Capacity Building Activities that improve an organization’s ability to achieve its mission or a person’s ability to define and realize his or her goals or do his or her job more effectively. (Adapted from Linnell, D. (2002). Evaluation of Capacity Building: Lessons from the Field. Washington DC: Alliance for Nonprofit Management)
Certification The recognition of an individual who maintains a standard of professional practice. Sometimes used to recognize a program, product or service that maintains or meets an established standard.
Character Education To develop students socially, ethically, and academically by infusing character development into every aspect of the school culture and curriculum. To help students develop good character, which
includes knowing, caring about, and acting upon core ethical values such as respect, responsibility, honesty, fairness, and compassion. (Adapted from Character Education Partnership)
Citizen Science A term used for a project that aims to make scientific discoveries, verify scientific hypotheses, or gather data which can be used for scientific purposes, and which involves large numbers of people,
many of whom have no specific scientific training. Citizen science projects are often run by scientific institutions, research non-governmental organizations, or educational establishments.
Cognitive An attribute of the human experience that describes knowledge, belief, facts.
Cognitive Learning The process by which learners acquire knowledge, beliefs facts and thinking skills.
Related Terms: Affective learning, Outcome, Objective
Communication A process by which information is exchanged through a common system of symbols, signs, language, or behavior.
Community of Practice Collective, social learning that results in practices that reflect both the pursuit of the learning enterprise and their attendant social relations. (Adapted from Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of
Practice: Learning as a Social System. Systems Thinker)
Conservation - Resource—An ethic of planned management of a natural resource or a particular ecosystem based on balancing resource production, use, allocation, and preservation to ensure the sustainability of the resource.
- Object—Maintenance and preservation of works of art, artifacts or objects, their protection from future damage, deterioration, or neglect, and the repair or renovation of works that have deteriorated or been damaged.
Related Terms: Preservation; Stewardship
Competencies Prescribed standards that enable people to perform successfully by achieving specific outcomes and completing tasks effectively. A competency may consist of knowledge, skill, ability, attitudes, values,
and/or personal characteristics.
Constructivism A theory of learning, derived from the theories of Jean Piaget, which suggests individuals actively construct new knowledge from their experiences by building upon and modifying prior knowledge and experience. (Adapted from Wikipedia)
Cooperating Association Revenue producing non-profit or not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting the educational and preservation goals of the partnering agency. (Adapted from 2001 USFWS Volunteer
Report, page 10; Association for Partners of Public Lands; and Natural Resources Management Gateway).
Related Terms: Friends group
Cooperative Education A program that combines classroom studies with paid, productive work experience in a field related to an individual’s career goals. (Adapted from National Commission on Cooperative Education)
Cooperative Learning A process that involves students working in teams to accomplish a common goal, under conditions that promote positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face interaction,
appropriate use of collaborative skills, and group processing. (Adapted from R.M. Felder and R. Brent, Cooperative Learning in Technical Courses: Procedures, Pitfalls, and Payoffs. ERIC Document
Reproduction Service, ED 377038 (1994))
Critical Appraisal The overall observations and expert judgment of exhibition, program, or interpretive product by a professional evaluator (or panel of professional evaluators) to identify obvious or suspected problems which can be immediately corrected or studied later with visitor input. (Adapted from Screven, Shettel, Bitgood, 1993)
Critical Mass A sociodynamic term to describe the existence of sufficient momentum in a social system such that the momentum becomes self-sustaining and fuels further growth. As a simple example, consider a big city. When one person stops and looks at the sky, nothing will happen. The other people will go after their own business. When three people stop and look up the sky, perhaps some people will turn around, then go along. But there's only a small number (which depends on the culture, the daytime, the width of the street and other factors) of people needed -- say, 5 or 7 --, that make other ones stop and look at the sky, too. This number is called "Critical mass" or Tipping Point.
Cultural Landscape A traditionally or historically used and/or modified geographic area. Use or modification may be physical, spiritual or cosmological. (Adapted from The Cultural Landscape Foundation).
Related Terms: Historic preservation, Cultural resources, Cultural resource management
Cultural Resource A general term used to refer to archaeological sites, historic structures, monuments, artifacts, traditional cultural properties, and/or other human expressions of ethic or national identity. They are places or objects of local or national heritage. Related Terms: Historic preservation; Cultural landscape; Cultural resource management; Heritage resource
Cultural Resources Management The process by which the impacts to cultural resources are considered and the effects of potential impacts are mitigated as required under historic preservation laws and statutes. Management
includes protection, stabilization, and interpretation.
Related Terms: Cultural resource, Historic preservation, Cultural landscape
Curator A person knowledgeable about and trained in a field related to the collection in his or her care and is responsible for maintaining the overall well-being and scope of that collection. (Adapted from Curator’s Code of Ethics, 1996 Standing Professional Committee of Curators, American Association of Museums)
Curriculum Typically refers to a written plan outlining what students will be taught (a course of study). Curriculum documents often also include detailed directions or suggestions for teaching the content.
Curriculum may refer to all the courses offered at a given school, or all the courses offered at a school in a particular area of study. (Adapted from Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development)