Synthesizes literature on apprenticeship learning, the sociology of science, and K-12 science education to develop a set of characteristics for designing/evaluating participatory science learning experiences. Clarifies and illuminates the value of these characteristics for science educators by using them as evaluative criteria for characterizing…

Describes a science festival on human body systems and physical sciences for middle school students. Introduces the exhibits and the procedures. (YDS)

The Delaware (Ohio) School District developed a technology center where teachers could expose students to different kinds of technology, problem solving, and career exploration. Modules and hands-on experiences reflect the national technology education standards. (SK)

Demonstrates how teachers can make instruction more meaningful by linking new subject matter to students' previous experiences and by using community resources to create exciting new learning experiences. If the content is rigorous and relevant, debates, storytelling, the arts, graphic organizers, and mnemonics can dramatically enhance student…

Discusses a Christian adventure program that uses quotations and stories from the New Testament to tie group experiences to Christian teachings about loving one's neighbor, taking risks, working together, respect, actions in a crisis, unselfishness, contemplation, reflection and prayer, and forgiveness. Emphasizes the experiential teachings of…

Describes Boundless Adventures, a Canadian outdoor adventure program that offers 5-day trips to clients with mental-health problems. Suggests that the trips inspire hope, but that follow-up is needed to convert that hope into real lifestyle changes. Sidebars present a poem entitled "Hope" and describe the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry…

Discusses the nature and aims of place-based pedagogies, which root the learning experience in the location of the learner. Briefly describes examples of placed-based education at the elementary and postsecondary levels. Outlines some questions related to educating students for ecological and cultural sustainability. Contains 18 references. (SV)

Describes a science teacher's personal experiences at an Earthwatch summer workshop in Costa Rica on caterpillars and their predators in the dry tropical forest. (YDS)

Exposing today's students to a balance of science and the outside world is critical. The outdoors provides a context for practical applications of science, exposing the relevance of science to everyday life. Outdoor education instills an awareness that the health of the environment is directly coupled with our own health, enabling us to make…

A soliloquy on how to foster lasting, meaningful connections with nature considers facts, morality, problem solving of real environmental issues, and new high-tech tools, and rejects them all. Most environmentalists attribute their commitment to nature to having spent time outdoors in a keenly remembered wild place during youth. Spending time in…

Uses materials collected from the seashore to stimulate students and recommends bringing materials to the classroom instead of trying to take students to the seashore, which may not be suitable for children with physical disabilities. (YDS)

Our fascination with technology's ability to process information and the resulting glut of information gets in the way of attaining wisdom, the highest level of learning. Information technology may be useful in the administration of experiential education, but is irrelevant to the most important levels of learning. An informationless outdoor…

Presents a framework for integrated business curriculum using a heuristic decision model. Outlines both experiential and classroom learning activities for two contexts: social themes (environment, diversity, ethics, etc.) and the interdisciplinary nature of business. (SK)

Anthropological theory and the rites of passage model were used to understand Outward Bound (OB) student experiences of transformation. Three long ethnographic interviews with 22 OB students, conducted before, after, and 3 months after the course, revealed that although the transformational effect of the course was strong initially, additional…

By getting students out into the community, service learning advances their understandings and their relations to problems through hands-on experience as students actively work to apply knowledge learned in more traditional school settings to problems in the local area. (Author/CCM)