Learning-by-doing learning environments support a wealth of physical engagement in activities. However, there is also a lot of variability in what participants learn in each enactment of these types of environments. Therefore, it is not always clear how participants are learning in these environments. In order to design technologies to support learning in these environments, we must have a greater understanding of how participants engage in learning activities, their goals for their engagement, and the types of help they need to cognitively engage in learning activities. To gain a greater understanding of participant engagement and factors and circumstances that promote and inhibit engagement, this dissertation explores and answers several questions: What are the types of interactions and experiences that promote and /or inhibit learning and engagement in learning-by-doing learning environments? What are the types of configurations that afford or inhibit these interactions and experiences in learning-by-doing learning environments? I explore answers to these questions through the context of two enactments of Kitchen Science Investigators (KSI), a learning-by-doing learning environment where middle-school aged children learn science through cooking from customizing recipes to their own taste and texture preferences. In small groups, they investigate effects of ingredients through the design of cooking and science experiments, through which they experience and learn about chemical, biological, and physical science phenomena and concepts (Clegg, Gardner, Williams,&Kolodner, 2006). The research reported in this dissertation sheds light on the different ways participant engagement promotes and/or inhibits cognitive engagement in by learning-by-doing learning environments through two case studies. It also provides detailed descriptions of the circumstances (social, material, and physical configurations) that promote and/or inhibit participant engagement in these learning environments through cross-case analyses of these cases. Finally, it offers suggestions about structuring activities, selecting materials and resources, and designing facilitation and software-realized scaffolding in the design of these types of learning environments. These design implications focus on affording participant engagement in science content and practices learning. Overall, the case studies, cross-case analyses, and empirically-based design implications begin to bridge the gap between theory and practice in the design and implementation of these learning environments. This is demonstrated by providing detailed and explanatory examples and factors that affect how participants take up the affordances of the learning opportunities designed into these learning environments.

Thesis (M.A.)--Wheaton College Graduate School, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 246-247).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2009. / A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, School of Psychology in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographical references.

The Association of American Colleges and Universities considers internships as one of several “High Impact Educational Practices.” While these experiential learning exercises are not new, there are resurgent calls for universities to help students find and engage in more internship experiences before completion of their undergraduate degrees. At the same time, however, the US Department of Labor has strict guidelines as to what constitutes “internships” and what constitutes “unfair labor practices.” While there is a history of the private and public sectors creating internships for students in professional-degree programs and business schools, a need exists for more internships for humanities students—particularly English and writing students. This dissertation examines considerations for faculty members working with English majors to develop internship initiatives with structures that have pedagogical foci and follow the US Department of Labor internship guidelines. Using a case study approach, this project examines the growth of Georgia State University’s English Department internship program over the past twenty years. Through exploration into the opportunities, locations, and structures relevant to an urban university, the study reveals how faculty members designed a student-focused program that serves students, the university, and the community. Relying largely upon the review of departmental archives; a study of the history of GSU in the Atlanta community; interviews with faculty members and internship providers; and an exploration into the terms “intern” and “internship,” the dissertation ultimately sets forth considerations for those working with student internship programs and a model for college and university internship program evaluation.

This qualitative content analysis examines the nature of experience of public relations and advertising interns. Three decades of scholarly inquiry into the internship experience has provided little insight into the actual experience of the interns themselves. Yet what is learned directly from their individual experience can provide both educators and professionals valuable insight for enhancing the learning process. The following study is a qualitative content analysis of journals and focus groups of undergraduates enrolled in public relations and advertising internships/practicums. The interns' experience follows four themes: (1) the perception of importance; (2) perceived learning benefits; (3) influence of supervisors; and (4) the quest for meaningful work. Through these themes, the experiential learning cycle is evidenced as students reflect, conceptualize, and experiment through their experience.

Many undergraduate students enrolled in institutions of higher learning wish to connect their learning to real life experiences. By linking reality to academics, students see first hand the practical value in their studies. The purpose of this study was to critically analyze the practice of application projects in undergraduate mathematics courses to determine if, and if so how, students benefit from optional real world application projects. The study was limited to specific courses within a non-math major's undergraduate mathematics program of study at one large research university. Until the appearance of "The Mathematics Umbrella: Modeling and Education" (Grinshpan, 2005), no research was available dealing directly with mathematically focused application projects, so this study is purposeful. A review of related literature suggests that projects provide a desirable method of learning. This researcher adopted the educational philosophy of pragmatism established by James, Dewey, Chickering and Gamson, and others. Pragmatism--doing what works--is appropriate to undergraduate mathematics education.Quantitative and qualitative phases were performed sequentially on two distinct, but related, populations of undergraduate non-mathematics major students taking calculus courses. The first phase assessed whether completion of optional real world application projects was related to mathematics students' test grades. The second qualitative phase used individual interviews to capture students' opinions as to the value and desirability of the project process.The overall goal of the research was to gauge the beneficial aspects of application projects. One strong finding concerned the relationship that may exist between application projects and students' levels of time on task. Project students reported greater time on task than non-project students, and increasing time on task may enhance the quality of students' learning experiences.The numbers of reported incidences of feelings of course satisfaction and of increased positive perception toward mathematics were largely consistent between groups, with somewhat greater numbers within the project group. Pedagogical implications from this study point to the value of both faculty and student effort devoted to application projects in increased student understanding of, and appreciation for, mathematics.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Education) -- Tshwane University of Technology, 2008. / Investigates the dynamics of the challenge education concept. It also looks at how to design a functional model for the implementation of challenge education at the Tshwane University of Technology.

As a best practice, many postsecondary institutions in the United States use internships to provide students the option of maximizing their classroom learning with practical experiences. These experiences are not only intended to enhance students’ classroom learning but also to increase their employment marketability upon graduation. The internship process involves three stakeholders—the institution, the students, and the employers—and is often managed by curricular and co-curricular departments. However, the manner in which the program is structured varies from institution to institution and even within the institution. Thus, understanding which structures of undergraduate student internship programs are most effective as an academic component of experiential learning is critical for the overall success of the internship programs. This mixed-methods case study research was designed to examine the Mass Media Arts Department internship structure at the selected institution to identify the components most effective in the students’ experiential learning experience. The study investigated the alignment between the institution’s academic and co-curricular programs, as well as their participating interns’ preparedness and their partner employers readiness. The study also examined the industry’s best practices used by other institutions and recommended by national professional associations to align these variables. Based on the findings of this study, the following four emergent themes were identified to effectively align and integrate the curricular and co-curricular departments, the interns, and the employers: (a) program structure, (b) student preparation, (c) employers’ relations, and (d) program evaluation. Future researchers can further examine these emerging themes to improve the relationship between student preparation as part of human capital and the roles of faculty and administration in aligning internship program processes.

Syftet med mitt arbete är att ta del av pedagogers erfarenheter av att arbeta med sinnligt lärande på en gymnasiesärskola. Hur skapar pedagogerna en kreativ lärmiljö för sina elever? Använder de sig av några sinnliga lärmetoder och i så fall hur? Min metod består bl.a. avdeltagande observationer och semistrukturerade intervjuer i en etnografisk studie. Analysen har visat att innebörden av ett framgångsrikt pedagogiskt arbete med dessa ungdomar på gymnasiesärskolan kan ses som en god praktik där fenomen som individuella mål, erfarenhet, intresse, delaktighet, sinnligt lärande, upplevelse, synliggörande samt att lära av varandra är centrala och viktiga delar. Min uppfattning är att pedagogerna försöker variera sina lärmiljöer och använder sig av sinnliga lärmetoder i undervisningen. Hela läsårets löpande arbete läggs upp i olika tema-moduler där undervisningen sker både inne och ute i natur och kulturlandskap. För vidare forskning kan det vara intressant att ta reda på om lärdomar från en lärmiljö kan överföras till en annan lärmiljö, och om ungdomarnas sociala erfarenheter och lärande i sinnliga rum blir överfört till vardagen hemma eller till skolarbetet generellt. / The subject of my paper is to examine the experiences of teachers using a multi-sensory teaching approach when working with pupils with learning disabilities in upper secondary school. How can they create a creative learning environment for their students? Do they use any multisensory teaching methods and, if so, how? My methodology has mainly consisted in participating observation and semi-structured interviews in an ethnographic study. Analysis has shown that the significance of a successful educational effort with these young people at upper secondary school can be seen as a good practice, in which phenomena such as individual objectives, experience, interest, participation, multi-sensory learning, experiential learning, visualization and learning from each other, are central and essential elements. My view is that the teachers try to vary their learning environments and that they are using different multi-sensory teaching methods. All the day-to-day schoolwork is set-up in different theme modules, where teaching takes place both indoors and outdoors in wilderness and cultivated landscapes. For further research, it might be interesting to find out if the lessons learned from one learning environment can be transferred to another, and if the social experiences and lessons learned in multi-sensory environments will be transferred to the young people’s everyday home life or to their schoolwork, in general.

Syftet med detta arbete var att utreda ”om” och ”i vilken utsträckning” som Experiential Learning (EL) går i linje med dagens svenska skola. Med avgränsning till gymnasieskolan var syftet därför att relatera Experiential Learning gentemot de dokument som ligger till grund för dagens svenska gymnasieskola, nämligen: ’Skollagen’, ’Läroplanen för de frivilliga skolformerna’ (Lpf 94) och Läroplanskommitténs betänkande ’Skola för bildning’ (SOU 1992:94). Utgångspunkten för denna hermeneutiska jämförelse var ett kritiskt förhållningssätt (läs. ’granskande’) utifrån de för modern svensk pedagogisk forskning centrala teoretiska perspektiven eller ”synerna”; kunskap, lärande, elev och lärare. Förutom denna textanalys innefattar arbetet även en enkätundersökning som med delat kvantitativa och kvalitativa frågor undersökt vilken kännedom om och syn på Experiential Learning som finns hos ett antal läraraspiranter vid Lärarhögskolan i Stockholm. Undersökningen insinuerade att få överhuvudtaget hört talas om konceptet, men att de tycker att det verkar vara aktuellt för såväl sin framtida undervisning som den svenska skolan i allmänhet. Arbetets slutgiltiga analys visade på stor samstämmighet mellan EL och den svenska skolan i både undervisnings- och människosyn – även om det läggs olika stor emfas vid olika saker. Utmärkande var här synen på ett aktivt lärande, tillsammans med tanken om individen i centrum. Förutom de dokument som ligger till grund för den svenska skolan, var ett fåtal källor kring EL tongivande. Urvalet styrdes i hög utsträckning av rådande utbud, varvid en rad Internetreferenser också blev aktuella. Tankarna bakom EL uppkom på 20-talet i det forna Tjeckoslovakien och har utvecklats till en form av alternativ pedagogik med ett aktivt inlärningssätt och en holistisk lärosyn. Konceptet kan sägas vara en syntes mellan utomhusaktiviteter och drama. Det situationella lärandet står därvid i centrum för undervisningen, som söker inkludera såväl teoretisk och praktisk, som emotionell och social utveckling. Synen på kunskap kan utifrån detta definieras som progressiv och alla former av personliga kompetenser bejakas och eftersträvas i undervisningen. Undervisningen bedrivs huvudsakligen i gruppform, men utgår från individen i det att denne ges möjlighet att själv välja det sätt som denne vill närma sig det aktuella undervisningsmaterialet. Metodiken relaterar således i hög grad till begreppet lärstil och dess strävan är att inkludera så många sinnen som möjligt i undervisningen. Konceptets utbildningsteoretiska grund är i mångt och mycket gemensam med den ideologi som styr dagens svenska skola – där återfinns teorier och tankar från bland annat; John Dewey, Jean Piaget och L.S. Vygotskij.