A small group of training professionals within the John Lewis Partnership set up an action learning group about 2 years ago. The main aim was to explore the technique for our own learning and development. The timing and lifespan of the group reflected the generally strategic and long-term nature of our projects. One of these was to introduce…

I passionately believe that reflective practice is an essential competency for the busy GP veterinary surgeon to develop throughout their career. Action learning sets would appear to offer a way of promoting this while at the same time helping the GP veterinary surgeon find a way forward with professional issues. In this article I reflect on my…

Ecumenical Theology involves not only the academic study of church-separating issues, but also the ecclesial commitment of each individual Christian. Accordingly, a course on the "History and Theology of the Ecumenical Movement" should utilize the ecumenical experiences of both instructors and students. A variety of pedagogical means can be used…

Service-learning pedagogy rests on a stool of three legs: service, learning, and reflection. In this field, much has been written on service and learning, but not much has been written specifically about reflection. Given the critical role reflection plays as a bridge between service and learning, the goal of this article is to offer a brief…

A little more than one hundred years ago, Wilbur and Orville Wright began building models of airfoils and testing them in wind tunnels in their search for an efficient wing. Models continue to be used today by aerospace engineers to prove concepts and launch dreams. To celebrate the centennial of the Wright brothers' historic flight, the authors…

With a move away from rotational chairs and a reluctance to tackle the conflicting responsibilities inherent in the lower levels of academic leadership, how can those at the top of the pipeline identify faculty who have the ability and desire to move through the ranks? What characteristics will increase the probability of willingness, commitment,…

In this article, the author first provides the history of the wedding rice myth. He then details an interactive class activity that involved students in his large, non-majors biology classes. These students developed a series of experiments that scientifically determined if rice could be harmful to birds. Finally, he provides suggestions on how…

This article presents an interview with Erica Roach, a former Montessori student and a musician, who shares her story about how her Montessori experiences shaped her life. Roach grew up in San Francisco and attended two different Montessori schools: Big City Montessori, for kindergarten, and San Francisco Montessori School (now called The San…

Montessori classrooms commonly integrate their learning across the curriculum, and participate in service learning projects. Both of these practices are authentic experiences for children. This article outlines examples of technology being used to create authentic learning environments, tasks, audiences, sources, and assessments. Technology…

John Dewey's "Art as Experience" argues that the roots of experience lie in the commonplace occurrences in the course of human life. Dewey's ideas are not only appropriate, but also useful in the field of education. It applies to the ways in which future teachers may experience art and the ways in which the experiential process of…

Clinical psychology has focused primarily on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disease, and only recently has scientific attention turned to understanding and cultivating positive mental health. The Buddhist tradition, on the other hand, has focused for over 2,500 years on cultivating exceptional states of mental well-being as well as…

Integrating technology learning goals and activities with recent experiences created by natural disasters is a valuable motivational strategy. The newfound appreciation that exists for personal emergency preparedness generates unique and sustained interest in alternative energy technologies and conservation. As described in this article, an ice…

A hands on activity involving density, frequency and biomass using transects, quadrats and a local good deed by cleaning up the neighborhood while practicing important techniques in ecology is detailed. The activity is designed for KCC-STEP, whose primary goal is to expand the scientific knowledge and research experiences of their students, who…

Leadership is often described as something that is learned from experience. However, experiences do not often occur within a controlled environment where learning and its impact can be evaluated. In this paper, we investigate the efficacy of two types of learning experiences. University students received leadership training of equal length through…

In this article, Eric Riedel, Leilani Endicott, Anna Wasescha, and Brandy Goldston describe the scholar-practitioner model that frames ee-learning at Walden University. Traditional approaches to experiential learning emphasize experiences concurrent with or following classroom instruction as a way to make knowledge more meaningful. By contrast,…