Outdoor educators in training engaged in a mask-making activity involving partners. One person made the mask and the other provided his or her face as the mold. The anxiety-provoking experience invited an intimate exchange between partners around issues of intimacy, trust, and compassion. (KS)

Asserts that field experiences cannot be replaced by a textbook or a computer program and discusses why field trips at the college level are in decline. (PR)

Examined the effectiveness of experienced-based versus other experiential learning. First graders participated in experience-dictation, experience-debriefing, or debriefing-only groups. Pre- and posttesting probed students' understanding of 10 basic economic concepts and use of cost-benefit analysis in decision making. Findings supported the…

Presents a program for elementary teachers to learn how to use hand tools and household appliances to teach the principles of physics. The lesson helps teachers become familiar with simple hand tools, combat the apprehension of mechanical devices, and develop an interest in tools and technology. Session involves disassembling appliances to…

Offers a framework for approaching evaluation of practical experience, specifically in the field of elementary school teacher education, arguing that such evaluation should be longitudinal, contextualized, and collaborative. Portfolio development is found to be a powerful tool in this process, and both a rubric and criteria for assessing…

Describes a tension-to-learn theory of experiential learning and incorporates a motivation construct that is needed to overcome student inertia, which may restrict participation. The theory is based largely on Loewenstein's manageable gap perspective of curiosity as well as on the role that absorptive capacity plays in providing the learner's…

Argues that worksheets are limited teaching tools because they do not address preschoolers' developmental needs such as hands-on play. Presents characteristics of early learning that can be facilitated by play, which fosters children's social and language development, physical skills, and creative and critical thinking. Suggests that learning can…

Proposes that it is critical for children to understand and appreciate plants, and that gardening can be integrated into the regular school curriculum. Gives examples of "pizza garden" and flower garden projects related to math, science, language arts, creative arts, nutrition and health, physical education, Earth stewardship, music, social…

Describes an environmental workshop with three goals: (1) to develop a more grounded and personal understanding in students of extinction; (2) to draw attention to their specific life contexts while making connections between local and global phenomena; and (3) to critically examine anthropocentrism. Highlights efforts to disrupt strictly…

Explains how critical thinking, communication, and estimation can be incorporated into an exciting problem-solving unit for first-grade students. Presents four related activities. (ASK)

An indepth survey of teachers conducted by the Texas Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development found that teachers were furious about professional development as they knew it. They found it too theoretical--essentially out of touch with everyday classroom life. Practicing teachers wanted expert assistance with specific problems, not…

Reviews effective inclusive teaching techniques, including multilevel instruction, activity-based and experiential learning, student-directed learning and self-determination, cooperative learning and peer collaboration, multiaged classrooms and heterogeneous grouping, individualized and adaptive instruction, teaching as facilitating student…

Describes a 10-week study abroad program in Salzburg, Austria, where students were required to interview native speakers. Students prepared a written protocol of the interview and gave an oral presentation of the results. Out-of-class contact with native speakers, such as the interviews described, has a positive effect on students' self-confidence…

Reviews the movement toward an expanded classroom through experientially based curricular innovations such as cooperative education, internships, study abroad, and service learning, which are intended to bring concrete experience into the learning model, allowing students to apply classroom concepts and complete the learning process. Provides an…

Ten-year-old students (n=531) from the U.S. and Germany were studied to determine the relationships between everyday experience, domain-specific control beliefs, acquisition of science knowledge, and solving of everyday technical problems. A causal model, developed and tested through structural equation modeling, showed that domain-specific…