STEM PBL

SPIE provides support for optics and photonics related education outreach projects. The award process is competitive and applications are judged on their potential to impact students and increase optics awareness. The key criterion in evaluation and ranking applications is the potential to impact students and to increase optics and photonics awareness.

Qualifying not-for-profit organizations such as universities, optics centers, science centers, primary and secondary schools, youth clubs, industry associations and international optical societies are eligible for project support.

The deadlines for grant applications are January 31, 2012 and May 31, 2012.

SPIE is using ScholarSelect to provide an easy and secure way to submit your education outreach grant application.

Please visit SPIE's website to learn more about the submission process and upcoming funding opportunities.

 

STEM PBL Advisory Committee Chair Elected to SPIE Senior Membership

July, 2011

Congratulations to PHOTON PBL Advisor and STEM PBL Advisory Committee Chair, Barbara Darnell, who was elected to SPIE Senior Membership in July! Click here to read her profile, published last month in SPIE Professional.

 

STEM PBL Co-PI Dr. Nicholas Massa Interviewed on RETN, Vt.

July 6, 2011

Dr. Massa, a STEM PBL Co-PI and professor of laser electro-optics technology at Springfield Technical Community College, was interviewed in Burlington, Vermont on July 6, 2011 on the Regional Educational Technology Network (RETN). Massa presented effective instructional alternatives in STEM education that engage students, introducing the STEM PBL FloDesign Challenge as an example of a problem based learning activity in practice. Doug Webster, State Coordinator of Career & Technical Education for the Vermont Department of Education, President of the National Association for Workforce Improvement (NAWI), and a STEM PBL Advisory Committee Member, interviewed Massa. The 27-minute show can be found on both the RETN network website, as well as the Vermont Department of Education’s website.

 

 

Windham Works: STEM PBL Co-PI and Challenge Partner Discuss Optics and Photonics Industry on Charter TV and WILI, Conn.

June 22, 2011

Windham State Representative Susan Johnson invited Judy Donnelly, STEM PBL Co-PI at Three Rivers Community College (center), Nathan White, an engineer with RSL Fiber Systems, a STEM PBL Challenge Partner (right), and Todd Farrell, an electronics teacher at Windham Technical High School (left), to discuss the CTOPA (Connecticut Optics & Photonics Association) and the optics/photonics industry in Connecticut. Check out the video from Charter Community Access TV. The two were also interviewed on WILI in February 2011. “Let’s Talk About It,” a public broadcasting radio show hosted by Connecticut state representative Susan Johnson and her husband Dennis O’Brien, also aired on public television. The show covered the optics and photonics industry in Connecticut, as well as the RSL program at Three Rivers Community College, where Donnelly teaches.

 

Participating South River High School Stands Out with STEM Magnet Program, Md.

June 20, 2011

Deborah Lesko, a participating STEM PBL instructor who teaches science and problem based learning at South River High School in Maryland, has implemented several of the STEM PBL Challenges in her problem based learning class, a part of the STEM Magnet Program featured in the Crofton Patch.

 

STEM PBL Instructor's Students Win Real World Design Challenge, Vt.

May 19, 2011

Students from South Burlington High School, led by participating STEM PBL instructor Stephen Barner, took the top three places in the Real World Design Challenge Governor’s Cup competition in Vermont. The students were tasked with designing a wing for a business jet aircraft.

Barner, whose students have taken the top prize in the state Challenge over each of the last three years, was awarded “Technology Educator of the Year” at the 2011 Vermont Design Technology Education Association’s annual meeting.

 

EPA Awards TTF Watershed Partnership with Environmental Achievement, Pa.

April 13, 2011

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) honored the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford (TTF) Watershed Partnership, a STEM PBL Challenge partner, with a prestigious Mid-Atlantic Region Environmental Achievement Award. TTF, a local environmental organization serving parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties, was one of six nonprofit and volunteer organizations from the region recognized by the EPA with this annual award at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on April 13, 2011. The TTF Watershed Challenge has been field-tested in high schools and colleges across the country.

Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership staff and Board President accept award from the U.S. EPA.
From left to right: Shawn Garvin, EPA Regional Administrator; Ashley Schmid, TTF Outreach Coordinator; Sarah RobbGrieco, TTF Executive Director; Katie Donnelly, TTF Associate Director; Lesley Saliga, TTF Model Neighborhood Liaison; Gerald Kaufman, TTF Board President.

 

STEM PBL Instructor Honored with Japan-US Fulbright Scholarship for Sustainable Development, Calif.

February 2011

Nathan Usrey, an integrated science teacher at Taft Union High School in California was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in the Japan-U.S. Teacher Exchange Program for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in part for his involvement in the STEM PBL project. Usrey has field-tested several STEM PBL Challenges in his classroom since the project’s inception and is not only dedicated to integrating PBL into his own classes, but into the Taft Union High School class environment as a whole. The mission of the Japan-US ESD program is to is to raise awareness around ESD-related school programs, enhance ESD-related curricula in both countries, and deepen the global connection and cooperation between teachers in the U.S. and Japan. The program invited its awardees to participate in a Joint Conference in San Francisco, May 1-4, 2011, as well as a corresponding program in Japan in June 21-July 5, 2011, including a Joint Conference in Tokyo.

 

STEM PBL Partner RSL Fiber Systems Receives Technology Innovation Award, Conn.

January 27, 2011

RSL Fiber Systems, a STEM PBL Challenge partner, was awarded the prestigious North American Technology Leader of the Year award in 2010 by global research leader Frost & Sullivan. RSL was presented with the award in February 2011 at the annual Excellence in Best Practices Awards Banquet in New Orleans, LA. The “Best Practices” awards recognize both global and regional companies for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in their industry. Based on extensive analysis, RSL’s remote source lighting technology was chosen for the award based on uniqueness, innovation, and it’s impact on new products and applications, functionality, and customer value. The RSL Fiber Systems Challenge has been field-tested in high schools and colleges across the country.

 

New Green College Majors Added to NEBHE's Tuition Break Program!

We have an extended list of Green college majors offered through the NEBHE Tuition Break program for New England residents. This program was described in our Fall 2010 STEM PBL News publication.

 

Women in STEM

The website of the National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science has a number of resources for educators who want to increase their recruitment and retention rate for female students in the STEM disciplines. It includes both general proven practices and information about several successful projects.