The STEM PBL Project
The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) was awarded a three-year curriculum and faculty professional development grant by the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in September 2009. The project, Problem Based Learning (PBL) for Sustainable Technology: Increasing the STEM Pipeline, aims to increase the number of middle school and high school teachers plus two- and four-year college faculty skilled in the use of PBL in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. The project is built upon the successes of the NSF/ATE-funded PHOTON PBL project, launched in 2006, in which eight multimedia PBL Challenges were developed and field-tested by more than 50 educators from secondary and post secondary institutions across the US.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted the number of jobs in STEM occupations would grow 47 percent by 2010, three times the rate of all other occupations. However, according to a recent NSF report, the United States is experiencing a chronic decline in homegrown STEM talent and is increasingly dependent upon foreign scholars to fill workforce and leadership voids. One reason for declining enrollment in many science and engineering technology programs is that students are often turned off by the way STEM subjects are typically taught — with traditional classroom lectures followed by cook-book style laboratories that provide little opportunity to actively engage in creative real-world problem solving. The STEM PBL project is developing a series of multimedia industry-based Challenges designed to stimulate problem based learning in the classroom to increase student retention in science and engineering technology programs.
PBL is an instructional approach that challenges students to learn how to learn through collaborative real-world problem solving. Research shows that compared with traditional lecture-based instruction, PBL improves student motivation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, learning retention and the ability to adapt learning to new and novel situations—critical skills for the 21st century workplace.
Key challenges in implementing PBL center on a lack of:
- instructional resources.
- professional development opportunities for teachers and faculty in the principles and applications of PBL in STEM-related disciplines.
To address these challenges, the project is:
- developing six STEM-related multimedia PBL Challenges focused on sustainable technologies that are appealing to today’s students, such as alternative energy including solar and wind power, environmental protection, sustainable agriculture, and lighting.
- creating and implementing a fifteen-week web-based Principles and Applications of PBL professional development course for in-service STEM educators from across the US using the STEM PBL Challenges.
- developing a replicable one-semester course in PBL instructional methods at Central Connecticut State University for pre-service (middle and high school) science and engineering technology teachers.
- conducting research on the efficacy of PBL in STEM education and adaptation methods used by participating STEM educators.
The project team has recruited more than 30 high school and college partner schools on a national level with a focus on districts that serve students from populations that are underrepresented in STEM disciplines. After field-testing is completed, the new curriculum will be disseminated to educators at high schools and colleges across the US through conference presentations, workshops, and this website.
The STEM PBL Team would like to thank the following Advisory Committee Members for their commitment to the project:
Karen Wosczyna-Birch, Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing (RCNGM), Connecticut Community Colleges
Amy Cannon, Beyond Benign
Barbara Darnell, ScinTech
Kevin Doyle, New England Clean Energy Council, Green Economy
Robert Douglas, Zygo Corporation
Arthur Goldstein, Bridgewater State College
Wes Golomb, Lakes Region Community College
G. Groot Gregory, Synopsys, Optical Solution Group
Mark Kahan, Synopsys, Inc.
Marijke Kehrhahn, University of Connecticut
Stanley Kowalski III, FloDesign Wind Turbine Corp.
Jake Mendelssohn, Greater Hartford Academy of Math and Science
Daniel K. Moon, Environmental Business Council of New England
Dwight Peavey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Sheryl K. Rosner, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Scott Soares, Cranberry Marketing Committee
Curt Spalding, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Douglas Webster, Vermont Department of Education
Eitan C. Zeira, Konarka Technologies, Inc.
