Figure 1. THEORY-INFORMS-PRACTICE MODEL

THEORY

EducationCourse 1

EducationCourse 2

PRACTICE

PBLUNIV1301

PBLME, IE, CE, MME

PBLEE

PBLCS

Blumenfeld, P., Soloway, P., Marx, R. W., Krajcik, J. S., Guzdial, M., & Palincsar, A. (1991). Motivating project-based learning: Sustaining the doing, supporting the learning. Educational Psychologist 26(3/4), 369-398.

Hmelo-Silver, C. E. (2004). Problem-based learning: What and how do students learn? Educational Psychology Review 16(3), 235-266.

Krajcik, J., Blumenfeld, P. C., Marx, R. W., Bass, K. M., Fredricks, J., & Soloway, E. (1998). Inquiry in project-based science classrooms: Initial attempts by middle school students. The Journal of Learning Sciences 7(3/4), 313-350.

Theory Informs Practice Model Key Accomplishments

References

E. Q. Villa1, Peter Golding1, Patricia Nava2, Eric Hagedorn3, and David Carrejo4

The University of Texas at El Paso1Center for Research in Engineering and Technology Education, 2Associate Dean of Engineering, 3Physics, and 4Teacher Education

The overarching goal is to build capacity within the UTEP College of Engineering to prepare for recruiting and certifying engineering and computer science (hereafter referred to as engineering) students to become

teacher-engineers.

Building Capacity for Preparing Teacher-Engineers for 21st Century Engineering

Goal 1. Build the infrastructure for producing effective and knowledgeable teacher-engineers who will teach in K-12 settings.

Goal 2. Strengthen partnerships among UTEP colleges and local school districts to support teacher-engineers.

At the core of this project is the development and implementation of a theory-informs-practice model in which engineering and education courses will be tightly coupled (see Figure 1). That is, the education courses set the theoretical underpinning for inquiry-based instruction, and the theory is practiced and realized in targeted engineering courses. Thus, the project supports faculty who attend professional development workshops on problem-based learning (Blumenfeld, Soloway, Marx, Krajcik, Guzdial, & Palinscar, 1991; Hmelo-Silver, 2004; Krajcik, Blumenfeld, Marx, Bass, Fredricks, & Soloway, 1998) and implement an engineering course re-design.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number DUE-1239910. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Partnerships with 4 key area school districts

Faculty and staff professional development has ledto integration of PBL within and across courses

Inclusion of PBL as a major tenet through our Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETaL) which will expand PBL across all disciplines and beyond the college of engineering