Many educators in facilitative roles have approached the subject of visual disabilities by constructing activities designed to simulate blindness, using a blindfold or similar device. Participants are subsequently encouraged to perform rudimentary tasks such as eating a meal or moving about with a sighted companion as a guide. Frequently,…

Outdoor-based experiential training (OBET) programs are being used increasingly by U.S. business firms, but intense controversy surrounds their use and there is little empirical evidence concerning their validity. Changes in team building (group) and individual behaviors were assessed among 43 OBET participants who were managers or professional…

For education to make a lasting difference in people's lives, it must touch all dimensions of being human in ways that are integrated or holistic. Content and instructional methods, such as those of Kurt Hahn and Charity James, that are based on images of the intact human being see things whole from the beginning. But our school experience and the…

This bibliography lists 275 articles and monographs, mostly published in the 1980s, that address the use of active learning teaching methods at the postsecondary education level. Items are selected to produce a large illustrative sampling of published materials that can introduce the literature of active learning to faculty. Articles typically…

Adventure-based programs may be designed in a way that not only provides an intervention aimed at therapy or development, but also teaches participants to become their own agents of change. McWhirter's model proposes that empowerment is broader than notions of personal autonomy and efficacy, reaching outside the individual. The model specifies…

This paper describes an intervention in two Algebra II classes in which the graphing calculator was incorporated into the curriculum as often as possible. The targeted population consisted of high school students in a growing middle to upper class community located in a suburb of a large city. The problem of a lack of understanding of the…

The Process Model of Experiential Learning, expanded from Dean (1993), is based on stages adapted from Pfeiffer and Jones (1983) and assumes a group of learners working together under the guidance of a group leader or facilitator. The model consists of seven stages, each composed of four different functions: leader's role regarding the content of…

Most typical high school programs are not meeting the needs of gifted and talented students. Programs for the gifted are often neither interdisciplinary nor differentiated as encouraged by Texas state guidelines. Gifted students can gain much from well-designed extracurricular activities. Grade weighting schemes in which gifted courses are…

This article describes and analyzes the field of experience-based training and development (EBTD) in an attempt to determine its scope, goals, activities, participants, providers, and philosophical bases. EBTD is a process that uses hands-on challenge or adventure, usually in the outdoors, combined with review and feedback, to improve work place…

This digest contrasts the traditional view of learning characteristic of classroom instruction with the emerging "constructivist" view that emphasizes the understanding of how and why students learn. The latter takes learning as a knowledge construction process that closely relates to prior knowledge and the learning context. It lends…

This paper introduces the concept of emotional safety in outdoor programming. Information and protocols developed by the Canadian Outward Bound Wilderness School are included that outline procedures that staff follow in the event of an "assault" on any student, volunteer, or staff. For clarification, definitions are given for emotional,…

This paper provides information about conducting adventure-based counseling using a ropes course with adolescent psychiatric inpatients. Active learning in the process of therapy is widely accepted, but it is not clear how the complex nature of that relationship works and how programs should be structured to facilitate change. Theoretical…

This paper examines the issues and problems that arise in the transfer process in outdoor management development (OMD) programs. The transfer of learning from the outdoors back to the workplace is a crucial element of OMD. A review of general transfer problems and management development demonstrates that many of the transfer problems associated…

The discovery of Canada means rolling out a new map, giving meaning to the land and its heritage. Experientially discovering Canada is at the heart of teaching and learning. It is necessary to balance experiential exploration with classroom and library exploration. In order to achieve this, the student must be a traveler. Programs that attempt to…

The Roger Tory Peterson Institute's Nature Educators of the Year program recognizes teachers who have successfully implemented education programs that effectively connect children to nature, and that can be replicated by others. Two awards of $1,000 each were given in 1991. One of the recipients, Steven Prchal, is executive director of Sonoran…