This study chronicles the responses of middle school students to their teachers' efforts to re-engage them in school. Working with two teachers and their team of 42 eighth graders selected as at-risk of failure, researchers interviewed participants, observed interactions, and gathered data from students' first semester of high school. Teachers…

This paper discusses the concept of "primal landscapes" as a way of conceptualising the interactions between children and the environments they grow up in. The paper discusses this concept drawing on empirical research conducted in the field of human geography on how people learn about their environments. The research employed a…

The powerful role of prior experiences and cultural schemata in guiding novice teachers' conceptions of how to teach is hardly contested. We report on a "reflective practicum" at the very beginning of a pre-service teacher education course that interconnects prior beliefs, reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action and that, in principle,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report a work-based learning innovation developed in response to the skills agenda affecting post-registration continuing professional development for nurses. Design/methodology/approach: The experience of learners, mentors and assessors using the "Skills Bank" are illustrated as part of an…

Although theories on anti-oppressive education abound, few scholars have conducted empirical studies of anti-oppressive educational curricula to test the alignment of theories--constructed largely by university scholars--and practices carried out by K-12 educators and students. While feminist poststructuralist theorists have critiqued critical…

This paper discusses the influence of John Dewey and his educational philosophy and methods on the development of experimental liberal arts colleges during the 1930s. It reviews the student-centered, holistic, experiential curriculum advocated by Dewey and others, and the role of John Andrew Rice in founding Black Mountain College near Black…

This conference paper advocates that experiential learning provides learners with a deeper sense of knowing and self-confidence in taking risks to be change agents in their chosen fields. Five components of experiential learning are described: (1) there is an emphasis on learning-by-doing; (2) there is an emphasis on learning by listening; (3)…

The use of creative drama in the classroom is a student-focused process where experiential learning can be fostered and developed within any given curriculum. It can help students to develop divergent thinking skills, inventive creativity, and cognitive thinking skills, and it can stimulate the development of oral and written communication skills.…

This publication is based on the session on assessment of prior learning and the accrediting process at the 1991 National Institute on the Assessment of Experiential Learning. The paper by Paula Hooper Mayhew focuses on regional accreditation, including the evaluation team visit and accrediting prior learning assessment during the visit. Amy K.…

The message of living simply and wanting less may be the most important message outdoor educators can give their students. The nature of outdoor education provides a combination of factors that create an effective learning environment for the practice of living simply. These factors are: (1) going away from the home or school environment to a…

The School for New Learning (SNL) was established in 1972 at DePaul University especially for adult students. SNL students are adults, age 24 or older, who want to accelerate their progress to a degree by using experience as well as classwork for academic credit, and who want to design their own programs with help from an advisory committee of…

This study investigated the effectiveness of experiential learning in promoting student understanding and achievement, as compared to traditional expository instruction. Twenty third-grade students from central Virginia were divided into two heterogeneous groups and taught a single lesson on air using identical content objectives. The control…

The family-based practicum experience of the University Affiliated Program of Vermont provides early intervention interns with an in-depth experience with the family of a child with special health care and/or education needs. Through this experience, interns acquire an understanding of the elements of a family-centered approach, incorporate the…

This article provides a brief introduction to learning organization and systems thinking. It contains three experiential learning activities designed to teach systems thinking concepts. The first activity, "Pellets," helps learners discover the advantages of applying systems thinking to the solutions of workplace problems. The next two…

This book presents 20 projects for technology education students. The emphasis is on problem solving and hands-on learning through projects dealing with a wide variety of technologies/industries, including the following: robotics, information storage and retrieval, communications, transportation, electronics, manufacturing, construction, materials…