Field trips are an important component of upper undergraduate and graduate-level science courses, especially in the fields of biology, geoscience, and environmental science. Field trips can provide a new perspective to a course's content and quality. Science field trips can facilitate active student learning, yet often can be constrained by time,…

As America's education system transitioned into an era of accountability, elementary teachers often found it more difficult to advocate for instructional strategies that aligned with strong acts of constructivism. In fact, scholars have speculated that teachers are using field trips significantly less since the start of the new millennia; however,…

This research study, grounded in experiential learning theory, utilized a draw-and-explain assessment to measure change in secondary students' knowledge before and after an experiential field trip. Our results indicated that the secondary students (aged 15-18 years) had pre-existing knowledge of the local delta area that included both abiotic and…

This qualitative evaluative study explores the views of two science club advisor/educators of an active 122-member rural high school science club program that is thriving in spite of increasingly busy student schedules, decreasing school budgets, and a demanding standardized curriculum. It is essential to understand the teacher-advisors'…

In the face of massive global extinction, the mission of zoos for conservation education has increasing importance. Zoos are in a unique position to affect the development of youth in ways that are consistent with cultivating pro-environmental behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine three intrinsic traits of youth important to the…

Children's participation in yoga activities is receiving increasingly widespread attention as an exercise system that promotes not only physical health benefits but also psychological well-being. The authors of this article introduce how yoga practices can be implemented in an early childhood classroom to enhance children's mind and body harmony,…

We live in a designed world. STEAM by Design presents a transdisciplinary approach to learning that challenges young minds with the task of making a better world. Learning today, like life, is dynamic, connected and engaging. STEAM (Science, Technology, Environment, Engineering, Art, and Math) teaching and learning integrates information in…

Pre-service teachers need experiences in practical matters as a part of field trip preparations programmes. For 14 years, a private, non-profit university in Turkey has involved pre-service teachers in field trip planning, implementation and evaluation. A programme assessment was conducted through a case study to examine the long-term effects of…

This research investigates the ways in which undergraduate courses dealing with the environment address sustainable development (SD), and contribute to the development of sustainability learning outcomes (SLO). The participants in the study were 13 instructors, and 360 students who were enrolled in 13 courses that addressed the environment in a…

Background: Children living in urban areas often have limited opportunities to experience informal science environments. As a result, some do not have a deep understanding of the environment, natural resources, ecosystems, and the ways human activities affect nature. Purpose: This article examines how experiential science education supported urban…

Educators are often aware of the need to implement a variety of teaching techniques to reach out to students with different learning styles. I describe an attempt to target multimodal learners by bringing classical economic texts and concepts to life through discussions, field visits and role playing exercises. In my Labor Economics class I…

The teen behavior typically exhibited in school visit groups is often read by museum teachers as resistance or disengagement, when the opposite is more likely the case. This paper attempts to dispel some of the myths around teen behavior and serve as a practical guide to museum educators who desire a deeper, more successful engagement with teen…

In spite of the economic climate which has led to financial retrenchment in school districts, the Tsongas Industrial History Center (TIHC) in Lowell, Massachusetts, which was formed through a collaboration between the National Park Service Lowell National Historical Park and the University of Massachusetts Lowell Graduate School of Education,…

Watching images through mass media presents a challenge for understanding the complexities of different cultures within and outside the United States. Photographic images, in particular, are ubiquitous in our mediated world, populating old and interactive media and many times serving to perpetuate established codes of understanding and action.…

To improve on the classic school trip to the museum and the traditional distinctions between formal and informal learning, every year we run a project where the schools (first the teachers and then the pupils) are actively involved right from the very first stages of planning. The various projects realised so far involve schools with children of…