The education system of the 21st century mainly accentuates on pragmatic and collaborative learning where field trip is one of the most prominent methods of learning. Considering this, Brac University arranges a lot of experiential learning activities. Visiting different programs of BRAC is one of them where every student of the university is…

Can reading a book about a boy and a hen in Ghana make a difference to fifth graders in their Michigan community? Indeed, it can, and in myriad ways. At a suburban elementary school in Michigan, the authors introduced fifth graders to economic concepts in a project-based learning (PBL) unit. They began by reading aloud and discussing the picture…

Drawing on experiences from a project conducted in the "Drentsche Aa" area in the Netherlands, this article discusses the concept of the "rural atelier" as a form of problem-based learning. The rural atelier principle was used originally in rural development planning and described as such by Foorthuis (2005) and Elerie and…

We live today in a "knowledge society", but "knowledge transfer" is no longer the dominant extension education paradigm. The principle of "learning to learn" and the concepts of self-directed, collaborative and action learning are more crucial today then ever. The key principles are to stimulate knowledge discovery…

Discusses three simulation games focusing on social and economic interaction that can be used to enhance understanding and sensitivity in development studies training: the Green Revolution Game (rural development in India), Exaction (a whole national society game commissioned by the World Bank), and Africulture (a new game about labor-scarce…

Wesley College, a private urban secondary school, sought a rural location where ninth-grade students could spend a term in a community-based, experientially-derived curriculum to enhance their sense of self and community. The small town of Clunes, in Victoria (Australia), accepted Wesley's initiative and since 2000, Wesley has operated a campus…

Rural communities with populations of under 15,000 are the least resilient to negative economic shocks, but local initiatives can reduce the negative impact of rapid economic change. Data from a study of three rural Australian communities and one "community-of-common-purpose" were used to develop a model of how the informal learning…

Hawkesbury Agricultural College (Australia) reformed their program with a student-centered curriculum and client-centered research and extension. The bases of the Systems Agriculture program are experiential learning and a systems approach. Staff and student learning projects meet the criteria of action research. (SK)

Over the last decade, there have been rapid developments in field methodologies within participatory approaches to rural and agricultural development. At the same time, the use of "soft systems" methodologies for bringing potentially conflictual or disparate actors together for action has spread from the business world to other applications. These…

Social capital helps communities respond positively to change. Research into managing change through learning in communities and in small businesses, particularly farm businesses, has highlighted the importance of relationships between people and the formal and informal structure of communities to the quality of outcomes experienced by…

Selected papers are as follows: "Member Perceptions of the Association for International Agricultural & Extension Education" (Eaton et al.); "Historical Review of U.S. Involvement in International Agricultural Education between World War II and Enactment of Title XII" (Thuemmel, Meaders); "Educational Needs of…

A 13-day workshop was conducted in Nigeria to train 60 community development workers in the educational use of popular theater for community-based adult education. Key goals were conscientization (a gradual learning process in which people look critically at their social situation to gain deeper understanding of the root causes of their problems)…