Mercer University School of Medicine utilizes a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum for educating medical students in the basic clinical sciences. In 2014, an adjustment was piloted that enabled PBL cases to align with their corresponding cadaver dissection that reviewed the content of anatomy contained in the PBL cases. Faculty had the option…

The increase in demand for college and career ready students has driven the need for education reform to ensure K-12 schools can support student learning across all content areas and grade levels. A STEM Certification process was established by the Georgia Department of Education as part of an effort to reform public school STEM education.…

Argumentation is an important component of scientific education (Osborne, 2010). However, how students create and evaluate competing arguments in scientific investigations is a complex construct, which presents significant challenges for assessment. We engaged 349 middle and high school students in a virtual scientific investigation based on an…

For three weeks each June, the authors' PDS hosts a summer program called the Academy for Future Teachers (AFT), serving high school students interested in a teaching career. Partners across the PDS convene to support high-school AFT participants, including master teachers (P-12 teachers from local school districts and university faculty) and PDS…

This paper draws connections between scholarship on problem-based learning (PBL) and Students as Partners to frame a case study from a graduate seminar in Public Rhetorics for Social Change. Students partnered with each other and the instructor to decide on a public project, approaching the partnership as a pedagogical problem to explore, discuss,…

We present results of a case study in which we analyzed the impact of problem-based learning (PBL) and cognitive scaffolding techniques introduced in our secondary social studies methods course on the perceptions and practices of 12 preservice teachers (PSTs) during their fall practicum and spring student teaching. Our PSTs reported teaching 54…

Engineering and integrated STEM experiences are being promoted at the K-12 level to increase interest and retention in STEM and to reinforce learning of mathematics and science content. However, research is still emerging regarding best practices for curriculum development, student impacts, and transfer of knowledge across disciplines. The purpose…

I describe the first stages of a process of design research in which I employ problem-based learning in a course in engineering ethics, which fulfills a requirement for students in engineering degree programs. The aim of the course is to foster development of particular cognitive skills contributing to moral imagination, a capacity to notice,…

This paper introduces an approach to teaching ethics as design in a new course entitled Design Ethics, team-taught by a philosopher and an engineer/designer. The course follows a problem-based learning model in which groups of students work through the phases of the design process on a project for a local client, considering the design values and…

This paper describes the problem-solving studio (PSS) learning environment. PSS was designed to teach students how to solve difficult analytical engineering problems without resorting to rote memorization of algorithms, while at the same time developing their deep conceptual understanding of the course topics. There are several key features of…