The Influence of Experiential Instruction on Urban Elementary Students' Knowledge of the Food and Fiber System.

Abstract

This research compared student knowledge of the food and fiber system of three groups of inner-city, minority, fifth, sixth, and fifth/sixth combination students in Los Angeles during a ten-week instructional unit in science. Two groups were taught by way of experiential learning (including short, in-class projects and gardening projects). A control group was taught in a traditional expository manner. Both experiential treatment groups were positively impacted when pre-test data were compared with post-test data on food and fiber competency. Extension professionals possess the expertise to assist teachers in introducing experiential activities into their science curriculum.