The pre-eminence of knowledge and skills as the sources of wealth creation and economic growth is one of the major issues in business at the beginning of the twenty-first century. As a result, Human Resource Development has been propelled into a central role in management thinking. However, this has not always been reflected in practice since many…

The effects of service-learning on the academic attainment of rehabilitation services students were examined using a quasi-experimental design. One hundred and thirty senior rehabilitation services students enrolled in the medical aspects of disabilities course, 65 with service-learning and 65 with classroom-only instruction. The same instructor…

By examining American University's Washington Semester Program (AUWSP), this project analyzes the impact of intensive undergraduate experiential and active learning on subsequent student academic performance. In this article, we discuss the differences between traditional, active, and experiential learning methods to better understand the…

In January of 2004, we took 35 college students to Manchester, New Hampshire, where they were immersed in the crucial final weeks of the Democratic Presidential Primary as part of a course on the presidential election. This course required students to work on the campaign of their choice in the weeks leading up to the state's primary as well as…

Professional learning communities among teachers and schools have been envisioned as a mechanism for development, knowledge building and implementation. However the formation of an effective learning community is more complex than giving teachers a project and asking them to share a room. This paper reports a synergistic interaction between a…

Background: Experiential learning has been posited as an approach to influencing preservice teachers' understanding of diversity and social justice. The research reported here examined the impact of a field-based experience in Poland focused on the Holocaust as it pertained to the beliefs and actions of 12 future education professionals. This…

In December 2006, the Missouri River Regional Library (MRRL) in Jefferson City, embarked on a journey. They had been watching the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County (PLCMC), NC, on its adventure through the wilds of Web 2.0, and they decided to follow the trail it had blazed. What PLCMC had done was pretty revolutionary. The library…

The purpose of this study was to determine if modeling by university professors and practicum and cooperating teachers was related to preservice teachers' perceptions of their computer technology skills and if preservice teachers' use of technology in academic and other settings was related to those perceptions. Seventy-nine preservice teacher…

A study sought to promote improved work among six at-risk students in a third-grade writing workshop in a central Virginia school by varying the standard workshop format: mini lesson followed by free writing. The approach was to replace mini-lessons with multi-sensory, hands-on experiences followed by brainstorming activities and evaluate how the…

This book, the first of three volumes, contains a collection of activities designed for or appropriate to the native Indian or multicultural classroom. Levels range from kindergarten to grade 12. Some of the activities have been borrowed from other sources, but many have been developed or adapted and are available here for the first time. The…

This book shows how project work can be used in open and flexible learning. It is divided into three sections. Section A provides background on the use of project work in education and training. Chapter 1 introduces the features that characterize project work and related activities. Chapter 2 examines the varieties of project work and provides…

This document describes some of the prominent beliefs about how students construct knowledge. These beliefs are guiding principles that teachers can use to implement instructional strategies that facilitate learning. Instructional examples in mathematics and science follow each principle to help the reader envision how the principle promotes…

This study examined the effects of hands-on instruction on young children's understanding of an aspect of flight, specifically Bernoulli's principle. First, 137 public school children, ages 5 through 8 years, were interviewed about their understanding of how an airplane flies. Two weeks later, the subjects participated in two hands-on…

A study investigated the feasibility of teaching conceptual complexity to adults using an in-basket simulation. Training incorporated Kelly's components of differentiation and integration with Schroder's Cognitive Competencies and followed Lewin's Experiential Learning Model. Research participants in the original study were 24 women and 18 men,…

The California Freshwater Shrimp Project is an example of a student-initiated, eco-action project. Students, from a fourth grade class in the Ross Valley School District in San Rafael, California, were linked to their community and environment through their work in rehabilitating habitat and educating the public. The paper gives an overview of a…