Blog

• Risky TeachingNovember 29, 2021
  While everyone has had more than enough challenge in the last 18 months, my new book, Risky Teaching, explores how risk and uncertainty can be used productively in and out of the classroom to increase… Read more: Risky Teaching
• The Paradoxical provostJune 16, 2021
  Following is an excerpt from an essay published in Inside Higher Ed that I co-wrote with my colleague and friend Karlyn Crowley, provost at Ohio Wesleyan University. “As we’ve moved through an academic year unlike… Read more: The Paradoxical provost
• Learning to Embrace UncertaintyMarch 22, 2021
  My new book, Risky Teaching: Harnessing the power of uncertainty in higher education is scheduled to come out later this summer from Routledge Press. Below is an excerpt from the Introduction and an outline of… Read more: Learning to Embrace Uncertainty
• Teaching at the EcotonesNovember 7, 2019
  In ecology, ecotones are often more diverse and species rich than the individual habitats viewed separately. This makes some intuitive sense. Whether it’s biological habitats, music, or food, things get interesting when elements clash, combine, and intermingle. It made me think that the same might be said for teaching. There are at least 3 of ways we might, in education, teach more at the ecotones.
• One simple tool every teacher should have in their toolboxSeptember 16, 2019
  Recently while giving a teacher development workshop I was surprised to learn how many in the audience were unfamiliar with the old standby “think-pair-share.” If there is one simple, effective, and easy to implement technique… Read more: One simple tool every teacher should have in their toolbox
• The Experiential ContinuumJuly 25, 2018
  In my workshops and conversations with teachers and faculty from across the educational spectrum (K-16), I often find a tendency to falsely divide teaching into “experiential” and “traditional” methodology. Often, proponents of experiential education disparage… Read more: The Experiential Continuum
• Saving the World Through Project-Based LearningDecember 16, 2016
  What would you say if I told you that a team of four students from a small liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana came up with an idea (“Magic Bus Ticketing”) that could improve the… Read more: Saving the World Through Project-Based Learning
• The Future of Experiential LearningAugust 5, 2016
  Last week, I took part in a discussion with an amazing group of practitioners and change agents in the experiential learning world facilitated by Gensler Architects in San Francisco. The group included folks from the… Read more: The Future of Experiential Learning
• Topophilia and Education for PlacefulnessFebruary 20, 2016
  Geographer Alastair Bonnet’s recent work Off The Map: Feral places and what they tell us about the world introduced me to a new term: “topophilia.” I am familiar with E.O. Wilson’s notion of “biophilia“– that… Read more: Topophilia and Education for Placefulness
• Living and Learning Adventurously: A Message to Incoming First YearsAugust 7, 2015
  Every year, I present a message to the incoming first year students at Earlham College who elect to come to college early to participate in August Wilderness— an outdoor pre-orientation program of three weeks that… Read more: Living and Learning Adventurously: A Message to Incoming First Years
• Experiential Education in the College ContextApril 13, 2015
  My new book, Experiential Education in the College Context: What it is, how it works, and why it matters, is currently in press with Routledge and due to come out sometime late this summer. You… Read more: Experiential Education in the College Context
• I Have Found A New “High Stakes” TestMarch 7, 2015
  As the controversy over the increase in standardized testing appears to hit its zenith with parents “opting out“, governors pledging to reduce testing time in Minnesota, Florida, and Connecticut , and even noted conservative educational pundit Diane… Read more: I Have Found A New “High Stakes” Test
• Principles of Deep Experiential Education: Interaction (Part 2 of 5)April 18, 2014
  In the last post, we discussed the importance of Framing in experiential education. For this blog, we’ll explore another key principle that often makes the difference between shallow and deep experiential education: Interaction. In Experience and… Read more: Principles of Deep Experiential Education: Interaction (Part 2 of 5)
• Principles of Deep Experiential Education: Framing (Part 1 of 5)March 25, 2014
  The Shallow and The Deep David Orr, in the forward to Teaching Sustainability: Perspectives from the Humanities and Social Sciences (2013) writes about what he calls “shallow versus deep environmental education.” He noted that too… Read more: Principles of Deep Experiential Education: Framing (Part 1 of 5)
• Experiential Education in the Land of the MOOCSSeptember 13, 2013
  “My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living.” -Anais Nin With the rise of internet-based distance learning and projects such as EdX in higher education, significant questions are… Read more: Experiential Education in the Land of the MOOCS
• The “Learning Style” Debate (aka there is no such thing as an “visual” learner)September 2, 2011
  A growing body of research has now more or less conclusively debunked the theory that people learn in specific modalities or styles. A frequently repeated notion in teacher training and professional development circles, learning styles… Read more: The “Learning Style” Debate (aka there is no such thing as an “visual” learner)
• The Science of Experiential LearningJuly 25, 2011
  A recent editorial in Nature argues for more experiential, informal curriculum for students in science classes. The editorial titled: “Learning in the Wild” makes the point that informal learning environments are often much more powerful and… Read more: The Science of Experiential Learning
• Teaching is Listening; Learning is TalkingJuly 14, 2011
  Teaching is listening, learning is talking. This wonderful rule of thumb, from the educator and writer, Deborah Meier, reminds us that real learning comes, in large part, from being actively involved in the educational moment. Experiential… Read more: Teaching is Listening; Learning is Talking
• Future Trends in Outdoor EducationJuly 14, 2011
  As we turn the corner away from the 00’s or the “aughts” or whatever historians will choose to call the last decade, it’s worth taking a moment to look ahead toward future trends and issues… Read more: Future Trends in Outdoor Education