Despite being recognised as complementary to formal learning, informal learning is not yet well understood. Using a qualitative synthesis approach, we systematically reviewed how students' informal learning interactions are represented in health professions education research. Thirty-five articles were identified. Our three-stage analysis…

In 1994, the National Arts Education Association created a research agenda to address major research issues in the field of visual arts education for the purpose of examining, negotiating, and modifying commonly held beliefs in the field of art education. Research by arts educators has done much to inform visual arts education theory and practice,…

Describes an undergraduate course taught at the University of Dubuque (Iowa) that examines the political economy of urban development in a historical frame of analysis and emphasizes experiential learning. Traces the conception, design, and delivery of this course. Offers results of an evaluation by those who contributed to the course. (KO)

Strategies for developing hands-on learning activities for a camp nature program include working with themes, establishing goals, structuring time, providing a "hook," keeping instructions simple, and appropriately supervising campers. Includes ideas for nature themes, a sample learning activity, and suggestions for linking projects to…

Active learning is not a new concept, and recent research suggests that students who have opportunities to participate in the learning process are much more successful students in terms of achievement test scores and individual happiness. This paper discusses some recent research on active learning, including a description of a microsociety school…

Demonstrates the use of Bloom's Taxonomy in planning participation projects for elementary education. Illustrates the integration of a social studies theme with other curriculum areas. Provides charts that: (1) delineate the structure of a participation project; (2) take a topic through that structure; and (3) list activities appropriate to all…

Despite a growing interest in the relationship between community and classroom, there is no shared understanding of basic issues about roles and responsibilities. Teachers can use the community as a learning laboratory by connecting the content studied to aspects of the local community. Characteristics of successful learning-lab programs, barriers…

As higher education and universities become a more mainstream interest in society, pressures mount to invent new curricula and new and more appropriate ways to support the curriculum invention process. This article offers an account of the experiences of one such double-barrelled invention process associated with a Graduate Diploma in Legal…

Challenges the assumptions behind discipline-based art education. Defends studio art as educationally sound relative to learning theory and characterizes it as the best defense against the exclusion of art from the curriculum. Recommends studio art as a means for balancing curriculum already skewed toward analytically abstract teaching…

This report describes a curriculum reform project conducted at Spokane Community College (Washington), which has extensive vocational programs and a high percentage of non-traditional students. The purpose of the project was to develop and test a series of student Learning Activity Packets (LAPs), which introduce fundamental chemistry concepts by…

It is argued that the current agenda for improving teacher education only seeks to improve the present system. A new, radically restructured approach would train teachers to learn from their experiences, communicate clearly, know their subject matter, integrate ideas into practice, apply learning theory and child development principles, and…

Provides an overview of the interdisciplinary science, student, and value-oriented approach of the Israeli Environmental Education Project (IEEP). Presents the projects learning model which identifies the scope of the studies, student activities, teaching strategies, content, and the four curriculum units. (ML)

Summarizes an experiential training trip for teachers and river guides in the Auburn State Recreation Area (California). Explores the connection of man with water and relates this connection to the California History/Social Studies Framework. Outlines themes for student research and recommends resources for teacher training and for curriculum…

The founders of Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound drew on the metaphor of a wilderness expedition to develop a framework for curriculum design. During "learning expeditions," teachers and students pursue long-term intellectual investigations build around significant projects and performances. The investigations take students out into…

The educational potential of agriculture stems from the diversity and tangibility of its components. As a science based human activity, it may provide the educator with a unique combination of educational opportunities in a context which is authentic and accessible to the pupil and to the teacher. (JHZ)