The following questions about best education practices were asked by our water management colleagues over the last few years. The answers will be provided by national education professionals and other education web sites, and will appear as they become available. Answers are intentionally brief. Many have links to more detailed resources.
NOTE: Some resources are found on external links. Links change frequently. If the link is broken, please search on the document name or on the website of the sponsoring institution.
Audiences
- What is a target audience?
- How do I target education at certain audiences, i.e. farmers?
- Is the extra time spent thinking about the educational needs of my audience really worth the effort?
Education Practices
Adapted from Explanatory Guide to the NASA Office of Space Science Education & Public Outreach Evaluation Criteria
- How can I judge which instructional strategies will work best for educating my audiences?
- How can I demonstrate university research most effectively?
- What are some non-traditional ways to create teachable moments?
- How do I assess the reading level of materials?
- What is an instructional module and how do I design one for a web course? There are many sources of assistance. Check online course design resources provided by your local college or university. For example, see Texas State Instructional Technologies Support; or Mesa Community College Center for Teaching and Learning: Designing an Online Course. Or try Best Practices in Instructional Design for Web-based Training developed by the US Department of Labor for its career development initiative.
- How can learner characteristics be determined?
- What is meant by “the learner is actively engaged”?
- What is “problem-based” learning?
- What’s the difference between education and information (PR materials)?
- What is the “Experiential Learning Cycle”?
The Inquiry Page – Learning Begins with Questions, University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign
Evaluation
- How do I know if programs are successful?
- How do I evaluate community change?
Program and Resource Design
- How do I integrate water quality education into traditional 4-H clubs and projects?
- How do I use a list serve?
- How might I use list serves to enhance the effectiveness of my water education programs?
- How do I create an effective PowerPoint presentation? There are many online resources to help. Search for “tips for creating and delivering an effective PowerPoint presentation”, for example via Microsoft office online training resources.
- How do I design an effective poster presentation?
- Tips on preparing a conference poster, UW-Extension
- Where would I look to find peer-reviewed outreach/education material?
