In 11 North Carolina counties, extension agents interviewed 7 clients per county; 31 new agents were also interviewed. Results show that "doing" is clearly the most preferred learning mode of both groups. Combinations of learning modes were even greater learning enhancers than individual modes. Seeing, doing, and discussing were the most…

Describes how 900 elementary students planned, designed, and constructed Technotown out of 1 million LEGO pieces. Presents a learning activity (objectives, materials, challenge, evaluation, and closing thoughts) on the building of a subway system for Technotown. (SK)

Advocates sending news reporting students off campus and into the community to expand their horizons, interests, courage, and possibilities. Describes the use of such experiential learning in a broadcast reporting class, where students left the cameras at home as they experienced the police or social services sector, and wrote an in-depth story…

Describes incident where group engaged in training exercise was almost "rescued" by Coast Guard, although Coast Guard had been alerted that training exercise would be taking place. On another occasion Coast Guard did not react to actual report, thinking it was training group. Group was studying grey seal breeding colonies in…

The ninth installment of the Science in a Box series (self-contained, hands-on activities for students grades three and up) presents activities for learning to use the sense of touch to determine how different objects conduct heat. All projects in the series are inexpensive and easy to assemble. (SM)

Reflective practice through continuous learning in the workplace involves viewing experiences as potential learning and reexamining assumptions, values, methods, policies, and practices. Steps in continuous work/learning are as follows: clarify thinking, be open to questions, notice context, test hunches, investigate, name and rename the problem,…

Reviews the literature related to experience-based training and development (EBTD) programs and physical safety. Discusses injury rates, cardiac arrest, and apparent and real risk for clients of different ages. Suggests that EBTD programs need a comprehensive documentation efforts to clarify and evaluate safety records. Contains 27 references. (SV)

A process for translating experience into college-level learning involves identifying relevant experiences and types: (1) a single experience leading to a single learning topic; (2) a single experience leading to several topics; or (3) several experiences leading to a single topic. Visual representations of these types help students validate the…

For 16 years, students at Missouri high school have been leaving classrooms to enter work environments of their choosing. Community Learning Program is school-business partnership providing many students with stepping stone to future careers. In semester-long program, students are not paid for work but get academic credit. Experience also helps…

Discusses the relationship between instructional design and situated learning. The transfer of knowledge and skills to a variety of settings is considered; and ways in which instructional design can contribute to the goals of situated learning are described, including planning learning experiences that are situated in the real world. (24…

Discusses the growing trend in which adult college students prepare portfolios of their self-acquired competencies and have them assessed for academic credit. Describes the portfolio used by Indiana University in terms of suggestions and implications for assessment in speech communication. (SR)

Discusses the process of learning from experience and suggests implications for education and training. Topics discussed include types of learning; the learning system; the experiential learning cycle; the process of conceptualization; emotion in learning; and the roles of the teacher or trainer and of instructional materials in the learning…

Five stages of development in the facilitation of adventure experiences in order of sophistication are letting the experience speak for itself; speaking for the experience by the instructor; debriefing the experience through reflection; frontloading the experience with prebriefing; and framing the experience isomorphically. (KS)

Action learning is being used in corporate training; teams or work groups take an actual problem to the training program, work on solving it, commit to an action plan, and are accountable for carrying out the plan. Some companies include personal-growth training, such as outdoor adventure learning, as a component of team building. (JOW)

Expands on the propositions of Kolb's learning-cycle model by adding psychodynamic and political aspects. Illustrates the complexity of experiential learning when unconscious forces and power aspects are considered. (SK)