Case Based Instructional Design for Developing Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Instrumental Music Teacher Education Courses: Problem Solving in Ensemble

The purpose of this instructional design project was to help preservice music teachers gain pedagogical content knowledge through case-based learning. Multimedia cases of problem-solving strategies in instrumental ensembles were developed and presented on a web-based platform, and implemented in university music teacher education course contexts.;Research has indicated the need to expand the type of learning resources and knowledge base for music teacher education, and to connect theory and practice more effectively to prepare qualified candidates adequately for the profession. Case-based learning has been advocated as an effective approach for helping preservice teachers to develop subject-specific teaching skills with a consideration of learning contexts through interactions with real-life situations and models of problem solving---referred to as pedagogical content knowledge.;The design research paradigm was used in this study for its capacity to connect educational research to everyday problems and issues through the application of systemic instructional design processes in authentic teaching and learning contexts. Three research questions guided the study: (1) What were the participants' perceptions and evaluations of the "Problem Solving in Instrumental Ensembles" case-based learning module at various phases of the instructional design process? (2) What does the preservice music teachers' learning assessment (pre-post) indicate about case learning and its capacity to develop pedagogical content knowledge? (3) What is learned from the application of ADDIE (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate) instructional design to develop a case-based learning module for instrumental music education? The results of the study led to conclusions in the following areas with implications for music teacher education research and practice: user values and needs in designing a case-based learning resource; pedagogical content knowledge from case-based learning; and factors for an effective design and research study.