Discusses the several meanings, approaches, and implications of community as it relates to art education and schooling. Provides examples from the experiences of one rural southern Indiana school community as parents, students, and teachers worked to develop and implement changes in the arts program. (CMK)

Action-learning techniques and acknowledgment of prior experience are components of integrated workshops for Australian agriculture producers in a program known as Futureprofit. Evaluations show the program effectively improves producers' planning, communication, and decision making through adherence to adult learning principles. (SK)

Describes a writing project in an honors business-communication class in which the student team became consultants to a health-care business, revising existing collection letters and creating new documents to meet the needs of both patients and insurance companies, in the process preparing proposals, reports, data analysis, and oral presentations.…

Explores current reforms in both mathematics and science education that emphasize the importance of learning in informal settings. Suggests that informal education must include planned and purposeful attempts to facilitate students' understanding of mathematics and science in community settings other than the local school. (Author/CCM)

Features five articles on outdoor learning for young children: (1) "Summertime Science for School-Agers: Just for Fun?" (Steven L. Snyder); (2) "Nurturing Environmental Awareness in Children" (Kim Hyers); (3) "Sharing Nature with Children" (Karen Stephens); (4) "The Adventure Outside Your Classroom Door" (Sally Hurwitz); and (5) "Environmental…

C. Wright Mills Middle School uses a project-based curriculum and service learning to prepare students for participatory democracy. Two challenges are to develop academic skills through experiential education and to avoid indoctrination. (SK)

Assessment of a participatory rural appraisal project in Ethiopia indicated that decentralization of extension in sub-Saharan Africa is an opportunity for farmers and extension agents to collaborate. The congruence of experiential learning and participatory approaches can contribute to the transformation of "top-down" extension…

Reports on data from pharmaceutical students' experiential training based on paired baseline and end-of-rotation short-answer tests of 86 students over a 10-year period. Significant improvements from baseline to end-of-rotation were found. Results suggest the value of the written examination as an interactive assessment instrument, but not as a…

Proposes a new training approach to teach effective statistical thinking and describes two studies where people were trained to solve tasks involving conjunctive and conditional probabilities using a frequency grid. Discusses frequency format versus probability format, and describes results that suggest the importance of learning by doing.…

The mechanism of routine practice and problem solving that is used as a method of teaching and learning is not simply interpreted as a way in which students only mechanically imitate and memorize rules and skills. Manipulative practice is the genetic place of mathematical thinking and the foundation of concept formation. (ASK)

Discusses the early use of straw in Africa and Europe as a building material. Provides background information and a basic framework for the straw bale project, and recommends supervision for young students. Lists objectives for building a straw bale bench and provides the building instructions which consist of three sessions. Includes four…

Experiential education considers nature a classroom, but nature is also the teacher. Quiet watching and walking meditation are two exercises informed by Taoism, that when added to the normal experiential education fare, help students encounter nature with an open mind. An outdoor university course that incorporates the sentiments of seeing nature…

Introduces camping as an outdoor classroom activity for elementary and middle school students. Explains what students learn from the camping experience. (YDS)

Describes an activity with cars and fans that observes the motion of cars under force. Lists required materials, the procedure, and introductory questions for the activity. (YDS)

Currently advocated agriculture teaching in the elementary classroom has historical precedents. Elementary agriculture curriculum in the early 20th century often followed Pestalozzi's recommendations and used hands-on activities such as nature study. By 1951, 21 states required agricultural education in rural elementary schools. (SK)