New England Board of Higher Education » grant

NEBHE Lands NSF Grant to Bring Problem Based Learning to Advanced Manufacturing

John O. Harney — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 19:18:27 +0000

The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) was awarded a three-year $900,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a New England-wide project titled Problem Based Learning (PBL) in Advanced Manufacturing: Transforming 21st Century Technician Education. Funding is provided through the NSF’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program to improve science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.

To address the shortage of skilled workers in New England, the NEBHE project will develop a series of authentic multimedia case studies in advanced manufacturing in collaboration with regional industry partners. These instructional materials will focus on sustainable practices in advanced manufacturing in fields such as aerospace, optics, precision measurement, medical devices and nanotechnology, and will provide professional development activities for high school and college in-service educators.

Nicole Schepker is project assistant for STEM Problem Based Learning at NEBHE.

Nellie Mae Education Foundation Seeks Consultant to Further Work in Proficiency-Based Pathways

John O. Harney — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 16:30:34 +0000

The Nellie Mae Education Foundation posted an RFQ to its website for a consultant/consulting team to help guide its Proficiency-Based Pathways project.

The project aims to:

deepen the foundation’s understanding of the emerging sector of proficiency-based education systems; and
support the development of quality proficiency-based pathways to high school graduation and beyond.

Proficiency-based pathways would reform the educational process so a student’s achievement is not measured by the hours spent in a classroom, but rather through demonstration of a mastery of skills and material. In a traditional classroom setting, student learning has become the variable, in which achievement is measured by hours spent inside a classroom and categorized by rigid grade-block levels.

In keeping with the foundation’s ongoing efforts to promote “student-centered” education, proficiency-based pathways put the student at the center of learning so education is customized to the student's needs and abilities. This competency-based system aims to ensure that the student moves on to new material with the knowledge of the old.

The RFQ and a PDF with more information have been posted to the foundation’s website.

BFIT Sees Green in NSF Grant for Alternative Fuel Vehicle, Sustainable Automotive Programs

Shoshana Akins — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:54:47 +0000

Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology (BFIT) was awarded a grant of more than $360,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to introduce new two-year programs in Alternative Fuel Vehicle Operations and Maintenance and a bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Automotive Business Practices.

The programs aim to train and retrain technicians for hybrid vehicles, making BFIT the only provider of "green" technicians in the Boston area.

The college has garnered three NSF grants in the past two years, worth a total of $1.1 million.

To learn more about BFIT's turnaround, read Interim President Stephen Lozen's article in The Journal.