By examining American University's Washington Semester Program (AUWSP), this project analyzes the impact of intensive undergraduate experiential and active learning on subsequent student academic performance. In this article, we discuss the differences between traditional, active, and experiential learning methods to better understand the…

In January of 2004, we took 35 college students to Manchester, New Hampshire, where they were immersed in the crucial final weeks of the Democratic Presidential Primary as part of a course on the presidential election. This course required students to work on the campaign of their choice in the weeks leading up to the state's primary as well as…

Professional learning communities among teachers and schools have been envisioned as a mechanism for development, knowledge building and implementation. However the formation of an effective learning community is more complex than giving teachers a project and asking them to share a room. This paper reports a synergistic interaction between a…

Background: Experiential learning has been posited as an approach to influencing preservice teachers' understanding of diversity and social justice. The research reported here examined the impact of a field-based experience in Poland focused on the Holocaust as it pertained to the beliefs and actions of 12 future education professionals. This…

In December 2006, the Missouri River Regional Library (MRRL) in Jefferson City, embarked on a journey. They had been watching the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County (PLCMC), NC, on its adventure through the wilds of Web 2.0, and they decided to follow the trail it had blazed. What PLCMC had done was pretty revolutionary. The library…

The purpose of this study was to determine if modeling by university professors and practicum and cooperating teachers was related to preservice teachers' perceptions of their computer technology skills and if preservice teachers' use of technology in academic and other settings was related to those perceptions. Seventy-nine preservice teacher…

This paper describes the details of a National Science Foundation multi-year educational project at the University of Oklahoma (OU). The goal of this comprehensive active-learning and hands-on laboratory program is to develop an interdisciplinary program, in which engineering, geoscience, and meteorology students participate, which forms a…

America's schools are facing a critical shortage of teachers just as student enrollments are rising and more rigorous assessments of student achievement are being implemented. The shortage is especially acute in hard-to-staff schools in urban and rural areas, as well as in high-demand subjects such as math, science, and bilingual and special…

Residential treatment programs provide a range of services, including drug and alcohol treatment, confidence building, military-style discipline, and psychological counseling for troubled boys and girls with a variety of addiction, behavioral, and emotional problems. This testimony concerns programs across the country referring to themselves as…

As conceived by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), Lifelong Learning Accounts (LiLAs[SM]) are employer-matched, portable individual accounts used to finance employee education and training. They provide employees with an affordable means of upgrading their skills and knowledge, while helping to meet the needs of employers and…

The intent of a liberal arts education is to expose students to a broad array of ideas and subject matter. Its perceived weakness involves the possible lack of preparedness for the workplace; a liberal arts education is deliberately not vocational. To bridge that divide colleges and universities, in cooperation with industry, non-profits, and the…

During a fieldstudy of children's gardens in the United States in 2005, the author became aware that possibilities for providing learning experiences in children's gardens are bountiful and different styles are emerging. Anecdotally this appears to be a contested area with some within the discipline favoring a narrower definition of children's…

This article presents the author's response to Joseph Reimer's article titled, "Beyond More Jews Doing Jewish: Clarifying the Goals of Informal Jewish Education." The author discusses the "role" of teacher, which includes: engaging students in an academic subject each teacher has mastered, mentoring a particular small group of students about the…

This article describes an interdisciplinary, experiential learning project that combined marketing and communications courses at a state university. Two professors from different colleges partnered with a domestic violence center to enable students to create a community-based social marketing campaign. Student assessments indicated success in…

The application of digital storytelling to art education is an interdisciplinary, inquiry-based, hands-on project that integrates the arts, education, local communities, technology, and storytelling. Through digital storytelling, students develop and apply multiliteracy skills, aesthetic sensitivities, and critical faculties to address greater…