Project SHINE: Shaping High-Quality Integrated Nebraska Education

Project Shine (Shaping High-quality Integrated Nebraska Education) focuses on Problem-Based Learning (PBL) professional development activities for secondary and college faculty in collaboration with business and industry professionals. Over a three-year period, 72 STEM faculty members participate in nineteen days of professional development activities in applied science and mathematics skills, PBL, and student recruitment. Cohort teams of educators work with designated business mentors for at least one complete year as they develop/adapt replicable PBL teaching resources as a result of their experiences. Faculty from Central Community College and its project partners assist the educators with integrating the PBL resources into their curricula. Additionally, up to 200 seventh to twelfth grade students of the Project SHINE instructors are participating in gender-specific STEM Camps by providing support for young females and minority males in studying math and science. Almost 5,000 Nebraska middle and high school students are benefiting from Project Shine's professional development program, increasing participation and success for these students in entering high demand technical careers throughout Nebraska. One of the dissemination paths for this project is the electronic library of nearly 200 PBL resource materials. This e-library is housed at Mechatronics Education Center (MEC) website (www.mechatronics-mec.org).