This study is concerned with pre-existing beliefs or preconceptions teacher candidates bring to their methods classes. It specifically addresses students in art education methods classes at a middle sized midwestern university and the population of generalist teachers the classes serve. The research question is particularly important because of the emergence of a new theory for delivering art education, discipline-based art education (DBAE) (Greer, 1984), that has challenged the existing art education paradigm. The study draws heavily on curriculum enactment research (Doyle, 1978). Through interviews with two groups of students, one entering and one exiting the teacher education program, the research seeks to identify and analyze the persistence of students' preconceptions about art and art education. The study's analytical framework is drawn from two bodies of research: (1) science and math studies concerning preconceptions held by students about subject matter; and, (2) studies of teachers and teacher candidates regarding the effect of their implicit beliefs on instructional choice and activities. The study finds that students have various preconceptions. Students believe that art is significantly different from other subjects. Instruction and evaluation are not deemed appropriate. Students believe that providing instruction or setting limits in an art activity is likely to restrict their students' creativity, and that any evaluation is a threat to students' self satisfaction. Entering students believe that talent is a genetic trait and can be improved very little by instruction. A prevalent preconception about observing and analyzing art is that all explanations for an artwork are equally valid since only the artist knows the real meaning behind the work. Despite a curriculum that was designed to teach students a discipline-based approach to art education, a model that emphasized the value of instruction, analysis and evaluation, many of the students' perceptions persisted. Most surprisingly, and importantly, preconceptions concerning talent and training, and instruction persisted. Although students moved toward a DBAE paradigm in some of their beliefs, in most respects students' preconceptions remained unchanged by the art methods classes.

This study set out to establish and record headteachers’ and teachers’ perceptions of the role of collegial teams in enhancing continuous instructional improvement. The concept collegial teams is based on the collegial model. The model advocates that for instructional improvement, teachers ought to work together as colleagues. The study began by investigating whether the participants had the basic understanding of collegial teams in the first place. It then established whether the teams exist in the selected schools. It proceeded to find out how these teams operate and whether they play any role in enhancing continuous instructional improvement. Furthermore, the study solicited respondents’ perceptions of the obstacles that hinder the operation of the teams. Lastly, the study made effort to obtain respondents’ recommendations on how best to improve the operation of the teams. This study has found that headteachers and teachers perceive collegial teams as playing a very significant role in enhancing continuous instructional improvement. The degree of the role was found to hinge on the headteacher’s attitude and support of the teams. These two elements in turn determined the degree of the teachers’ empowerment by the headteacher. Empowerment in this study is synonymous with treating teachers as professionals. Where empowerment prevailed, professional interaction arid collaboration tended to prevail also. The latter seem to result in the deepening of subject content and increasing diversification of teaching strategies as teachers work together zmd share ideas. The ultimate result of teachers’ working as colleagues was noticeable improvement in students’ performance. However, contextual factors tended to affect some teams negatively more than others apparently depending on each team’s ‘mastery’ of group dynamics. Finally, among others, two key recommendations were made; in school A, working on the master time- table in order to accommodate peer evaluation was recommended. In school B, it was recommended that teamwork be built on the good elements of the teacher assessment form over which teachers have no control.

The purpose of this study was to describe the implementation of a major curriculum change at the fifth grade level in two different school district settings; an urban district and a suburban district. The major curriculum change was a shift from traditional reading and language arts instructional approaches to an Integrated Whole Language instructional approach. The implementation of this change was examined on the basis of self-reports by administrators, teachers, and students and was analyzed in the context of organizational factors in schools that have typically influenced change. These included school district demographics, the decision making process, administrative support, inservice training, the principal's leadership role, and resources available. Additionally, the study investigated the relationship between teacher self-reported implementation behaviors and student self-reported attitudes and behaviors related to reading and writing. A blend of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies was employed to describe the implementation as a change process. Extensive descriptive data was collected from school districts, individual schools, administrators and teachers. Teacher administrator interviews were conducted to develop description of organizational factors, and teachers reported their implementation behaviors on a questionnaire. Teacher implementation scores were used to describe difference between teachers, schools, and districts. A major conclusion was that change is an individual and developmental process. Differences existed in teacher implementation scores and perceptions of the change. It was also concluded that significant differences between administrator and teacher interview responses were related to different knowledge and involvement levels, and a reported lack of principal support. Within school differences and between district differences were found and were related to contextual factors.

Thesis (M.A. (Psychology) - Rhodes University, 2000.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2005. / "August 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 208-212). Online version available on the World Wide Web. Library also has microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [2005]. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 205-233). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-89). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-89). Also available on the Internet.

The purpose of this thesis was to show that cooperative learning strategies are suitable teaching techniques for the instruction of undergraduate music theory. Literature in music theory pedagogy has concentrated primarily on content-based teaching issues and offers little information on the range of teaching techniques available for promoting student learning. Many instructors may be relying on traditional teaching methods with which they are familiar-lectures, lecture-demonstrations and teacher-led discussions-to instruct tonal theory classes and may not be aware of cooperative learning or its potential usefulness as another instructional strategy. The body of this thesis is divided into three main sections. The opening section demonstrates how traditional teaching methods alone fail to meet many learning needs of students and points to cooperative learning strategies as one alternative method that addresses these needs. In the next section, cooperative learning is further defined in order to differentiate it from traditional group work. The third and largest section contains ten sample lesson plans based on topics central to first- and second-year tonal harmony courses. Each lesson includes at least one cooperative learning technique and a discussion of why the particular technique was applied to the topic. Instructors of tonal harmony who are looking for additional teaching strategies that actively involve the learners should consider using cooperative learning. The sample lesson plans offered in this thesis illustrate how these techniques may be used either briefly in conjunction with more traditional methods or on their own in more extensive activities. Variety within cooperative learning strategies has also been demonstrated by providing techniques ranging from simple, user-friendly ideas for the inexperienced, to more complex and challenging activities requiring higher levels of experience and collaborative skills. A selected bibliography is included to assist readers in becoming familiar with some of the resources available to those who use cooperative groups for instruction.

Much confusion surrounds the term 'self-directed learning', which presently describes a process, a goal, a teaching technique, and an outcome of that teaching. As a process, the literature concentrates mainly on how individuals learn, with little reference to groups that can be as selfdirected as individuals. The purposes of this study were: (a) to reduce conceptual confusion by creating a typology distinguishing different processes of self-directed learning; (b) to explore the phenomenon of group self-directed learning; and (c) to illustrate the effect of environment on learning, and the complex learning dynamics in group settings. This project arose somewhat differently from typical doctoral research. Data from two unrelated field studies conducted for other purposes, completed before this thesis work began, each illustrated self-directed groups learning informally in the contexts of community action and innovative small workplaces. A subsequent review of the literature indicated a lack of attention to this form of group learning, and the field studies were then re-analyzed from this perspective. As a result of the literature review and data re-analysis (1) a typology emerged from the literature review that divides the process of self-directed learning into three forms, each of which is context sensitive but between which learners can continually move back and forth; (2) it appears that the term 'autodidactic' can apply to specific groups which are both self-organized and self-directed in their learning efforts; and (3) that the term 'autodidaxy' as presently defined is as conceptually confusing as the term 'self-directed learning'. This confusion is reduced by the typology proposed by this thesis. Minor findings indicate two continuing problems. The first is reluctance by some to accord non-credentialed learning the value it deserves, and the second is the difficulty often encountered in transferring knowledge from the site of learning to the site of application. This study concludes that 'informalizing' some formal curricula, and encouraging self-directed learning at all levels and in all contexts, may provide some of the tools necessary for living and learning in the twenty-first century.