Describes the planning, implementation, and evaluation of an integrated student soil science project. Reports that the course was designed to develop student-centered approaches to learning and to develop transferable skills and personal qualities at the same time. Explains that the project included fieldwork, laboratory analysis, data…

Describes the Community-Based Arts Project in central New York State, which offers a course through Cornell University that allows students to explore local history and family traditions through storytelling. The steps of story collecting and sharing are a circular transaction of reflecting, listening, telling, and reflecting with the audience,…

This paper describes present learning environments for students with mild disabilities, especially instructional practices that thwart student motivation for learning. The Foxfire experiential approach to learning is then outlined, through discussion of 11 core practices that promote student involvement in instructional decision making and the…

Play allows children to make creative discoveries. This is a result of the fact that creation comes from tinkering and the absence of fear of failure, rather than from minds trained to follow what is already known. Suggestions for building a curriculum based on serious play are offered. (LB)

Describes a five-day summer workshop for rural elementary teachers to improve hands-on science instruction. Participants showed significant gains in science knowledge and science teaching confidence but showed no significant improvement in science teaching attitudes. Follow-up visits to schools revealed high usage of the activities and a positive…

This lesson plan describes techniques to develop the sensory awareness of elementary age children as they explore the natural environment. It includes outdoor activities and follow-up classroom experiences that develop observation skills and enhance the development of communication and classification skills. (MCO)

Discusses the potential for training perception and cognition in sport through video simulation of game situations. The paper reviews perceptual training studies and data from studies involving slide and video training in basketball. Issues that arise when creating simulations and assessment of transfer are discussed. (SM)

Students can explore temperature and heat conductivity by examining materials that make good cups for hot cocoa. Using temperature probes from computer-based science packages, students can measure gradual change in the liquid's temperature, watch as data are plotted on the computer, and explain why they chose a specific material. (SM)

Although one national goal proposes that all Americans will have all knowledge necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise citizenship responsibility, others fail to explain how children incarcerated in standards-driven schools will make sense of the world. The microsociety school approach radically recontextualizes in-school learning by…

Describes a project whereby staff members of a child welfare agency, who were also master's students, received clinical group supervision from school of social work faculty. Discusses the process of initiating the group, the supervision issues that emerged, the articulation and application of a model of child-centered family treatment, and results…

Argues that educational practices that focus only on hands-on experience within a discipline are not enough to permit students to experience a discipline in its fullest sense. Emphasis should also be placed on the cognitive goals of developing the knowledge, skills, and understanding of disciplines to permit students to communicate and reason…

The concept of intertextuality refutes the possibility of "direct" (unmediated) experience. Educators can guide student interpretation of outdoor and nature-related experiences by assigning readings relevant to postmodern life. One frequently assigned text fosters inappropriate romantic environmental attitudes. Recommends works of…

In whole concept mathematics, students actually use math and understand the practicality of what they are studying. This learner-centered approach treats students with respect, uses real-life situations, encompasses a variety of learning styles, and involves cooperative learning techniques. (SK)

Research has clearly established that teachers' practical knowledge, personal theories, and thought processes influence their actions and student learning. This paper finds parallels between teacher and administrator thought processes, illustrates a conceptual framework for incorporating teacher-thinking research findings into an administrator…

The superintendent of Saint Pauls Schools describes how educators, community leaders, businesspersons, and high school students worked together to develop the Way Off Broadway Deli, a successful school-based enterprise providing experiential education in entrepreneurship and small business management, as well as student employment and local…