The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) has won funding for a new three-year project to improve science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education to help America develop homegrown sustainable technologies. The project, titled The Problem Based-Learning (PBL) for Sustainable Technology: Increasing the STEM Pipeline, will be funded by the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program.

The STEM PBL project includes an intensive professional development opportunity for educators. Participants are eligible for CEUs and graduate college credit after successful completion of the distance-learning course.

Who is eligible?
• Both high school and college educators in STEM disciplines.
• Teachers/faculty from schools and colleges that serve students underserved in STEM disciplines are encourage to apply.

What will I learn?
• What problem-based learning is.
• How to introduce students to PBL.
• How to guide students to become self-directed, motivated and work well in teams.
• How to engage students in technical topics.
• How to implement the STEM PBL multi-media Challenges regardless of students' level of content knowledge.

What are the program commitments?
• Participate in the Introduction to STEM PBL two-day professional development on-site workshop in summer 2010.
• Participate in a 15-week professional development web-based distance-learning course, divided into three 5-week sessions during academic year 2010-2011.
• Field-test and report outcomes for two or more Challenges between fall 2010 and spring 2012. Stipends are provided.
• Participate in a Capstone Showcase workshop during academic year 2011-2112.

The distance-learning course will require a time commitment of between 4 to 6 hours per week. Upon successful completion of the distance-learning course, CEUs will be available for a small fee. Graduate credit will be offered through Central Connecticut State University.

Click here to view a sample Challenge multi-media presentation.

Our FAQ flyer answers several frequently asked questions.