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…

Proposes an exercise that allows students to build a physical network of ties and then to experience how it can influence individual opportunities. Provides an example exercise that applies this method to learning about inequality in job opportunities. Suggests other topics that can be illustrated using the same methods. (DSK)

Presents a case study for a course on women in the economy that makes use of service-learning projects in which students provide analysis for local nonprofit organizations. Reviews the literature on service learning and outlines its application in the course. Relates student and faculty responses to the activity. (DSK)

Details a course for teaching ethics to undergraduates. Argues that participation in service-learning experiences teaches students about moral philosophy and ethical principles for psychologists, and helps them become more sensitive to complex ethical dilemmas involved in psychology and related fields. Reports that students' course evaluations are…

Anecdotes describe how outdoor education provides active-learning experiences by involving students in direct interaction with each other and the real world. Outdoor education reveals the inherent natural connections between different branches of knowledge by accessing and honoring multiple modalities of thinking and expressing, and encouraging…

Examines how understandings of concepts of experiential and theoretical learning have evolved within Discipline-Based Art Education (DBAE) debates; explores how these two types of learning are related to each DBAE discipline; and proposes that educational practices emphasize interaction between experiential and theoretical learning within and…