Providing cost-effective, hands-on field-based experiences to large cohorts of undergraduate students provides a core challenge for effective teaching and learning. This grand challenge is tackled through the construction of an exemplar outdoor learning environment within the Environmental Change Outdoor Laboratory (ECOLAB): Birmingham Bog (BB).…

This paper outlines a critical pedagogic approach to field-based learning (FBL) at graduate level. Drawing on student experience stemming from a FBL module and as part of an MA programme in Environment, Society and Development, the paper addresses the complexities associated with student-led, participative critical enquiry during fieldwork in…

This paper assesses the experience of undergraduate students using mobile devices and a commercial application, iSurvey, to conduct a neighborhood survey. Mobile devices offer benefits for enhancing student learning and engagement. This field exercise created the opportunity for classroom discussions on the practicalities of urban research, the…

Teacher preparation programs (TPP) rely on school-based mentor teachers and university mentors to assist their teacher candidates with bridging the information presented in courses to the "real world" of teaching. Given the important role that the clinical components of teacher preparation provide in terms of candidate development, the…

This study discusses the benefits and challenges of an undergraduate module on participatory geographies, involving students in co-producing research with community partners. The module challenges the knowledge production model predominant in Geography curricula. We argue that it develops students' skills and understanding through engaging them…

In October 2010, the University of Southern California School of Social Work entered the online education environment with the launch of the first national web-based MSW program. After an initial enrollment of 80 students, in just 3 years this state-of-the-art MSW, offered in a technology-advanced synchronous and asynchronous format, has generated…

Although fieldwork is always cited as an important component of geographic education, there are many obstacles for executing high school fieldwork. Mobile electronic products are becoming popular and some schools are able to acquire these devices for mobile learning. This study attempts to provide a mobile-assisted means of guiding students…

Well-developed media modules, geared especially to the needs of special education teachers, can be an invaluable aid to an effective teacher education program. (LH)

The level of specificity of objectives and content in field education programs are described, the structure and function of monitoring and evaluation systems are analyzed, and a framework for modularizing field education content to achieve a high degree of precision in teaching and learning is proposed. (Author/MLW)

Discusses instructional innovations in science education, including interdisciplinary environmental studies programs, autotutorial open laboratory techniques, and programed research projects provided in investigative laboratory settings. Describes applications of these innovations at community colleges, as well as the increased use of modular,…

This report evaluates an ongoing competency-based teacher education project involving two local colleges and two school districts. Following indepth interviews with selected project personnel, 1 66-item questionnaire was constructed covering the following six basic areas of concern: (a) program orientation, (b) program objectives, (c)…

A field experience cooperative education program between Cleveland State University and a local public school is described. The program consisted of three major segments: the Junior Participators Program, the Parma Teacher Education Center North, and the Curriculum and Methods Program. The first program provided supervised work with children…

This seminars and field experience module is a part of a set of 22 modules designed to train vocational education curriculum specialists (VECS). It contains three sections: Seminar I, Authority Roles and the Curriculum Specialist in Vocational Education; Seminar II, Leadership Styles and Functions of the Curriculum Specialist in Vocational…

A project to develop a field-based, competency-based training program for community development practitioners was undertaken in the Central Coast Region of California. Competency objectives were identified from a literature review of community development practice and information obtained from field practitioners and community members. Four…

The Preservice Reading Education Program (PREP) is a competency-based teacher education program for elementary and early childhood education students. It focuses on the following five major activities: (1) the coordination of an organized program in reading education around identified teacher competencies; (2) the individualization of instruction…