Results of a study of over 1,000 experience-based career education students suggest six ways experiential education staff can improve the learning potential of community experiences. These involve giving the students challenge, responsibility, freedom to explore, hands-on learning, a good relationship with individuals at the work site, and…

Reforms suggested in several major national assessments of secondary education have led to the development of a number of experiential, community-based programs for secondary students. Experience-Based Career Education offers such programs to over 15,000 students in all 50 states. Of these, 218 students from five states were administered an…

An evaluation was conducted of the Boeing Company's summer internship program for students enrolled in a manufacturing technology program after grades 11, 12, and 13 (first year of community college). The evaluation included the following activities: a review of documents describing the internship structure, student selection process, and…

Four strategies that are useful in conducting research on experiential education programs are discussed and illustrated. These include: case studies, content analysis, use of a focused survey, and concept analysis. Each strategy addresses an issue particular to experiential education. Case studies allow data collection on a large number of…

Summarizes recent studies on Experience-Based Career Education (EBCE) and discusses their implications for program developers and EBCE personnel. Stresses the positive results of EBCE and outlines the success of this approach for special populations (gifted, migrant, and disadvantaged youth). (Author/GC)

After briefly describing the Community Experiences for Career Education project, this paper discusses 11 evaluation strategies used with the project, assesses the strengths and limitations of each, shows some relationships among them, discusses ways of communicating evaluation findings, and suggests selection criteria to others planning multiple…

A study identified young people's perceptions of types of activities and other factors at employer sites that lead to excellent and relatively poor learning experiences. Participants in the study were 1103 secondary students in 18 experience-based career education programs in 16 states. The questionnaire administered to the students included…

This study was conducted to review evaluation studies of high school experiential learning programs to determine the nature of their findings and the essential elements that produce effective learning experiences in the community, and to assess the approaches used in these evaluations. Literature reviewed for the study centered on (1) work…

The Warm Springs Career Exploration Project (WSCEP) is an adaptation of experience-based career education (EBCE) for Native Americans residing on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. The project served as a full-time program for American Indian students aged 16-19 who had dropped out of school, and also served as a part-time career development…

This final evaluation report describes and summarizes the evaluation findings for the 1976-77 school year of the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory (NWREL) Experience-Based Career Education (EBCE) Program. Following an executive summary, the report is organized into five chapters, plus a separate volume of appendixes. Chapter I summarizes the…

During the 1976-77 school year, fourteen experience-based career education (EBCE) pilot sites were the focus of a second-year of operation evaluation. Each pilot site represented one of four regional education laboratories (Appalachia Evaluation Laboratory, Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development, Northwest Regional…

An experiential learning questionnaire was administered to students in eight experience-based career education programs to determine the characteristics of both good and poor learning experiences in the community. Implications of the study for college staff responsible for designing or improving community-based experiential programs are discussed.…

One aspect of a nationwide survey dealt with the extent to which the attribution theory might be used to help account for students' perceptions of their successes and failures at employer sites. The study involved 1,102 high school students enrolled in 18 experience-based career education programs in 16 states. Respondents indicated the degree to…

The assessment of secondary school students' learning which results from experienced-based public school programs is associated with three types of problems: (1) psychological--educational practitioners may fear the evaluation process; (2) conceptual--including unclear requirements for student outcomes, lack of appropriate strategies for achieving…

The Exploring Careers in the Community for Gifted and Talented (ECC/GT) program is conducted in Jefferson County, Colorado junior high schools to provide an 18-week career exploration component for gifted/talented students. The program provides gifted/talented students 3 hours a day to participate in interviewing community members about their…