Examines the learning profiles of students in political science courses at a private liberal arts college. Using the Kolb Learning Style Model, demonstrates that students in political science courses use a variety of learning styles. Suggests that instructors expand their teaching methods to address a broader number of learning styles. (DSK)

A student-initiated nature center project began six years ago when the original participants were in fifth grade. The students did the research, planning, construction, grant writing, and accounting and tied it all to Colorado state standards. Student engagement and self-confidence grew from a sense of responsibility and from knowing that the…

Focuses on how to help children use everyday conversation to develop a scientific point of view by facilitating the interplay between experience and language. Argues that enhanced language skills enable children to better communicate their observations, draw conclusions from what they have observed, and discover patterns in their conclusions. (SD)

Describes a web-based clearinghouse for information relevant to an experiential learning program in Afro-American Studies at the University of Maryland. The interactive, online learning community connects theory and practice, various constituencies, and diverse forms of experiential learning. Problems with Internet use include limited minority…

Experiential education is not just experiential learning, but also a philosophy of education that involves the interaction between learner and teacher and recognizes the larger system-level issues within education. Viewing experiential education as a philosophy allows for its various expressions to argue collectively for educational reform that…

The principles of experiential education were applied to a traditional teacher education course through use of a reflective framework that enabled students to study themselves as learners through analysis, synthesis, and theorizing. Reflecting on how they learn empowered students to better manage their own learning and consequently enabled them to…

Explains how high quality early childhood programs address academics, including assessment, and are accountable to early childhood standards. Describes how the early childhood learning situation that looks very much like play is actually a carefully designed and organized learning environment that provides structure, stimulation, and support for…

A resource vision teacher describes activities to develop skills in solving mathematical word problems by three seventh graders with severe visual impairments. Students kept portfolios of problems they actually experienced in their daily lives. Success was achieved through providing an optimal environment, active involvement, self-assessment, and…

Fifteen high school students and adults from Idaho traveled to Mexico to assist the One World Workforce with monitoring the nests of olive ridley sea turtles. Only 1 percent of these endangered turtles mature to adulthood. The volunteers protected the eggs from poachers and helped the hatchlings get safely to the water. (TD)

The Bird Discovery Box, designed for teachers who want to teach a bird unit, contains tools designed to help educators and students familiarize themselves with birds by sight and sound and understand bird habitats. The box also helps in creating a habitat for birds in the schoolyard. Contains field guides and other resources, binoculars, a…

Summarizes the latest key brain research findings and invites educators to incorporate the biology of learning into teaching practices. Curriculum should be based on overarching concepts that help students understand and predict what is going on around them at school and in their communities. (PVD)

Third-grade students at Albion Public School (Albion, Nebraska) were linked with "special friends"--elderly residents at a local home. Students learned first-hand about the lives of the elderly, worked on related projects in school, shared activities with their new friends, and formed some very special relationships. (SV)

A 13-week teacher education program that incorporates Norwegian concepts of "friluftsliv" involves living outdoors and travelling to experience first-hand the land and different cultures. Understanding cultural forces that shape people, the meaning of community, and the inextricable relationship between people and nature initiates a…

The Discovery Center (Ashford, Connecticut) is a camp/university/school program that provides a positive diversity experience to preadolescents through experiential education in an outdoor, residential setting. Students from at least four cultural groups are mixed for all cabin and lab groups, and all camp activities are retooled to pursue the…

A Russian woman describes how living in remote Kamchatka helped her develop an aboriginal perspective. Chopping wood, hauling water, gathering food, alternately homeschooling her children and sending them to an ecological school, and interacting with local aboriginal people taught her the importance of conserving natural resources and living in…