Base the outreach or education process on mutual understanding, trust, and respect that leads landowners to choose to comply because they see it in their best interest. Continue reading →
Best Education Practice: Individual
See below for: research findings about outreach with an individual.
For the Individual, the learning experience:
- Provides opportunities for extended effort and practice.
- Promotes active engagement and real world problem solving.
- Enables the learner to link new knowledge to their existing knowledge in meaningful ways.
- Presents a new behavior or skill by • Demonstrating its similarity to a current behavior or skill. • Relating the new behavior to current social practices. • Demonstrating ease of adoption in terms of time, effort and money.
- Builds thinking and reasoning skills – analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and problem solving – that learners can use to construct and apply their knowledge.
- Provides a nurturing context for learning, with attention to • Cultural or group background and influences • The physical environment • The use of tools or practices appropriate to learner skills and abilities.
- Relates to personal interests and provides for personal choice and control. (the learning experience is “learner centered”)
- Has a clear purpose with tightly focused outcomes and objectives
- Allows a learner to interact and collaborate with others on instructional tasks.
- Can be adapted to individual differences in learning strategies and approaches.
- Encourages the learner to set meaningful learning goals and to take personal responsibility for their own learning.
- Relates to the individual’s level of physical, intellectual, emotional, and social development.
- Builds on positive emotions, curiosity, enjoyment, and interest.
- Assesses the learner in order to set appropriately high and challengings standards.
Findings Navigation: Browse by Audience; Browse by Theme; Browse by Best Education Practice; Browse by multiple topics
Ponzio, R. C. & R. P. Enfield. (2004) Finding 1
Use water education activities to provide “situated problem-solving” practice that can translate to workforce skills. Continue reading →
Bosch, D. J., Cook, Z. L., & Fuglie, K. O. (1995) Finding 2
Use financial incentives, where possible, to facilitate behavior change:
- Provide information, encouragement and cash incentives to participate in or practice a new technology, but keep in mind that incentives have a weak influence on adoption
Cameron-Howell, K. (1992) Finding 1
Emphasize one-on-one contact.
- Correlates with farmer willingness to change practices, but adoption of a new technology requires more than a personal conversation and data about the specific situation
Farrell, P. L., R. H. Holsman, & D. Krueger. (2004) Finding 1
Conduct voluntary and confidential assessments on individual farms, in cooperation with groundwater technicians. Develop an “Improvement Action Plan” for individual farms. Continue reading →
Bonnell, J. & A. Baird. (2004) Finding 2
Provide instructor feedback
Fackler, R. (2003) Finding 1
Provide teacher training that is hands-on, intense, comprehensive, and includes work in the field. A successful training could:
- Include an introduction to the watershed topic(s), water quality testing, use of equipment, hands-on instruction, introduction to inquiry-based learning, introduction to and use of field-based science investigations, and related science and career topics.
- Assure availability of any resources required for the training.
- Include practice training activities designed to match the situation where teachers will apply the activities.
- Provide professional development in: student initiatives, action research, interdisciplinary approaches, and help with barriers to program implementation.
Fortner, R. W., & Mayer, V. J. (1991) Finding 2
Use a test or an advance activity to learn information about students, in order to enhance the likelihood of an increase in student knowledge about a specific water topic through presentation of the topic in a way which is interesting and relevant to students and builds motivation to learn Continue reading →
Holsman, R. H., Ph.D. (2001) Finding 1
Design programs to: Establish an explicit set of objectives Continue reading →