasingly sustain teaching by educational technology. Therefore, this research examines the teacher knowledge necessary for technology integration in classes, and the ways this knowledge can be fostered. The theoretical framework of this study integrates 2 prominent theories of instructional science: learning by design (LBD) and technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK). The relationship between LBD, TPACK, and technology integration in the classroom was examined. The assumption was made that LBD and TPACK predict technology integration, and that TPACK mediates the relationship between LBD and technology integration. A correlational study was carried out with a sample of N = 109 in-service, secondary, mathematics teachers from an inner city school. The data were collected using a previously validated questionnaire survey and initially analyzed by multiple regression analysis. However, the measured variables displayed nonlinear relationships, suggesting that, while TPACK partially mediates the LBD-TI relationship as hypothesized, technological knowledge had a saturation effect on TI, and thus high scores of both LBD and TPACK decreased TI. The study shows at a theoretical level how teachers can benefit from LBD experiences resulting in TPACK and how likely they combine technology with teaching. For the practice of teacher leadership, this study will suggest effective forms of professional development, thus improving teaching quality and enabling positive social change.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of students in an implementation of &ldquo / Learning by Design&rdquo / method through a web based learning environment. The information gathered from the students enrolled in the undergraduate course / &ldquo / Foundations of Distance Education&rdquo / in 2009 Summer School and 2009-2010 Fall Semesters was evaluated. The course was given in blended form, i.e. face to face lessons and online instructional activities were performed together. In the web based part of the course, several educational modules of an open source learning management system (LMS), such as quizzes, forums, lesson pages, wiki pages, mail interface etc. were used. The students were responsible for implementing an educational course site on the LMS platform, using the course curriculum applications. Within the scope of this thesis, the perceptions of the students about course-related projects, and online and classroom activities were investigated through interviews and questionnaires. The academic development of students was also considered in the study. Additionally, several informal interviews were also done with the instructor of the course in order to investigate his perceptions about the conduct of the course. Questionnaire results have been analyzed quantitatively and face to face interview results have been analyzed qualitatively. Both quantitative and qualitative data indicated that the students&rsquo / perceptions about how the course was conducted and the learning by design activities were generally positive. Especially the project work, which was assigned as a requisite of the learning by design method, was pointed out as a positive factor in students&#039 / learning of the subject matter both in the questionnaires and in the face to face interviews. Another important finding of the interview and questionnaire results was that the communication between the instructor and the students contributed positively to not only learning the course content but the quality of the projects as well. As an outcome of this study, many important factors, which lead to successful results in implementation of learning by design method in a web based environment, have been identified. These results are presented in detail in the &#039 / Discussion and Recommendations&#039 / section.

The ability to interpret and apply experiences, or cases (Kolodner, 1993; 1997) is a skill (Anderson, et. al, 1981; Anderson, 2000) that is key to successful learning that can be transferred (Bransford, Brown and Cocking, 1999) to new learning situations. For middle-schoolers in a project-based inquiry science classroom, interpreting and applying the experiences of experts to inform their design solutions is not always easy (Owensby and Kolodner, 2002). Interpreting and applying an expert case and then assessing the solution that results from that application are the components of a process I call case use. This work seeks to answer three questions: 1. How do small-group case use capabilities develop over time? 2. How well are students able to apply case use skills in new situations over time? 3. What difficulties do learners have as they learn case use skills and as they apply case use skills in new situations? What do these difficulties suggest about how software might further support cognitive skill development using a cognitive apprenticeship (Collins, Brown and Newman, 1989) framework? I argue that if learners in project based inquiry classrooms are able to understand, engage in, and carry out the processes involved in interpreting and applying expert cases effectively, then they will be able to do several things. They will learn those process and be able to read an expert case for understanding, glean the lessons they can learn from it, and apply those lessons to their question or challenge. Furthermore, I argue that they may also be able to transfer interpretation, application, and assessment skills to other learning situations where application of cases is appropriate.

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The multiliteracies pedagogy of the New London Group is a response to the emergence of new literacies and changing forms of meaning-making in contemporary contexts of increased cultural and linguistic diversity. This critical ethnographic research investigates the interactions between pedagogy, power, discourses, and differential access to multiliteracies, among a group of culturally and linguistically diverse learners in a mainstream Australian classroom. The study documents the way in which a teacher enacted the multiliteracies pedagogy through a series of mediabased lessons with her year six (aged 11-12 years) class. The reporting of this research is timely because the multiliteracies pedagogy has become a key feature of Australian educational policy initiatives and syllabus requirements. The methodology of this study was based on Carspecken's critical ethnography. This method includes five stages: Stage One involved eighteen days of observational data collection over the course of ten weeks in the classroom. The multiliteracies lessons aimed to enable learners to collaboratively design a claymation movie. Stage Two was the initial analysis of data, including verbatim transcribing, coding, and applying analytic tools to the data. Stage Three involved semi-structured, forty-five minute interviews with the principal, teacher, and four culturally and linguistically diverse students. In Stages Four and Five, the results of micro-level data analysis were compared with macro-level phenomena using structuration theory and extant literature about access to multiliteracies. The key finding was that students' access to multiliteracies differed among the culturally and linguistically diverse group. Existing degrees of access were reproduced, based on the learners' relation to the dominant culture. In the context of the media-based lessons in which students designed claymation movies, students from Anglo-Australian, middle-class backgrounds had greater access to transformed designing than those who were culturally marginalised. These experiences were mediated by pedagogy, power, and discourses in the classroom, which were in turn influenced by the agency of individuals. The individuals were both enabled and constrained by structures of power within the school and the wider educational and social systems. Recommendations arising from the study were provided for teachers, principals, policy makers and researchers who seek to monitor and facilitate the success of the multiliteracies pedagogy in culturally and linguistically diverse educational contexts.