Two current movements of experiential learning receiving attention in mainstream educational reform are service-learning and outdoor education/adventure programming. Although sharing common philosophical roots, these movements have branched out into a variety of different applications and approaches. With increasing pressures on educational reform…

This article describes a new educational field labeled "place-based education" and relates it to experiential learning. This term has appeared in the educational literature over the last 10 years and illustrates a concern for providing participants with quality experiences in local settings. After defining and describing the term, one…

Training counselors to work effectively with complex client presentations requires a variety of methods. These methods not only need to be aimed at developing conceptual understanding but also must assist counselors in managing their own emotional reactivity when working with such clients. The author describes the curriculum and experiential…

This paper proposes that introducing musical/percussion activities to university classrooms represents an opportunity for innovative teaching that could create positive experiences replete with learning potential. An analysis of 17 students' written reactions to a "drumming circle" activity demonstrates that the experience created a positive,…

Quality science programs extend well beyond the classroom or school yard. A local shoreline is a great place for inquiry-based "science activities". Students can explore seaweed clumps, conduct a gull census, or implement an investigation of their own design.

Science within the folds of highway maps is explored through a series of hands-on experiences designed to reinforce and extend map-reading skills in grades 6-8. The increasingly sophisticated, standards-related activities include measuring distances between population centers, finding communities named after trees, animals, and geologic features,…

A group exercise, suggested to be most effective when used near the semester-end, enables entry-level students to appreciate the application of plant biology and makes botany labs experimental. It is believed that this series of labs helps students to appreciate their own learning when they teach and explain things to others.

An exercise that provides a hands-on demonstration of the hydrolysis of aspirin is presented. The key to understanding the hydrolysis is recognizing that all six process may occur simultaneously and that the observed rate constant is the sum of the rate constants that one rate constant dominates the overall process.

Teachers seeking ways to motivate their students and to make the curriculum more relevant have found an answer in the Paideia Coached Project. When students know that their project or performance will be presented to an audience outside the classroom, they are inspired to produce work of the highest quality. This article discuses the origin of the…

This paper documents one of several themes arising from a larger research study which invited trainees' views on their experience in a weekly, 2 year, dance movement therapy (DMT) personal development group. This group formed part of their post-graduate training. The study used a phenomenological, grounded theory and collaborative methodology…

This article treats Aristotle's broad conception of knowledge as a key to understanding practical knowledge, as well as the differences between learning in practice and learning in schools today. Aristotle's three main categories of knowledge--the theoretical, the productive and the social-ethical--can serve to differentiate and expand modern…

This description explores a form of experiential learning using specific outdoor learning activities in a higher education setting to introduce participants to each other and to build a team in a leadership program. Participants in the Leadership Enhancement and Development Program (LEAD) created at the University of West Florida (UWF) include…

The Area Vo-Tech Center (AVTC) in Russellville, Arkansas, recently hosted its first TechnoCamp to encourage enrollment based on the aptitude and interest level of the students enrolling in the various programs. The center currently offers student enrollment in auto technology, computer engineering, cosmetology, construction technology, drafting…

"Grandparents University", a program planned and sponsored collaboratively by the University of Wisconsin--Extension Cooperative Extension Family Living Programs and the Wisconsin Alumni Association, was designed to enhance the relationship that exists between the grandparent and grandchild. In July of each year, grandchildren between…

Many e-learning materials lack pedagogical principles and theoretical foundations. The great potential of activating learners and thus enriching learning experience is often unused in instructional software and online courses. Pedagogical theories like constructivist and action-orientated approaches should rather underlie the creation of new…