AbstractsEducation Research & Administration

Intuitions have received little attention in learning and education largely due to the difficulty in defining what intuitions are and their potential benefit (or detriment) to learning. The research on intuitions has been encouraging, yet the methods employed to study these intuitions often involve learners – some with considerable background and/or prior domain knowledge – expressing their thinking, a priori, about some phenomena they have encountered. If, however, intuitions help individuals make sense of unfamiliar and new phenomena encountered in the world, then steps should be taken to encourage learners to use their intuitions as they encounter these phenomena. The findings in this dissertation suggest that even over small amounts of time, young children can think and produce materials that are beyond what was initially thought to be developmentally appropriate. Further still, engaging young learners in a discourse that values intuitions is important and activities grounded in practices that encourage children to be actively involved in making a tangible artifact helps in the construction of knowledge. Furthermore, curricular designs grounded in a constructionist theory of learning and teaching and mediated by technology may be advantageous for music educators because they encourage students to engage in what musicians do (e.g., create music).