Creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, initiative and self-direction--these are just some of the 21st-century skills teachers strive to develop in students. Meaningful projects, student-centered learning, differentiation--these are some of the strategies used to help students learn in the 21st century. But, how do these…

The authors explore the difficulties relating to the human relationship between the supervisor and the supervised in action learning projects for managers. They provide a framework for supervisory relationships. (CH)

From the assumption that matching a student's learning style with the learning method best suited for the student, it follows that developing courses that correlate learning method with learning style would be more successful for students. Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute (TVI) in New Mexico has attempted to provide students with more…

Nineteen high school students in an experimental self-directed learning class were interviewed about their out-of-school learning projects: number completed per year; time spent; subject(s) studied; setting (individual or group); preferred project method; and motivation (desire for credit or other reason). (SJL)

Acknowledging a recent increased interest in research about self-directed learning, this report analyzes and discusses two different forms of education: self-directed learning and distance education. Here, self-directed learning is identical with autodidactic learning, a form of education that cannot be included in organized adult education; the…

Two types of personalized instruction, interaction and thoughtfulness, transcend the behavioral paradigm to include experiences building on individual student differences. Teachers can facilitate learners' progress from cognitive skill development to mastery and real-life problem solving by stressing experiential and inquiry learning, independent…

In this chapter, a Canadian high school teacher describes a senior English independent study program requiring that each student become involved in a topic through experience. From previous teaching experiences, the teacher realized that the curriculum was secondary to the method of delivery, that learning happened when a teacher instilled in…

In this chapter, a college teacher describes the use of personal projects in a class on mathematics teaching for preservice teacher-education students. The personal project required students to learn something new or to do something they had never done before, and to document their learning through a journal or other reflective record. In…

Year-long team projects with external clients provide a well recognized opportunity for students to gain industry experience, whilst being supported and guided by staff to minimize risks. Each group should be supervised to ensure that they have enough direction and confidence to approach a new problem of significant size, without being daunted. A…

Provides a series of guidelines for overcoming resistance and problems with cooperative projects in an introductory sociology course. These include coordinating common interests and common free time between team members, requiring allocation of various roles (presider, scribe, coordinator), and ongoing monitoring of the research teams. (MJP)

This year-long research project encourages student involvement, promotes a sense of mastery, involves the school community, and attempts to provide an incentive for senior Montessori students to continue learning. The curriculum describes the process of choosing a topic, researching, writing, editing, production of the final product, and the oral…

This document contains 60 sample projects that can be used in an experience-based career education (EBCE) program. (Experience-based career education is a type of program in which high school students spend a major portion of their time on learning projects in the community. Activities in EBCE are tailored to individual needs, abilities, learning…

This book, which is intended to facilitate dialogue among educators, parents, students, and policymakers, provides practical approaches to reforming secondary schooling to increase its rigor and relevance to the "real world." Chapter 1 reviews 10 guiding principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools and school-to-work movements and…