This museum thesis project will provide an overview of kindergarten through 12th-grade (K-12) educational programs at six non-collecting art institutions within the United States, contextualized within a selected historiography of art museum education. This project is designed to aid the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA). The ICA is a non-collecting institution that will be located on VCU’s Monroe Park campus. As the ICA staff sets out to articulate a vision and scope for its K-12 education programs, it will benefit from the information offered in this thesis project, especially given that there is no existing literature specifically about K-12 programs at non-collecting museums of contemporary art.

This diploma thesis is dedicated to teaching botany, and is focused namely on lessons concerning toxic plants. The first part deals with creating of worksheets for secondary school students for field trip into Botanic Garden of Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague. The second part compares effectiveness of classical lesson and the field trip. Students of the first grades from four secondary schools (grammar schools) were divided into two groups.The first group was taught by classic conventional teaching in classroom (control group) and the second group (experimental) was taken for the field trip to the Botanic Garden of Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague. The effectiveness of education was measured by means of a knowledge test before the lesson (pre-test) and after it (post-test). Level of knowledge increased in experimental groups and control groups, however, the difference between individual groups was not significant. Key words: toxic plants, botanical garden, field trips, worksheets, knowledge testing

The aim of the presented master thesis is to prepare, realise and evaluate an efficiency of the alternative method of biology (natural history) teaching at second grade of primary school via excursion into natural areas of the Třebíč region. Four field trips dealing with botanical, zoological, geological and ecological focuses were realised. The theoretical part of the thesis is characterised the Třebíč region focusing on several different natural aspects with an emphasis on an interesting natural sites in this region that are suitable for teaching. Specific teaching methods that are useful for field trips are included in this part of the thesis. The practical part described four field trips including methodical instructions for teachers. Other didactic materials and worksheets are added in the appendices. The empirical part contains questionnaires and didactic tests that are used to monitor specific attitudes of 120 pupils from primary schools to teaching of natural, field trips and worksheets. The questionnaire results definitely proved the following: a) the biology (natural history) classes are among the favourite subjects of the 2nd grade primary school, b) most pupils considered the field trips as interesting and informative, c) worksheets are useful but do not enjoy it. Results of the...

The purpose of the investigation was two fold: first, to analyze the school excursion as a teaching and learning aid; and second, to develop a suggested school-excursion program for the social studies in the junior high schools of Dallas, base upon the findings and evaluations reported by educational observers and by experienced users of excursions.

Grundtanken med detta arbete är att se om utomhuspedagogik möjligtvis främjar lärandet och om det går att finna stöd inom neurologisk forskning för att ta reda på om lärandet stimuleras vid användandet av utomhusundervisning. Undersökningar har genomförts för att se om lärare och elevers syn på utomhusundervisning sammanfaller. Arbetet bygger på litteraturstudier, intervjuer, en observationsstudie, samt enkätundersökningar för att besvara forskningsfrågorna. I denna studie har det framkommit att utomhusundervisning främjar lärandet, främst beroende på de multipla sinnesintryck som utomhusvistelsen skapar. Denna iakttagelse stöds även av neurologisk och pedagogisk forskning. Det har även framkommit att lärare och elever tycker att utomhusundervisning är ett viktigt och positivt inslag i undervisningen.

The following research overview lifts the opportunities and challenges that come with the usage of field trips, in the school subject religion. Using national and international research, we wanted to give an overview of how field trips are used and what they can bring to students regarding knowledge and personal development. The research gathered came mainly from the sources DIVA, EBSCOhost, Swepub, and our previous student literature. While gathering the research for this overview, we saw that there were some names that kept appearing in our searches. While looking for the opportunities we found plenty of challenges as well, researchers such as Lena Roos wrote more about the opportunities while giving knowledge about the challenges. Kindermann and Riegel opened the door towards the challenges throughout their gathered work, but still highlights the opportunities that come along with field trips. Halvarson Britton researched more about how students might feel before, during, and after a field trip as well as how field trips can add to the theoretical classroom work. Going into this, we discovered that the opportunities complemented the challenges and the other way around. This became our stance in the following work as well as lifting how religion is viewed in real life versus how it is viewed from a schoolbook perspective. The research we found revealed how using field trips as a tool can be a good complementary resource to the already existing classroom education as well as allowing the students to come face to face with the religion they have learnt about in the classroom. Regarding the challenges, we discovered that field trips can bring some difficulties, such as students' emotional journey throughout the trip as well as the economic and time-consuming factors are some main points to think about. Although there are both opportunities and challenges with using field trips, they all agreed that it allows the students to meet the religion and not only learn about the religion but also learn from the religion. The conclusion of this, is that field trips are a great tool to meet the religion, thus making education more living rather than theoretical learning. Through all of this, we were able to reach a conclusion that explored both sides critically. How both the opportunities and the challenges that come with field trips can work with each other and how it can benefit students. In the end, we were left with some further questions that can be researched about and how field trips still remain a question if it is a necessity or a nonessential part of education.

With the recent adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards in Oregon, there is a great need for teachers to be trained to effectively implement the three dimensions of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in their teaching. Time and location are the largest constraining factors that affect teacher participation in professional development trainings. To address this constraint, Tryon Creek State Park offered a NGSS professional development training opportunity for teachers that was integrated within a field trip that they took their students on. Before the field trip, teachers were introduced to the NGSS through a set of NGSS pre-field trip materials which informed them about the NGSS and how aspects of it would be integrated into their students' field trip. Teachers accompanied their students on a two-hour long field trip at Tryon Creek State Park where teachers observed nature guides model NGSS-aligned activities for the students. My research aimed to answer the following question: How will an informal science education program at Tryon Creek State Park affect K-2 teachers' awareness of the Next Generation Science Standards? Outcomes were measured through a pre/post retrospective survey and follow-up interviews. On the survey teachers reported little awareness of the three dimensions of the NGSS and very few of the teachers increased their understanding after the treatment. On the other hand, most had a high level of awareness and confidence in teaching factual information supporting the NGSS prior to treatment, resulting in a ceiling effect. Interviews suggested that few teachers read the materials sent in advance of the field trip, but teachers who did read the materials indicated increases in understanding of the NGSS. During the field trip several of the nature guides were effective in modeling science and engineering practices. These findings suggest that this method of professional development is promising, but needs further refinement.

Mobile technologies are increasingly being used to support students in outdoor learning activities. For instance, in a growing number of research projects, smartphones and positioning technologies are being used to support students in exploring the natural environment. However, previous research has identified challenges with the introduction of mobile technology into outdoor lessons. One fundamental challenge is that interaction with mobile technology in outdoor lessons may distract students from interacting with the physical environment. In this thesis this challenge is approached from the perspective of human-computer interaction, guided by the following research question: How can we design, evaluate, and reflect on mobile technology for interacting with the physical environment in outdoor lessons? The thesis presents four design cases on outdoor geometry and biology lessons, which act as probes for developing conceptual design tools. The design cases were developed through a concept-driven design approach and evaluated on field tests with primary school students. Future workshop and Interaction analysis were the main methods used. The results of the field tests suggest that mobile technology needs to be designed to orientate students in their interaction with the physical environment. In line with the concept-driven design approach, the thesis proposes three design tools. The design tools proposed are: Design guidelines that are specific enough for guiding the design of mobile technology for outdoor lessons, a Design model for designing and evaluating mobile technology for outdoor lessons, and Design concepts for reflecting on the placement of mobile technology in outdoor lessons. The design tools are proposed as tools for researchers and designers to take the challenge of distraction into account in designing mobile technology for outdoor lessons. / Mobilteknologi används allt oftare för att stödja elever i läraktiviteter utomhus. Till exempel, i ett växande antal forskningsprojekt, används mobiltelefoner och teknik för positionsbestämning som stöd för skolelever i att utforska naturen. Tidigare forskning har dock identifierat utmaningar med införandet av mobilteknologi i utomhuslektioner. En av de huvudsakliga utmaningarna är att interaktion med mobilteknologi i utomhuslektioner kan distrahera eleverna från att interagera med den fysiska omgivningen. Den här avhandlingen angriper den utmaningen ur ett människa-datorinteraktionsperspektiv, vägledd av följande frågeställning: Hur kan vi designa, utvärdera och reflektera över mobilteknologi för att interagera med den fysiska omgivningen i utomhuslektioner? I avhandlingen presenteras fyra designinterventioner bestående av utomhuslektioner i geometri och biologi, som låg till grund för att utveckla konceptuella designverktyg. Designverktygen utvecklades genom en koncept-driven designstrategi och utvärderades i fälttester med skolelever. Framtidsverkstad och Interaktionsanalys var de huvudsakliga metoder som användes. Resultaten från fälttesterna visar att mobilteknologin behöver utformas så att den kan orientera eleverna i interaktionen med den fysiska omgivningen. I linje med den koncept-drivna designstrategin, bidrar avhandlingen med tre designverktyg. De föreslagna designverktygen är: Designriktlinjer som är specifika nog för att vägleda utformningen av mobilteknologi för utomhuslektioner, en Designmodell för att utforma och utvärdera mobilteknologi för utomhuslektioner, och Designkoncept för att reflektera över hur mobilteknologi placeras och används i utomhuslektioner. Designverktygen föreslås som verktyg för att forskare och designers, som vill designa mobilteknologi för utomhuslektioner, ska kunna möta utmaningen i att mobilteknologin kan distrahera eleverna från att interagera med den fysiska omgivningen.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1996. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Accompanying materials in Spanish. Sponsor: Robert Taylor. Dissertation Committee: Robert McClintock. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-135).

The purpose of this project was to develop a computer-based instructional material for Temecula third grade teachers to use with their history/social science curriculum. What evolved was a stack about Old Town Temecula that supports the Framework, an integration of technology into the history/social science curriculum. The project connects the past and present by focusing on the historical buildings in Old Town Temecula. As an instructional tool the stack provides teachers with the pre field trip materials and follow-up activities to use when doing a field trip to Old Town Temecula.