Bracketing and Phenomenology [Symposium Study I Part III]
  Dan Lukiv

In my hermeneutic phenomenological study (2002a or 2003a) about what school experiences encouraged one person (pseudonym: Arthur) to become a poet, I followed the tradition of bracketing my biases in order to focus objectively on Arthur’s lived experiences and my research question. I followed the same tradition when I repeated the same research methodology, using the same research question, in Study II (participant's pseudonym: Thomas (appearing in the May 2004 issue of AEE); see part six; also, 2004, forthcoming in the September 2004 issue of AEE). People being what we are, we find our hearts and minds great farms for cultivating how we think something might be, or, on particularly cloudless days, how we think something should be.    full text >>>

The Ten Commandments in Designing Online Courses
  Susan L. Jones

The demand for online courses continues to grow at an exponential rate. A study conducted through the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) indicated that 88 percent of institutions that offered distance education courses in 2000-2001 or that planned to offer distance education courses in the next 3 years, would start using or increase the number of Internet courses using asynchronous computer-based instruction as a primary mode of instructional delivery. In contrast, 62 percent of those institutions indicated in the next 3 years that they planned to start using or increase the number of Internet courses using synchronous computer-based instruction as a primary mode of delivery (NCES, 2004).

As someone who has reviewed, trained faculty, participated in the design and development and taught both web-supported and web-based courses I have been asked many times over the years, "If you could name ten things that would make my online course successful what would they be?" This article addresses that question and proposes ten commandments to provide the essentials for creating a quality online course regardless of the discipline being taught.   full text >>>

In Defense of Adventure-Based Education and Active Learning Opportunities
  Jim Cain

The field of adventure-based learning (also known under many other names for this style of education such as: experiential learning, experience-based training, teambuilding, leadership development, ropes and challenge courses, and most recently, active learning). During this time, there has been a flow of ideas, grass root programs, curriculum development, research and general discussion that has allowed this field to mature and proliferate. Adventure-based learning now spans the extremes from collaborative and cooperative games played by children on the school playground and at summer camps, to experiences that test the leadership principles and alter the culture of international corporations in their boardrooms.

Consider this a comprehensive list of resources, case studies, and references that are sure to build a case for the value of adventure-based learning, in even a traditional classroom setting. Within the context of this paper, and beyond, for that matter, adventure-based learning incorporates the best of the field.    full text >>>