Interviews with rural women active in grassroots community organizations in Appalachia revealed that the consequences of women's participation included learning new skills, developing communication skills, gaining understanding of their lives, and setting new educational or vocational goals. Aspects of organizational environment that supported the…

Reports on the agenda of an exemplary teacher as she planned for and implemented a visit to an interactive science center by her class of 12-year-old boys. Describes activity in three sections: pre-visit preparation, post-visit activities and reflections, and during the visit. Focuses on the nature of student learning and participant teachers'…

Analyzes how students learn and develop through work experience. Presents a typology of work experience that identifies five models: traditional, experiential, generic, work process, and connective. Suggests that connectivity may provide the basis for a productive and useful relationship between formal and informal learning. (Contains 82…

An experience-based exhibit emphasizes the visitor's active involvement: visitors become involved in inquiry cycles in which visitors' continued interaction with the exhibit builds upon the feedback they have received from the results of their inquiries. Presents 10 broad guidelines to consider when designing engaging experience-based exhibits.…

The primary objective of this research was to increase understanding of how women in the Maritime Provinces of Canada learn about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This research utilised a qualitative approach with specific methods including interviews, joint interviews and focus groups. Overall 44 women participated in this research. The data was analysed…

The research reported in this paper attempts to document the actual learning practices of working-class people in the context of the much heralded "knowledge-based economy." Our primary thesis is that working-class peoples' indigenous learning capacities have been denied, suppressed, degraded or diverted within most capitalist schooling,…

Spurred on by recent research findings, the popular press has been bombarding the country about the obesity crisis facing our nation. Issues surrounding the obesity problem for children include (a) a reduction of daily physical activity as a result of some schools eliminating recess and physical education; (b) the change in society from farming…

The potential of poetry for expanding possibilities in teaching, learning, and research is explored through specific examples from a poet/teacher's practice of poetry as a way of knowing and a medium for sharing knowledge.

Most people spend all year looking forward to the time of holidays and the celebration and reflection it brings. Although family traditions abound with hearty food and holiday cheer, the holidays can also be stressful for parents of children who have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In this article, the author provides several tips…

Environmental education, both in and outside of the classroom, aims to facilitate adoption of sustainable practice by both school students and the general public. This paper explores the role of free-choice learning experiences in this regard. An overview of theoretical approaches underpinning free-choice learning research is provided, examples…

Citizen participation in environmental decision-making is of extreme importance in securing a good quality of life. Local communities know best what alternate solutions should be implemented for appropriate management of their area. This paper presents findings about the environmental characteristics of various Greek citizens' groups, where…

Informal training is known to be the dominant skill acquisition strategy for the majority of workers in India and many other economically developing countries and there is much benefit in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of this form of training. A participant observation case study was undertaken in northern India to investigate these…

Cognitive neuroscience is identifying neural networks in the brain that support multiple ways of knowing. This notion is also supported by evidence from psychology, anthropology, sociology, and other related disciplines. These human knowledge systems provide a means for sharing, expressing, understanding, knowing, and gaining insights into one's…

The people at Inverness Research Associates spent 12 years studying Community Science Workshops (CSW) in California and in six other states. They gathered statistics on the scale, scope, and cost-efficiency of CSW services to youth. They observed youth at work in the shops--taking apart computers, repairing bikes, growing plants, and so on--and…

Generic Learning Outcomes (GLOs) are intended to enable cultural heritage organisations to be aware of the effectiveness of the environment for learning that they provide and to provide quantitative evidence of the impact of museums libraries and archives on learning, nationally. This paper presents a logical critique of their strengths and…