Design and Development of an Emotional Management Workshop: Toning Effects on Attitudes of Adult Yoga Students

ABSTRACT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP: TONING EFFECTS ON ATTITUDES OF ADULT YOGA STUDENTS by © Andreini McPherson-Husbands 2010 Masters of Science in Instructional Design and Technology California State University, Chico Spring 2010 Improving the chanting component of a yoga class for a yoga practitioner was one of the primary goals of this project. The other was to provide the yoga practitioner and prospective yoga students an introduction to toning, its benefits, and its relationship to and management of their own emotions. A Nine Elemental Instructional Design Model (Morrison, Ross & Kemp, 2001) was used to develop an introductory educational unit on the topic of toning, a foundational technique that underlies chanting. The unit was used in conjunction with collaborative and experiential learning activities in a workshop format. A biofeedback system for vocal profiling was used to analyze and generate participants’ voice prints before and after toning. The prints displayed a quantitative outcome and offered x participants real-time measurement of the frequency imbalances within their own voices. Participants were then introduced to the relationship between toning and emotion through emotional aspects associated with the frequencies in their voice prints and by applying a prescribed tone via the toning technique learned in the workshop to augment those frequencies that were out of balance. Complementary instructional materials were developed for the workshop consisting of an Administrative/ Instructor Guide, PowerPoint Presentation, and two handouts: 1) Emotional Characteristics of the Notes, and 2) Toning and Emotional Management Guide. The workshop was developed as a prototype, and a formative evaluation was conducted during the workshop to determine what effects toning had on the attitudes of adult yoga students, as well as how effective the workshop activities were delivered to the target audience. The project’s results revealed two main findings: 1) positive reactions from participants and the instructor during and after the pilot run of the workshop, and 2) the time allowed for the workshop was insufficient. The project established the workshop prototype as a demonstration of how the workshop would look and work and what could or would be produced as a final deliverable. If given sufficient time, the Toning and Emotional Management Workshop has the capability of delivering effective instruction on the subject of toning. It also has the ability to engage, influence, and attain learners’ satisfaction with varied activities, and attractive user-friendly materials.