A middle school in River Falls, Wisconsin, exemplifies middle-level philosophy by providing individualized learning programs, a core curriculum, a guidance program, education for citizenship, and cocurricular activities. The school program emphasizes enhanced exploratory learning opportunities, team-teaching of core subjects, and a…

Describes a northern Ontario high school carpentry class that incorporated experiential and adventure elements into the curriculum. Discusses how class activities met students' aesthetic, social, and self-concept needs; stimulated exploration into other subject areas; developed decision-making skills and group cooperation; and created connections…

Describes the development of educational computer software called scenario software that was designed to incorporate advances in cognitive, affective, and physiological research. Instructional methods are outlined; the need to change from didactic methods to discovery learning is explained; and scenario software design features are discussed. (24…

Describes a lesson using magazine photographs to help students learn about cultural diversity. Cooperative learning and discovery learning techniques are utilized. A student observation sheet and culture picture map are included. (CFR)

Investigated strategies that 7- to 12-year-old children (n=96) spontaneously applied in solving novel combinatorial problems. With experience in solving two-dimensional problems, children were able to refine their strategies and adapt them to three dimensions. Results on some problems indicated significant effects of age. (Contains 32 references.)…

Describes an investigation in which students predict and verify the effect that the number of clicks of a toy copter gun has on the height that the copter will attain. Provides follow-up questions for the students. (MDH)

Describes the author's year-long analysis of one student's work to demonstrate her larger and ongoing research process in her classroom, as she investigated whether and how students were taking up the key inquiry-based processes that serve as a foundation for learning across disciplines in her classroom. (SR)

Reports on classroom experiments with replacing standard student report-style papers with more expressive, explorational writing assignments. Outlines how course readings are used as the basis for a paper that takes the form of a series of letters or postcards to an imaginary or real person. Provides examples from student projects. (DSK)

Fourth-graders in Oklahoma City used the Internet to find an expert to identify a 75-pound Pleistocene-Era mammoth femur they found in a nearby river. A superintendent explains how his technologically backward district wired its schools for Internet learning and facilitated genuine instructional improvement. (MLH)

Describes a laboratory notebook designed for junior and senior college students for a fish taxonomy course. Discusses the benefits of drawing and close observation on students' learning. (Contains 15 references.) (YDS)

Describes how a group of gifted primary-school children in New Zealand explored the Internet in a workshop project organized around solving the mystery of what happened to the Titanic. Insets include the student "contract," a listing of Web sites, and the evaluation instrument. (DB)

As his geology students' specialized knowledge of the Mesozoic era increased, a high school teacher realized he needed a way to showcase their work. The Mesozoic Resource Center's biggest hit was a walk-through diorama showing how life might have been during each of three Mesozoic periods. Highlights included two gigantic student-built dinosaur…

Emphasizes the concept of experience in experiential-learning situations and discusses learning from experience in professional practice. A reflective practitioner learns from his/her own experience of professional practice in a manner that produces new practice-based knowledge and skills. Discusses reflective practice in an organizational context…

The discovery-learning approach is being used with great success to teach blind persons orientation and mobility in rural environments. The problem-solving ability that accompanies this approach builds the self-confidence essential to independent travel. Discusses using a long cane, talking clock, and distance and environmental cues such as sun,…

Describes a methodology for supporting exploratory learning that attempts to limit learning space, called exploration space, and adequately control the cognitive load learners would face in their exploration process. In Exploration Space Control (ESC) the extent of exploration space is controlled according to domain complexity, but also to…