Presents ideas for brief, exciting trips that can be organized on any campus to view lithologic, geomorphic, meteorologic, and biotic phenomena. Enables students to cultivate powers of observation and inquiry. Discusses the following topics: rocks and minerals, weathering, microlandforms, weather and daytime astronomy, biogeography and soils, and…

The world of public service is compared to a swamp in which important, complex, and messy problems are addressed, and it is argued that graduate and professional education must be reshaped to produce leaders who can make sense of current challenges. Education that is more experiential, behavioral, interactive, and collectively oriented is…

Argues that assignments requiring the student to write in a specific genre stimulate formation and retention of critical concepts about the genre. A classroom experiment compared the results of a sonnet-writing assignment with a traditional essay-writing assignment about sonnets, confirming the effectiveness of the experiential approach.…

The renowned educational reformer talks about how memorable, "extreme" learning experiences have shaped his views on education; how to create collegial support; the things that have given him satisfaction; his father's influence on him; the irrepressible optimism of teenagers; taking advantage of serendipitous events; and how questioning…

An examination of the Experiential Learning Theory of D. Kolb (1974) and a revision of the Learning Style Questionnaire of P. Honey and A. Mumford (1992) using results from 185 middle managers from the United Kingdom and Ireland suggests that no 1 measure can represent all of Kolb's constructs, although Kolb's theoretical structure does emerge.…

Describes a sociology experiential learning assignment where students learned why people living in poverty can sometimes pay more for products than people with better incomes. Focuses specifically on the rent to own concept. States students achieved the goal of learning how life constraints of poverty can hinder the poor from overcoming their…

A 6-week experiential course based on a model of death education and transformative learning prepared nursing students to care for dying patients. Pretest/posttest scores for 45 who received the intervention and 59 controls showed the intervention contributed to a significant positive increase in attitudes toward care of the dying. (Contains 27…

Describes a series of hands-on experiments that engage students in hypothesis testing and promotes active learning of the concepts of evolution and adaptation. Laboratory exercises demonstrate how features of the hands and eyes distinguish primates from other mammals. (SOE)

Introduces a science activity on butterflies and their life cycles in which students keep journals of their observations. Explains how to build a butterfly observatory in the classroom. (YDS)

The Urban Planning Practicum is a capstone course engaging Michigan State students in urban outreach, working with community organizations on neighborhood revitalization. It facilitates the experiential learning needs of urban planning students while assisting Extension staff in capacity building. Faculty-extension agent partnerships make it…

Describes efforts in providing a holistic environment for trainee teachers at the National Institute of Education (Singapore) to learn "hands-on" about using technology in classroom instruction. Results from an evaluation survey indicated the majority of trainees reacted positively towards the module and the instructional objectives of…

Describes a simulation called, "Classroom City," used by elementary students to learn about communities. Focuses on the students' own simulated city named Bat Town, U.S.A. Discusses the project in detail. Describes the activities children participated in and the roles they assumed during the simulation. (CMK)

A study examined the effects of participation in a low-element challenge course on younger adolescents' perceptions of group cohesion. Pre- and post-tests of group cohesion were administered to 167 North Carolina adolescents aged 11-14. Participants perceived an increase in group cohesion after the daylong program, regardless of their age, race,…

Fourteen educators went Scottish island-hopping on a 100-year-old sailing boat to learn journal writing and new techniques in outdoor learning, gain confidence for teaching about controversial issues, and experience creative education in general. This narrative of their journey eloquently captures the essence and power of experiential, outdoor…

In contrast to the U.S. system of teaching management in a college setting, Germany focuses on competence development through job-based education and other European countries are somewhere in between. Management learning in class and on the job should be integrated, and diverse approaches are preferable to standardization. (SK)