All children have the capacity to express themselves musically and to have music be an important part of their lives. In most states classroom teachers in the primary grades are expected to provide all instruction in music, often without supervision or assistance. The idea of the classroom teacher teaching music is not new. This has been a pattern of musical instruction in the elementary schools throughout the history of our country. Teachers cannot teach material they do not know and in which they are not interested. Most classroom teachers welcome new ideas and attractive materials for use in teaching music to children in their classrooms. This dissertation presents a pattern of musical preparation for prospective primary classroom teachers based on an eclectic approach which focuses on the selected pedagogical principles of Kodály, Orff, and Dalcroze. The main body of the dissertation consists of a two semester sequence of instruction organized in thirty lessons based on a vocal approach and emphasizing movement. It includes resource materials such as lists of books on the teaching of music and dance, recordings, films and filmstrips, and song collections. More than 100 songs are used in a variety of ways as are rhymes and movement activities.

Cette thèse de doctorat porte sur les fonctions exécutives (FE) chez les enfants. Les FE sont les processus cognitifs qui permettent aux individus de contrôler consciemment les pensées et les actions au quotidien (Jurado & Rosselli, 2007; Shallice, 1988). Elles regroupent un grand nombre de processus cognitifs, comme la planification et la résolution de problème, bien que les modèles plus récents mettent en évidence trois composantes principales, soit l’inhibition, la flexibilité et la mémoire de travail (Miyake et al., 2000). Les FE font l’objet d’un intérêt croissant en recherche en raison du fait qu’elles forment un concept clé impliqué dans plusieurs domaines de fonctionnement de l’enfant, y compris la santé, le bien-être général, les capacités d’apprentissage et d’autorégulation émotionnelle. À cet égard et depuis plusieurs années, une foulée de travaux s’intéresse, d’un côté, aux liens entre les FE et les apprentissages, plus particulièrement la lecture, et d’un autre côté, aux liens entre les FE et les difficultés émotionnelles, plus particulièrement les comportements perturbateurs. Cependant, les résultats nombreux et parfois inconsistants permettent difficilement de dégager des conclusions claires quant aux liens entre les FE, la lecture et les comportements perturbateurs. Cette thèse, constituée de deux articles, s’intéresse donc aux FE et à ses relations avec ces deux variables. Le premier article, sous forme de recension des écrits, examine les connaissances actuelles portant sur les associations entre les FE, plus précisément, l’inhibition, la flexibilité et la mémoire de travail puis les habiletés en lecture, soit le décodage et la compréhension. Les conclusions de la recension des écrits révèlent un lien général entre les FE, en particulier la mémoire de travail, et les deux composantes de la lecture. Le second article, de nature empirique explore, pour sa part, les profils exécutifs et attentionnels d’enfants âgés entre 6 et 14 ans, recrutés dans des écoles du Québec et ayant des comportements perturbateurs, en concomitance ou non avec des comportements associés au trouble du déficit de l’attention avec hyperactivité-impulsivité (TDAH). Les résultats suggèrent que les jeunes ayant des comportements perturbateurs présentent des difficultés exécutives et attentionnelles, plus particulièrement sur le plan de l’inhibition cognitive, de la résolution de problèmes/planification et de l’attention soutenue visuelle, comparativement aux enfants sans difficultés particulières, et que ces difficultés sont similaires à celles présentées par les jeunes des groupes avec un TDAH et des comportements perturbateurs concomitants ou uniquement un TDAH. En conclusion et sur les bases des résultats des deux articles présentés, l’importance et la contribution des FE dans le développement de l’enfant sont discutées de même que les forces et les limites inhérentes au travail de recherche ici présenté. Sur le plan pratique, l’association significative des FE avec la lecture et les comportements perturbateurs fait des FE une cible potentielle d’intervention et plusieurs avenues en ce sens sont proposées.

Testing is the most common way to assess student learning at all ages and grade levels. Testing is traditionally viewed as a measure of knowledge, and not as a way to enhance learning. Nonetheless, a large body of literature demonstrates that testing is actually an effective way to facilitate learning and enhance long-term memory for information. This finding, that retrieval of information from memory leads to better retention than re-studying or re-reading the same information, has been termed the testing effect. The benefit of testing compared to review of material is typically seen after a delay between practice and final test, with review being a better strategy when the test is given immediately or after a short delay. This phenomenon has been shown across a variety of contexts, test formats, retention intervals, and ranges of ages and abilities. However, one domain in which the testing effect has not been shown to work is in the review of student-produced lecture notes. Lecture note-taking is a ubiquitous learning strategy and notes have been shown to be highly correlated with academic outcomes such as test performance and GPA. Note-taking in itself is a cognitively demanding process, and students often struggle to take accurate and complete notes from lecture, thus limiting the benefits of note-taking and review. There is limited research on ways to improve the review function of notes. Thus, this dissertation sought to understand the effect of integrating the testing effect into the context of lecture note-taking on memory for information compared to review of notes and a lecture-only control. A sample of 59 high school students watched a video lecture and took notes on the information. The lecture was divided into three sections with two-minute pauses in between each segment. During each pause, students were asked to either reread their notes from the previous section (review group), recall and write down what they remembered to be the most important ideas from the lecture they were just shown (self-testing group), or complete a distractor word search puzzle for the duration of the pause (lecture-only control group). Participants were given a written recall test of lecture information following a one-day delay. Comparisons were made between lecture groups on test performance and note quantity. Measures of sustained attention and mind-wandering during lecture were examined as covariates. While participants in the self-testing group scored higher on the written recall test, this difference did not reach statistical significance. Self-testing and reviewing notes during lecture pauses were both significantly better than lecture note-taking alone. Results also showed that it was actually the students in the review group who took significantly more notes than those in the lecture-only control. There was a main effect for time, indicating that students in all lecture groups took increasingly more notes as the lecture progressed. Note quantity was found to be a significant predictor of test performance. Examination of attentional variables showed that students who reported lower instances of mind-wandering took significantly more notes and did significantly better on the recall test. Further, students in the self-testing group reported less of an increase in mind-wandering as the lecture progressed compared to those in the control group. Differences between the results of this study and other studies in the testing effect literature are hypothesized to be due several factors, including complexity of lecture information, encoding difficulties, and the presentation of new information at each self-testing time point. Future research should continue to explore the testing effect in conjunction with note taking.

Many educational researchers have proposed teaching statistics with less lecture and more active learning methods. However, there are only a few comparative studies that have taught one section of statistics with lectures and one section with activity-based methods; of those studies, the results are contradictory. To address the need for more research on the actual effectiveness of active learning methods in introductory statistics, this research study was undertaken. An introductory, university level course was divided into two sections. One section was taught entirely with traditional lecture. The other section was taught using active learning methods and a minimal amount of lecture. Both sections were taught by the same instructor during the same semester. The experiment was repeated the next semester. Students' exam scores were analyzed to determine if the activity-based teaching approach led to higher student comprehension and understanding of statistical concepts, and the ability to apply statistical procedures. Surveys were also administered to students to ascertain if the lecture or activity-based approach led to higher, more positive student attitudes toward statistics. Analysis of the data did not show that the activity-based teaching method led to higher student comprehension or procedural ability. Neither teaching method led to signicantly higher student attitudes. Student comments indicated a positive response to the activity-based methods, but the responses also indicated a student desire for more teacher-centered time in the activity course.

No description available.

A lecture recital was given on July 14, 1975. The violin sonatas of Charles Ives are a unique and innovative addition to the violin repertoire and capture the New England Transcendental movement of the early twentieth century. In addition to the lecture recital, three other public recitals were performed, including solo compositions for violin and chamber works including violin.

The lecture recital, given on April 18, 1983, began with biographical background that suggests the influences on the compositional development of both the composer, Charles Widor, and the poet, Paul Bourget, of the Chanons de mer. Songs were chosen to examine the characteristics that not only enhance Widor's poetic rendering, but impart to the Chansons de mer the more intellectual appeal often desired in today's concert repertoire.

The lecture recital, given April 13, 1981, began with biographical background for Busoni's compositional development leading to his mature style, as found in the Toccata, the Carmen Fantasy, and the Mephisto Waltz. The three works--an original composition, an operatic paraphrase, and a transcription from an orchestral score--were then detailed with emphasis placed primarily on Busoni's aesthetic ideals in relation to the three works.

The dissertation consists of four recitals: one chamber music recital, two solo recitals, and one lecture recital. The repertoire of these programs was chosen with the intention of demonstrating the capability of the performer to deal with problems arising in works of varying types and of different historical periods.

The lecture recital was given on April 18, 1974. Some Mendelssohn organ works in manuscript were performed during the lecture to illustrate Mendelssohn's indebtedness to baroque models and his evolution as an organ composer.