This paper deals with a significant challenge in education today: the challenge to teach life long learning and critical thinking skills in Web-based environments. This is a challenge for two reasons. First, business and government are pressuring educational institutions to prepare employees who can think critically, solve a range of problems,…

This publication contains faculty stories about experiences with service learning from Miami-Dade Community College. The stories are first-hand accounts of real learning and how lives change because of that experience. The stories come from teachers who see themselves as facilitators of a student's own active learning; who look for and commend…

Postmodernism is a concept that is still emerging into the cultural dialogue and slowly contributing to the changing notions about educational processes. Through an original interpretation and multimedia presentation of a classic children's story, "The Three Little Pigs (Revisited)," three such developing notions--learner-initiated…

This paper provides an introduction to the use of site visits as a form of live case study in IS (Information Systems) courses at the University of Canterbury (New Zealand). Site visits are relatively easy to organize and can effectively complement other teaching methods. Importantly, students like the reality of site visits and the variety they…

Place-based education, which draws from local culture, history, and geography to create a meaningful curriculum, holds particular promise for rural homeschooling. Following a brief review of the homeschooling phenomenon, this digest identifies ways that rural place-based education can counter common concerns about homeschooling. In 1999 about 1.7…

This supplement to the active learning modules summarizes some of the shared experience and wisdom on active pedagogy of module testers, pedagogy experts, and teachers. Among the issues addressed in the supplement are: hints to facilitate teaching an active learning module; suggestions for instructors who are new to a particular location and who…

This book presents case studies of six "pockets of hope," democratic educational projects in which empowered students and their teachers actively engage with relevant academic and social problems. Although seemingly very different, the projects share a core commitment to democratic pedagogy and demonstrate practices consistent with…

Describes an assignment for an undergraduate U. S. history class that combined role playing and research. The class was directed to use depression-era materials (newspapers, magazine articles, pamphlets, cookbooks) and plan a menu to feed a family of five on $2.50 a week (the amount provided by relief agencies). (MJP)

Educators need to learn more about the impact of computers and calculators on content and methods of college mathematics instruction. Experience suggests this interactive technology encourages active participation in learning, resulting in learner sense of ownership. Technology allows visualization, promotes exploration of various methods of…

Describes ISAP (Internet Self-Assessment in Pharmacology; http://www.med.umn.edu/ISAP), a World Wide Web-based educational environment for health professionals. This active learning environment that includes text (lecture outlines), reference manual (drug reference cards), and study guide (exam questions), allows users to access and review drug…

Presents techniques for improving instructional delivery, including encouraging active learning; having empathy for students; mixing theory and practice; and increasing students' motivation. Discusses a Web-based case study on expert systems management and features in the "Information Warfare" multimedia aid. (AEF)

Argues that active learning approaches should be used in institutions of higher education and with adult students. Argues that the constructivist approach to educating preservice teachers produces better teachers and is achievable despite problems of large classes, restricted textbook choices, and evaluation issues. Provided suggestions for…

Advocates the Ausubelian approach to preschool education, as it combines traditional child-centered and teacher-centered preschool settings, and influences of Bruner and Piaget. Focuses on the use of the advance organizer lesson to assist students in making basic concept connections. Notes positive effects on student stimulation, interaction, and…

A high school teacher in rural Georgia who has used the 11 Foxfire Core Practices for seven years describes how they have helped her enable students to guide their own learning and think for themselves. Her classes' high scores on state writing tests and Spanish competitions are further testimony to the viability of the practices. (TD)

A teacher describes her experience applying the Foxfire approach to a particularly unruly fourth-grade class. A trip to an old-growth forest caught their attention and became their learning laboratory for the year. Practically every project they did focused around the forest, and they became a productive, hard working class. (TD)