The need to improvise and take action as a practitioner draws on Schwab's notion of deliberation and the Greek concept of poiesis. Inspired by an impromptu discussion with students at a computer summer camp, the author uses the works of Sarason, Eisner, and Stenhouse to show how practitioner performance, student audience, educational inquiry,…

This study uses qualitative content analysis to examine 355 open-ended questions, presented by 16-19-year-old international students, to find out what students want to learn about climate change. The study finds that students have a high level of consideration toward scientific, societal, and ethical aspects of climate change and that students'…

Environmental education (EE) facilitates students' scientific and environmental literacy, and addresses content areas including sustainability, ecology, and civic responsibility. However, U.S. science content compartmentalization and EE's interdisciplinary nature historically made it a fragmented curriculum within U.S. schools. To gain a better…

Given global threats to the continued functioning of ecosystem services that sustain us all, educators would be wise to embrace the task of redefining our individual and collective orientations to the natural world. Since the inception of the modern environmental education movement in the 1970's, outdoor education at residential camps has…

Parents and children are rapidly adopting mobile technologies, yet designs for mobile devices that serve a communication function to connect parents to children's out-of-school time activities are limited. As a result, our team designed the Digital Postcard Maker so that children attending summer camps can create digital photographs to send…

Residential environmental education centers are important providers of science curriculum, offering students learning experiences outside the traditional classroom. One major criticism of these centers and other nonformal science centers is that they often do not include student outcomes in the evaluation of their programs. The purpose of this…

How do young people experience camp, and how might that experience help us expand our understanding of what is possible in non-formal learning environments? In-depth interviews consisting of forced-choice and open-ended questions were conducted with 59 Concordia Language Villages residential camp participants who partake in a linguistically and…

Problem: Leaders today need a new set of knowledge and skills to be effective in collaborative environments. The focus of this study was to investigate how collaborative environments can contribute to leadership development. The purpose of this study was to describe how the collaborative environment of summer camp helped shape emerging adults as…

This article presents the author's response to Joseph Reimer's essay titled, "Beyond More Jews Doing Jewish: Clarifying the Goals of Informal Jewish Education." Joseph Reimer states that the challenge for informal education is to move beyond socialization to clarify and achieve "deeper" educational goals. Distinguishing between…

Females, students of color, and students of low socioeconomic status (SES) are often underserved or marginalized in mathematics education. However, some instructional approaches and intervention programs have been shown to educate these students more equitably. This study examines how girls of diverse racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds…

This guide brings together three types of resources for educators who need information about foreign language camps. A directory describes 26 such camps in 17 states. A contact person is listed for each camp. The Ohio University Summer Language Camp is then described in detail. Subjects covered include staffing, fees, activities for each time of…

With imagination and connections, camps can plan enjoyable educational programs on minimal budgets. Primary resources should include counseling staff, camp physical resources, and "special days." Local libraries, Red Cross, YMCA, social services, substance abuse centers, and other human service organizations often provide speakers,…

Reports on a study conducted in Spain in which the environmental preferences of 11 to 14-year-old children were examined using a collection of photographs. Results include the indication that the environmental attitudes of children attending a 15-day nature camp changed noticeably in at least five different aspects. (TW)

Mountain School, run by North Cascades Institute, is a camp in North Cascades National Park, Washington, where elementary school students spend 48 hours living and learning about science and the environment. In addition to science and nature, responsibility and teamwork are taught. Describes innovative instructional methods used, such as…

An educational program that provides small group living experiences for 450 to 500 young Hungarian students annually and that emphasizes the importance of reading and of an appreciation for the arts and sciences is described in this booklet. An explanation of the "camp for young readers" concept is presented in the first section,…