This paper discusses the importance of using community resources to supplement classroom instruction in the social studies to enhance the students' comprehension of the importance and immediate application of classroom instruction to the real world. Community resources can be used by classroom teachers in all subject areas, and at all grade levels…

A cooperative work group experiential format is proposed for an introductory college computer course, which views the computer as one of several components of a business information system. The system is applied to a five-step problem solving model, consisting of problem analysis, problem understanding, making decisions, designing the solution,…

Educators have long acknowledged that not all learning occurs in a classroom. This paper describes an innovative educational program in Minnesota, where the educational facility was built in a dedicated space at the Mall of America. The program is based on an outcomes-based, transdisciplinary curriculum for 16- to 19-year-old youth, featuring the…

Outcomes of the Experiential Program for Preparing School Principals (EPPSP) at Butler University in Indiana, an alternative process for training preservice school administrators, are presented in this report. The study examines the differences in perceptions of program preparation experience, instructional preferences, and overall satisfaction…

Technical writing programs housed in geographically isolated universities face great challenges in regard to getting students career-related work experience. A course in desktop publishing can provide students at rural schools with experience equivalent to internships. In a desktop publishing course taught at Murray State University in Kentucky,…

This document presents a package of resources for planning a field trip to Maria Island, an island near Tasmania, Australia. A teacher's guide offers tips on organizing the school visit (bookings, accomodations, transport, what to bring to the island), pre-visit activities, on-site activities, and follow-up activities. Photographs, maps, a brief…

Within the past decade there has been an increasing number of portfolios submitted by adult students requesting academic credit for their experiential learning in speech communication. The numbers of portfolios and the institutions accepting them are growing so much that the communication profession should develop policies for their assessment. In…

A survey of the faculty reviewed and assessed the role and importance of experiential learning through internships at Unity College, Maine, an independent, coeducational undergraduate college of 400 students specializing in environmental programs. The 45 full- and part-time faculty received the questionnaire. Among those, 34 faculty, or 76 percent…

Guidelines for establishing and maintaining classroom learning centers are contained in this booklet. The following topics are included: (1) a rationale for creating learning centers; (2) how to orient the children to the new learning center and some important aspects to consider when developing a learning center environment; (3) ways to create…

This guide for starting a school garden is Book One in Project Life Lab's (Santa Cruz, California) three-part curriculum for a garden-based science and nutrition program for grades 2-6. The curriculum is designed for use as an integrated program, but the books can be used independently. It is suggested that the use of student journals can greatly…

A conference on the role of comprehensive problem solving in the secondary school curriculum made two major recommendations: (1) that a significant proportion of the curriculum be devoted to study of "real problems," and (2) that teachers be provided intellectual and physical resources for such a program. (SD)

This report, approved by the Board of Directors of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, recommends an activity-based approach to the teaching of the metric system, and lists basic objectives to be achieved by the end of grades 3, 6, and 9. (SD)

In workshops for inservice teachers, volunteers learn concepts through the activities they will later use in their classrooms. In follow-up sessions the success of activities with young children is discussed. The activity described here involves attribute blocks. (SD)

In workshops for teachers the author provides each participant with five sticks and challenges them to create a variety of configurations. In the process the teachers hypothesize and test a number of geometric notions. (SD)