Context

This module is designed for pre-service music educators enrolled in a secondary general music methods class who have been introduced to engaged learning, MIDI technology, creative thinking in music, and lesson planning, thus should be preceded by Modules 1 and 2, as well as practice experiences in MIDI composition and writing instructional plans. It requires students to design a music composition lesson that incorporates the principles of engaged learning and reflects their basic understanding of MIDI. The module can be completed in two fifty-minute classes.

Description

Students are introduced to the use of an analysis tool for engaged learning through reading and discussion of the following NCREL resource:
• the table "Indicators of Engaged Learning" from the Plugging In text.
In completing this module, students individually design a MIDI-based music composition lesson, then work together to identify features of each other’s lessons that support engaged learning.

Goals and Objectives

The purpose of this module is to encourage students to:
• design a MIDI-based music composition lesson plan that makes use of engaged learning principles.
• adopt a method for systematically analyzing the quantity and quality of engaged learning features in the lesson plans they design.

Students will:
• read and discuss a table of engaged learning indicators.
• design a MIDI-based music composition lesson plan according to guidelines presented in class.
• evaluate each other’s lessons in peer groups using the table of engaged learning indicators, and share the results of these analyses.

Preparation

(First Meeting)
• study the table "Indicators of Engaged Learning" from the Plugging In text.

(Second Meeting)
• design MIDI-based music composition lesson plan using guidelines provided in class.

Resources

• Jones, B.F., Valdez, G., Nowakowski, J., & Rasmussen, C. (1995). Plugging in: Choosing and using educational technology. Washington, DC: Council for Educational Development and Research, p. 9.

Major Learning Activities

(First Meeting)
• discuss the reading as a class, making the distinction between "variables" and "indicators" in the table.
• explain to students that they will develop lesson plans that will be analyzed using this table.
• encourage students to select a topic for a thirty-minute MIDI-based music composition lesson that has the following characteristics:

• is conceptually-based (draws students’ attention and efforts to the melodic, temporal, dynamic, timbral, textural, formal, functional and/or expressive features of the music)
• makes use of creative thinking in music
• provides tangible parameters that will focus their creative efforts
• allows students to work in groups
• maximizes students' freedom to make artistic choices
• requires students to reflect on their work in a systematic way

• students should be provided with examples of lessons that meet these guidelines, but be encouraged to think creatively and "individualize" their lesson plans as they desire.

• ask students to structure their lessons according to the format presented in previous classes, as follows:

• Concepts (what do you want students to learn?)
• Objectives (what experiences will lead to that learning?)
• Materials (what do you need to provide those experiences?)
• Procedures (how will you structure those experiences?)
• Closure (how will you ask students to demonstrate their new skills and knowledge?)
• Evaluation (how will you determine whether your lesson was effective?)

(Second Meeting)
• as a class, students share their ideas for lessons, with the discussion focusing on these issues:

• what is the role of students?
• what is the role of the teacher?
• what are the characteristics of the learning task?
• what are the characteristics of the assessment?

• in pairs of students, each student analyzes his/her partner's lesson plan using the table of engaged learning indicators, finding one indicator per variable which characterizes the lesson.
• returning to the full class, students share their analyses of peer lesson plans, indicating whether one indicator from each variable was present in the lesson.

Assessment

Assessment should be based on the students’:
• ability to design a lesson plan according to the prescribed format.
• sharing of their own lesson plans and evaluating their partner’s plan using the table of engaged learning indicators.

Instructor Reflection

This is the students’ first opportunity to make practical use of engaged learning principles. Because engaged learning principles are closely related to the principles of creative thinking in music, the students are given extensive opportunities to make these connections, both in independent lesson design as well as peer discussion.