Advocates using Britain's system of outdoor and field study centers will impact environmental education. The two main traditions in outdoor education have been field studies and outdoor pursuits. A suggested model for environmental education involves (1) raising awareness; (2) developing knowledge and understanding; (3) teaching skills of…

This study of the role and value of fieldwork in education for library and information science used questionnaires, logbooks, and interviews to assess attitudes toward and learning during fieldwork programs at two South African universities. Findings related to learning are reported, and recommendations for the design of a fieldwork program are…

Six potential problems with the use of randomized experiments to evaluate programs in the field are addressed. Problems include treatment dilution, treatment contamination or confounding, inaccurate case flow and power estimates, violations of the random assignment processes, changes in the environmental context, and changes in the treatment…

Teachers judged four types of outdoor settings for potential benefits and barriers to their use in environmental education. Factor analysis or responses showed six benefit and barrier factors: (1) appropriateness of teaching setting; (2) teacher confidence; (3) worries; (4) need for training; (5) hazards; and (6) difficulty of teaching…

Attempts to identify and characterize patterns of expert teaching practice as they occur in context, and to confirm these patterns through processes of verification. Observes teacher Dorothy DeLay in her studio, documenting her teaching through notes, audiotapes, and contextual artifacts. Discusses DeLay's theory of proximal positioning in…

Ethnographic fieldwork is advocated as two ways for student affairs educators to enhance practice. Recent fieldwork and published ethnographic texts about college students are used to illustrate three benefits: (1) access to students' experience and culture; (2) access to student and campus culture; (3) enhance practice through informed…

Presents an eight-stage teaching model used to develop science curriculum for primary aged students at a Hong Kong school. The model focuses around class nature walks in which students pose and structure inquiries. These walks are followed by use of the in-class and out-of-class environments to collect information and produce a product. (DB)

Investigates students' perceptions of selected aspects concerning the organization of and learning from fieldwork. Findings indicate that students either seek partners whom they regard as capable of making positive contributions to the fulfillment of learning tasks, or they opt for friendship groups and a large minority of students regard…

Forty years ago, between 1962 and 1964, fieldwork was carried out on the research project "Adjustment of Young Workers to Work Situations and Adult Roles". Using archived materials relating to the little known Norbert Elias project, this paper has two aims. First, to introduce this largely unknown aspect of Elias's work to a wider…

The paper argues that the systematic review of qualitative research is best served by reliance upon qualitative methods themselves. A case is made for strengthening the narrative literature review and using narrative itself as a method of review. A technique is proposed that builds upon recent developments in qualitative systematic review by the…

Short-term international field study is an attractive alternative for many students to traditional, longer-term study abroad programs. We present a discussion of critical planning, administrative, and curricular elements related to the development and implementation of such courses. In doing so, we share a number of checklists and planning tools…

In this essay, Cathy Sandeen states that the new postsecondary landscape requires looking at higher education as a system that provides multiple pathways in and through the various parts of the system, all with the goal of helping students complete a postsecondary degree, credential, or certificate. Sandeen observes two strengths in professional…

Field investigations are not characterized by randomized and manipulated control group experiments; however, most school science and high-stakes tests recognize only this paradigm of investigation. Scientists in astronomy, genetics, field biology, oceanography, geology, and meteorology routinely select naturally occurring events and conditions and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present The School for Field Studies-Center for Coastal Studies (SFS-CCS) as a success story in sustainable development education. This success is based on a unique academic model, which incorporates sustainable development opportunities and challenges faced by the local community into the program…

According to Carl Sagan (1987), "Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge." Field studies and undergraduate research provide students with the best opportunities for "thinking" about science, while at the same time acquiring a body of knowledge. Natural History of Tropical Carbonate Ecosystems is a…