Alfredo Carbonel of Kaua‘i High School and Francis Takahashi of Kaua‘i Community College will receive a grant from The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) to field test a photonics (lasers and fiber optics) curriculum developed by NEBHE’s Photon
Alfredo Carbonel of Kaua‘i High School and Francis Takahashi of Kaua‘i Community College will receive a grant from The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) to field test a photonics (lasers and fiber optics) curriculum developed by NEBHE’s Photon Problem Based Learning (PBL) project, funded by a three-year, $750,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Problem based learning teaches students the process of solving open-ended problems that have more than one possible solution. Working in small groups, students learn to: Define and frame the problem; identify resources needed to solve the problem; apply those resources in developing possible solutions to the problem; and reflect on the problem-solving process in an effort to arrive at an optimal solution.
Carbonel and Takahashi attended a week-long professional development workshop this summer, held by NEBHE at Boston University’s Photonics Center from July 27 to Aug. 1. Four multi-media PBL challenges were introduced to the 30 high school and college educator participants. Carbonel and Takahashi will be field testing the challenges this school year in their classes at Kaua‘i High School and Kaua‘i Community College. After the field tests are completed, the challenges will be disseminated to high school and community college technology educators throughout the nation.
“This project prepares teachers to introduce the rapidly growing field of photonics to their students. Challenge partners will receive national exposure, and education and industry will benefit from the resulting pool of young problem-solvers,” said principle investigator, Fenna Hanes.
NEBHE’s Photon projects’ have produced a number of instructional materials to improve photonics education. They include a textbook titled “Light: Introduction to Optics and Photonics,” a lab manual and kit, and classroom demonstrations of related basic scientific principles. In all, eight multi-media PBL challenges are being produced to help high school and college students acquire real-world problem solving skills while working in a small team.
PBL was developed for medical education in the early 1970s and then widely adopted in other fields including business, law and education. Now it is emerging in engineering and technology education as an alternative to traditional lecture-based teaching methods.
NEBHE is a nonprofit, congressionally authorized agency whose mission is to promote greater educational opportunities and services for the residents of New England. NEBHE programs are principally focused on the relationship between New England higher education and regional economic development.
