Aligning Education to Problem-Based Learning and Community

Annalies Corbin PhD., PAST FoundationDan Guericke, Mid Central Educational Cooperative

My work at SDIL focuses on

COMMUNITY VOICEKnowledge Capture: Understanding YouPAST ethnographers use a set of methods that identify issues, success, and constraints to help steer policy and drive successful transformation.

Through the South Dakota Innovation Lab (SDIL), STEM experts provide professional development to rural and Native American educators, regardless of their geography or local resource limitations. By combining school efforts for efficiency and celebrating every community's uniqueness, SDIL helps schools create a 21st century curriculum while embracing cultural diversity.

South Dakota Innovation Lab

Who is South Dakota Innovation Lab?

Cultural Strategy

Community-basedRelevance

Instructional Strategy

TransdisciplinaryProblem Based Learning

DeliverySystems

Projects, Cohort Planning, Professional Learning Communities,

SD STARS, Common Core

Every School has an Instructional Strategy, a Cultural Strategy, and a

Delivery System.

SDIL promotes

What are our strategies?

What are the benefits of membership?

•Develop, promote, and utilize innovative, and replicable approaches grounded in research to improve STEM education with measurable learning outcome•Provide professional development opportunities to enhance teacher and learning in STEM content areas

•Advance capacity of student critical thinking skills to address 21st century job skills

•Create sustainable partnerships between K-12 education, post-secondary institutions, businesses, and community organizations supporting innovative STEM education

•Promote STEM literacy within high risk populations leading to more students pursuing STEM education and careers through tailored learning pathways•Demonstrate the relationship between school improvement initiatives and the implementation of TPBL as a means of achieving greater student academic success

A shared common vision ensures that all SDIL schools:

How do we make it happen?

• Share resources

• Participate in The Sanford PROMISE program with Sanford Research• Join weekly Virtual Brainstorm where teachers join the statewide cohort bringing forth and solving problems together

• Work with PAST STEM Coordinators in intensive All-day professional development at regular intervals throughout the year

• Work with PAST STEM Coordinators when they make school visits

Problems > Projects > ProductDesigning Transdisciplinary Problem-Based Learning

STEM is simply good education

STEM: the main ascending axis in education that supports knowledge, innovation, and student success.

STEM is a delivery system for education, drawing on the strengths of scientific methods and technology to help students improve critical thinking and problem-solving skills using a systems approach.

STEM is a holistic or transdisciplinary approach that weaves together all school subjects in order to better understand a relevant issue and develop solutions to associated problems.

STEM is content, it is a delivery system, and it is a transdisciplinary approach, making STEM much larger than simply the sum of its parts.

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. However, STEM refers to far more than these four content areas.

STEM is rooted in critical thinking and problem-solving. It is a systematic approach to learning that results in multiple, creative solutions.

Initiatives, Strategies & Delivery

What does it look like in the classroom?

Engaging

Relevant

Transdisciplinary

Authentic

Rigorous

Replicable

The aspiration of educators is to deliver rigorous and relevant knowledge through engaging methods or pedagogy.  

Using a TPBL instructional strategy embedded in a cultural relevance that resonates with community and geography, students undertake problems that mean something to them.   

SDIL teachers are learning facilitators. Students become critical thinkers, collaborative and self-reliant problem-solvers tackling real world issues, through a systems approach.    

TPBL projects link learning to life and are holistic in their design. Whether building a home for your community or a better cow, or a butterfly garden, these projects prepare students for navigating the real world.

STEM TPBL projects are readily aligned to all educational standards including Common Core, Next Gen Science, and Oceti Sakowin.   

STEM TPBL projects promote authentic audiences that instill students with confidence.

SDIL teachers, students and community partners are changing the fundamental nature of education in South Dakota by integrating STEM literacy throughout all learning.   

Redefining the Rural Schoolhouse

By combining resources, celebrating community uniqueness, and taking advantage of technology, SDIL helps rural schools create a 21st century curriculum that works for our children, in our home towns.   

How do we Know it Works?

20 Districts

Multi-School Professional Development

329 Teachers

On-site and Virtual Support

6,705 Students

Locally Relevant Problems that Students can Solve

244 Convenings in 2012

How do we Know it Works?

How do we Know it Works?

How do we Know it Works?

How do we Know it Works?

How do we Know it Works?

What questions do you have?

Thank you for joining us today, if you have further questions or would like more information, please contact us

Mid-Central Educational Cooperative

Dan GuerickeExec. DirectorSDIL Exec. Director

PAST Foundation

Annalies Corbin, PhDPresident & CEOSDIL Board of Directors

Sanford Research

Jill Weimer, PhDAssociate ScientistSDIL Board of Directors

www.sdinnovationlab.org

annalies@pastfoundation.orgDan.guericke@k12.sd.us