Functional fixedness is related to excessive focusing on a specific functional property of an object. We assumed that the naming of other objects which possess the same functional property to a lesser extent than a given object can reduce the excessive focusing on this functional property for this object. It can help to loosen functional fixedness…

Children's oral language skills at the earliest stages of education are known to determine their success at school later on. Improving oral language skills is achievable through targeted intervention, and drama can be an effective intervention medium, but its potential has not been extensively evaluated to date. The present study piloted an…

Drawing from six-months of action research with spectacle theatre-makers in Chicago, this study explores multimodal, expeditionary practice of teaching artists who apprenticed girls through Redmoon Theatre's Dramagirls program. Concepts of new literacy design and aesthetic experience illustrate teaching in socio-semiotic and material worldcraft,…

Wonder-full education recognises experiences of wonder as lying at the heart of learning and education. If we accept the premise that wonder is important for/in education, what should characterise wonder-full education? This paper clarifies what it is like to wonder, how the aims of wonder-full education are best described, and it discusses three…

The goal was to assess the effects of a Theatrical Improvisation programme on students' motor creativity. 163 Secondary Education students participated: the experimental group, who experienced a Theatrical Improvisation unit, and the comparison group, who experienced a Drama in Education unit (based on the current Spanish educational law). A…

Critical pedagogy for music education (Abrahams, 2005), as influenced by Freire's (1970) conception of critical pedagogy, emphasizes the importance of deconstructing power imbalances between students and teachers, in addition to placing students' musical cultures at the forefront of learning. Though the Orff Schulwerk teaching approach is similar…

The Vygotskian preschool education program (VPEP) is built around mediation in the context of preschool age-specific activities such as sociodramatic play, constructive play, listening and retelling fairy tales, playing with dollhouses, motor activities, and some others. We used the VPEP as part of the daily curriculum in two pre-K classes at PS…

In order to promote children's collaborative musical creativity in new digital environments, we need a better understanding not only of the sound production capabilities provided by the new digital tools, but also of the interaction affordances involved. This study focuses on the interactional patterns emerging in children's musical creativity,…

In longitudinal studies, measurement invariance is required to conduct substantive comparisons over time or across groups. In this study, we examined measurement invariance on a recently developed instrument capturing student preferences for seven instructional strategies related to science learning and career interest. We have labeled these seven…

Background/Context: There is a convergence of evidence that the quality of children's early care and education (ECE) experiences is critical for promoting children's development (Gormley, Phillips, & Gayer, 2008). Curriculum combined with professional development is thought to be the "strongest hope" for promoting quality (Weiland…

For music students in the early stages of learning, the music may seem to be hidden behind the scores. To support home practising, Juntunen has created the "Playback Orchestra" method with which the students can practise with the support of the notation program playback of the full orchestra. The results of testing the method with…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the effect of ear playing instruction on adult amateur wind instrumentalists' musical self-efficacy. Ten volunteer members of a community band in a small town in Ohio completed the "Ear Playing Profile" both prior to and following an eight-week period of instruction in playing by ear…

This article presents excerpts from a case study describing Angelica Dawson, a New York State music educator. Angelica makes improvisation a central part of her curricula in ways that transcend traditional offerings prevalent in American public schools. Qualitative research methods were used to document Angelica's work over the course of an…

The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of integrating the mobile and CAD technology on teaching architectural design process for Malaysian polytechnic architectural students in producing a creative product. The website is set up based on Caroll's minimal theory, while mobile and CAD technology integration is based on Brown and…

Explains the value of using movies to teach students some acting principles. Analyzes two recent films, "Crimson Tide" and "The Bridges of Madison County," and develops some acting exercises based on the two movies. Describes some of the differences and similarities between film and theater. Argues that Alfred Hitchcock's…