Fourth-grade students went to Foxfire Center (Mountain City, Georgia) to learn through experience how pioneers of the 1800s lived a typical day. Their school, Isaac Dickson Elementary in Asheville, North Carolina, has implemented the Foxfire Core Practices. Students learned survival skills, edible-plants identification, crafts, and cooking, and…

These new paperbacks and recent paperback reprints present simple and complex math concepts as engaging, challenging puzzles and can make math fun for children from preschool through primary grades. (Author/AEF)

Outlines a classroom exercise that assists white undergraduates in recognizing their racial privilege and the effects of racism. Forces students to unknowingly assume roles analogous to those held by dominant and nondominant social groups while working in collaborative groups. Reports that students' reflections on the project provide evidence of…

At the Institute of Silviculture at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, students learn to cross-link ecological, socio-economic and technical knowledge of maintaining, regenerating, tending and utilizing forests in a sustainable way. They learn complex concepts and processes most successfully when they are…

The curriculum is packed with so much content that teachers resort to telling students what they know and students simply commit facts to memory. The packed curriculum leaves little time for students to acquire a deep understanding of the subject or to develop life-long skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and communication. However,…

In an Adolescent Development course at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, activities are employed to encourage students to become active learners, to become critical consumers of information regarding adolescents, and to develop an empathetic understanding of adolescents and their experiences. One activity that promotes critical thinking…

Sport facility design and management courses rely heavily or exclusively upon lectures and readings--modes of instruction that engage students in a passive form of learning. This paper advocates one method of stimulating higher-level thinking and active learning in facility courses--the use of cooperative small-group learning. In facility courses,…

When studying nature and its wonders, children need to be the explorers, the innovators, and the teachers. The adult assumes the role of a facilitator, an observer, and a mediator. If the adult in a given situation is simultaneously and genuinely exploring the area (not just observing children acting upon it), then a bridge may be started to the…

This book offers suggestions to help parents make their children successful readers and learners. The first chapter, Getting Started, discusses setting an example, being a tutor, creating a positive environment, and letting children be the stars. The second chapter, The Reading Process: Building Meaning, discusses setting a purpose, stages of the…

When competing with mass media and other forms of information delivery, a verbal lecture does not have enough sensory impression. What students read in a passive framework is barely remembered, less so in pre-examination cramming. Weaker students have difficulties in reading, most notably with abstract and mathematical concepts. These problems are…

Presents classroom science activities dealing with flotation, which may be presented at different levels of cognitive complexity. The activities involve observing various objects in carbonated soda and deal with concepts of weight, volume, and density. Describes a Cartesian Diver activity that allows further examination of the effects of…

Examines the impact of learning activities and college environments on learning. The GRE Verbal and Quantitative subtest scores for a national sample (N=2,281) of students were dependent variables. Student involvement in learning activities and environments that were most directly related to the learning outcomes enhanced learning. Studies of…

Discussion of constructivist learning environments and the instructor's role focuses on interaction in electronic learning (elearning) environments. Highlights include learning-centered environments; situated learning; pre-learning activities; active learning; interactive learning; interaction with content, peers, and instructor; feedback and…

Maintains that string playing, rhythm, pitch, and tone quality are all dependent on the movement and coordination of the player. Presents a rhythmic focus lesson plan for students who need improvement in rhythm skills. Includes a lesson plan diagram and suggested teacher resources. (CFR)

Reports on an experience using a teaching technique designed to promote active learning in an undergraduate social-problems course through student analysis of real social data. Discusses course materials and teaching procedures used, advantages and disadvantages of the approach, and student reactions. (DSK)