This study reports findings from an experimental field study of scripted collaboration for net-based learning in the context of a one-semester university course on operating systems. In scripted collaboration, activities of learners are coordinated and guided according to particular rules, implemented via respective tools in the learning…

Within the Participatory Design community as well as the Computer Supported Cooperative Work tradition, a lot of effort has been put into the question of letting field studies inform design. In this paper, we describe how game-like approaches can be used as a way of exploring a practice from a design point of view. Thinking of ethnographic…

The relationship between teaching and research is a touchstone in thinking about higher education. However, the last 40 years has seen the "dislocation" of these core academic activities as a result of policy and operational decisions to distinguish the way they are funded, managed, assessed and rewarded. The activities of…

In this paper we present a field-based practical exercise that allows students in forestry, ecology and natural resources to develop their understanding of forest stand dynamics. The exercise involves measurement of key tree growth parameters in four even-aged, single-species plantation stands of different age but occupying sites with similar soil…

The Towards Working Life group method was designed to promote the transition to the upper secondary level or vocational studies and to support mental health among young people finishing their basic education. This study examined the effects of the intervention during upper secondary and vocational studies in a randomized field experimental study…

Rooted in graffiti culture and its attitude toward the world, street art is regarded as a postgraffiti movement. Street art encompasses a wide array of media and techniques, such as traditional spray-painted tags, stickers, stencils, posters, photocopies, murals, paper cutouts, mosaics, street installations, performances, and video projections…

In this article, the author discusses the importance of "field research" at Marlboro School in southern Vermont. Field research began as a way to expose backwoods kids to the wider world. The Marlboro School Board recognized the value of getting these kids down off the mountain, of learning about other people and places, and of tying…

This article problematises Bush & Saltarelli's call for a new and comprehensive peace building education which empowers children through demonstrating that alternatives to conflict exist, that they have choices and the capacity to change their own and their society's situation. It does so by exploring the various possibilities for empowerment…

In a research collaboration with government biologists and university educators, K-12 students in the Cle Elum-Roslyn (CER) School District in eastern Washington are investigating where cougars ("Puma concolor") go when their habitat gives way to new housing developments. Now in its seventh year, Project Cougars and Teaching (CAT) is taking the…

Ever since he stumbled into doing higher education research as a young academic in the 1980s, the author has been trying to understand it as a "field" of study. His career, as a former business lecturer, then an academic developer and now an associate professor for higher education working in an Education Faculty has given him opportunities to see…

This article aims to stimulate debate about the nature of field courses in higher education. We use a colloquium format that allows each of us to reflect on the philosophy of field course teaching and our writing endeavours to establish a dialogue between the authors and leave the reader with a sense of curiosity. It starts with a position paper…

After a review of semiotic theory, this paper describes an ethnosemantic study of a funeral home that demonstrates how semiotically identical codes structure a funeral director's understanding of his work and how semiotic research can reveal rules by which members of an occupational culture generate meaning. (MJL)

Describes the reservations of black people concerning anthropological field work and white anthropological researchers. Presents quotes collected in folk field seminars or small discussion groups to demonstrate the attitudes of core black culture members. (MK)

Discusses the values of withholding or publishing psychological research findings on social issues. (EF)