The STEM education emphasizes on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics with a major focus on engineering design process that engineers require in solving challenges or problems. Kolb's model provides micro-learning activities such as experiencing, sharing and processing, generalizing and applying. Therefore, both Kolb's model and…

Teaching design to middle and high school students can be challenging. One of the first procedures in teaching design is to help students gather information that will be useful in the design phase. An early stage of engineering design as described by Lewis (2005), calls for the designer to establish the state of the art of the problem. During this…

Since 1995, the Buck Institute has partnered with university economists and expert teachers to create the Problem Based Economics curriculum. The curriculum was developed to respond to NCEE (National Council on Economic Education) standards, and it is supported by professional development for teachers. This study examines whether the Problem Based…

This study examines whether the Problem Based Economics curriculum developed by the Buck Institute for Education improves grade 12 students' content knowledge as measured by the Test of Economic Literacy, a test refined by the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) over decades. Students' problem-solving skills in economics were also…

A comparative study was conducted to compare two approaches to engineering design curriculum between different schools (inter-school) and between two curricular approaches, "Project Lead the Way" (PLTW) and "Engineering Projects in Community Service" (EPIC High) (inter-curricular). The researchers collected curriculum…

This paper briefly examines the literature on (a) problem-based learning (PBL), including constructivism and problem solving, and (b) learning in context, including mediation, embodiment, distribution, and situatedness. We use this literature, our previous research [Hill & Smith Journal of Technology Education 9(1), 29-41 (1998)], and some initial…

This study found no differences in content acquisition (as measured by a standardized test) of 167 gifted 10th graders in American Studies classes who received either a problem-based learning approach or traditional instruction. Results did not support the common assumption that curriculum fostering higher order thinking skills inevitably results…