Drawn from a teacher-educator's experience in teaching a basic reading methods course and a Master's course for inservice teachers, this paper provides practical strategies for promoting active involvement, reflection, decision-making, and collaboration among preservice and inservice teachers. The paper first presents syllabi for the methods…

Students are increasingly expected to be able to think critically, solve complex problems, and communicate clearly. Educators are expected to facilitate that learning in a variety of situations for an increasingly individualized student population. Therefore, educators who attempt to change their practices must become active learners. A school…

This conference paper advocates that experiential learning provides learners with a deeper sense of knowing and self-confidence in taking risks to be change agents in their chosen fields. Five components of experiential learning are described: (1) there is an emphasis on learning-by-doing; (2) there is an emphasis on learning by listening; (3)…

This book details the studio setting of a history workshop in which learners discuss the meaning of artifacts, oral history transcriptions, historical photographs, and other firsthand sources from the past. Teachers facilitate interactions among children and play the role of elders, guiding younger learners as they explore a variety of historical…

This book provides scores of activities using inexpensive manila file folders. Designed for children from preschool through kindergarten, each chapter proceeds from simple material to more advanced work. Selected subjects are intended to enhance the following curriculum studies and promote development in: (1) eye-hand coordination (e.g., fit the…

In an effort to improve instruction related to psychometrics and psychological testing for beginning psychology majors, an approach was developed at Pennsylvania's Ursinus College that incorporates active, participatory learning and problem solving. The approach is used in a course on research methods and makes use of a networked computer system…

This paper provides a review of "Applied Economics," a curriculum package developed by Junior Achievement, Inc. (Colorado Springs, Colorado). The materials are used in high schools across the nation and provide students an opportunity to study economics, learn about the U.S. free enterprise system, and explore their roles as citizens,…

This book provides scores of activities using inexpensive manila file folders. Designed for children in the elementary grades, each chapter proceeds from simple material to more advanced work. Selected subjects are intended to enhance the following curriculum studies and promote development in: (1) art and visual-motor activities; (2) reading; (3)…

In an Adolescent Development course at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, activities are employed to encourage students to become active learners, to become critical consumers of information regarding adolescents, and to develop an empathetic understanding of adolescents and their experiences. One activity that promotes critical thinking…

The Research on Trial technique is designed to enable students to think critically about psychological research, to help them apply what they have learned in class in an in-depth way to this research, and to create a classroom environment in which research issues are debated. The technique employs a courtroom trial role-play, with students…

In 1987, a computerized laboratory component was incorporated into a traditional lower division, lecture-oriented, cognitive psychology course at State University of New York College at Plattsburgh. At first, eight computerized experiments were available for students to participate in as subjects, while students were simply assigned the activities…

Sport facility design and management courses rely heavily or exclusively upon lectures and readings--modes of instruction that engage students in a passive form of learning. This paper advocates one method of stimulating higher-level thinking and active learning in facility courses--the use of cooperative small-group learning. In facility courses,…

This paper describes an example of a course evaluation where the evaluation process becomes an important part of the learning process. The setting is an action-learning based course in an executive program. The participants apply a framework (the X-model) for perceiving processes to their own learning. The framework is presented, and experiences…

This document consists of two booklets, one for teachers and one for students. These booklets are part of the Middle Grades Program of Junior Achievement, Inc. The booklets help students assess their personal skills and interests, explore career options, learn job-hunting skills, and discover the value of an education. A master list of materials…

Businesses use both classroom and facilitation forms of leadership development. In this article I describe over 20 leadership-development methods, placing them in either of two categories, classroom or facilitation. I then provide the results of a quick survey of leadership development companies on the Internet, over 200 in all, about which group…