Purpose: With the increased importance of training in organizations, creating important and meaningful programs are critical to an organization and its members. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a four-phase systematic approach to designing and evaluating training programs that promotes collaboration between organizational leaders, trainers,…

The present research refers to the assigning of a hands-on group project to freshman engineering students, evaluating their performance, and deriving conclusions on student benefits and educational advances. The research procedure included action plans for the instructor and the students, instructions to the students on performing the work,…

There is a strong international interest in the enhancement of teaching quality. Enhancement is a big job because teaching is an extensive activity. It is a complex job because learning to teach is not, mainly, a formal process: non-formal, practice-based learning is more significant. These two points, extensiveness and practice-based learning,…

This inquiry originates in a conversation between the first two authors which concluded with the challenge that a Revans Institute for Action Learning & Research should not only be doing research "by" action learning and but should also be researching "into" action learning itself. Action learning has been a recognised…

For most of the twentieth century, the goal in education was the generation and dissemination of information. With the rise of technology and unlimited access to information, it is the ability to apply knowledge and learn from experience that is the new priority for employee development. Action learning, with its emphasis on action and reflection,…

This article explains the benefits and challenges of requiring undergraduate political science students to act outside the classroom to mobilize voters. Although several published articles describe student engagement with social service agencies, policy research, community outreach, and classroom simulations, this article fills a gap in the…

Most studies of gender and information technology have investigated gender differences in the relationships between education and achievement, and attitudes towards and use of computers. Few have explored gendered experiences of faculty members using learning technologies in higher education. The study on which this article is based explored the…

Action learning programmes are supposed to result in both personal and organizational development. However, organizational development can be negligible because, as the term implies, a connection must be secured between what has been learned by action learning participants and other members of an organization. Here, the facilitation and analysis…

The challenge of tackling the problem of coping with work related stress in a National Health Service (NHS) Trust was undertaken. Ideas were developed within the context of two different action learning sets and led to actions resulting in a large therapy Taster Session event and the establishment of a centre offering alternative therapies and…

Attitudinal data tested hypotheses that students have more positive attitudes toward science when teachers regularly emphasize hands-on laboratory activities and when students more frequently experience higher levels of experimentation or inquiry. The first predicted that students would have more positive attitudes toward science in classrooms…

The purpose of this article is to present the perceptions of disaffiliated white middle school boys in a rural setting. In this article, the authors discuss the results and implications of a qualitative research study, examining how these boys perceive school as responding, or not responding, to their needs. Five critical needs of students are…

This paper provides an overview of the Home-School Knowledge Exchange Project and an introduction to this special issue on home-school knowledge exchange. The paper starts by situating the project within a number of contexts--those of UK educational research, national and international interest in home-school relationships, national and local…

New Literacy Studies is the theoretical basis for this research, providing a social view of literacy. Recent work in New Literacy Studies has extended further the notion of literacy and demonstrated the ways in which people engage in practices in their everyday lives that do not always get translated into their studies. This article draws on…

A study seeks to examine fifth grade students' perceptions of learning preferences for individualistic, competitive, cooperative, and communal learning as well as students' perceptions of their classroom-learning environment. Results show that students prefer group learning compared to individualistic and competitive learning and that a majority…

Policymakers sometimes view arts education and experiential learning as distractions from the goal of enabling all students to master rigorous content standards. The three school programs described in this article, however, demonstrate that content standards can be integrated into engaging, motivating curriculums based on the arts and authentic…