Home - PBL Projects

Improve Motivation

Improve motivation for student learning

Deep learning

“It was engaging and had us doing things for ourselves instead of being told the steps and how to do them.”

Improve Students Confidence

Improve students' confidence in the ability to solve real world applications

Authentic real world problems

"It gives you that level of confidence to say, 'Yes I can do this,' or, 'Next time i would like to try that, or do things differently.' And so it's a self-correcting process you really do start perfecting."

Improved Students - Skills and Interest

Improve students' skills and interest in life long learning

Self-directed learning

"You clearly realize while working where your strengths are and your weaknesses lie. And for me, having it pointed out where my weaknesses lie encourages me or motivates me to work harder in the areas where i know i need improvement"

Improved Stundents Critical Thinking Skills

Improve students' critical thinking skills

A structured approach

"I found myself White-boarding different problems in my life... just looking at the Whiteboards and starting to fill in the sections really helped me to understand subject matter that i was not familiar with. It teaches you what to do when you don;t know what to do."

Increased Students Appreciaion

Increase students' appreciation for collaborative learning

Teamwork

"The biggest thing is the life experiences that everybody gains, even me, through working with groups and the diversity of people. Not just ages - different backgrounds, different upbringings, and so forth. We all came from different places, and when we bring our own life experiences to these situations it's helpful, It's very helpful."

Engaging Students in STEM with Problem Based Learning

NEW FOR 2025! 30 years of optics outreach based on the PHOTON Optics Explorations has been published by SPIE Press as Exploring Light: Investigations for Optics Education, Second Edition

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NEW FOR 2024! A second PBL Challenge has been developed with MIT’s Department of Material Science and Engineering- this one focusing on recycling water in a semiconductor fab. Find it in the Challenges tab.

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Although the last PBL Project NSF-ATE grant has completed, we will continue to update the PBL Challenges and to post optics/photonics education and outreach resources on this site. The PHOTON-PBLProjects email listserv will continue thanks to the generosity of our hosts at the New England Board of Higher Education. Sign up to stay in touch!

This site describes a more than a quarter century of work by the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) and its partners to improve secondary and post secondary STEM education with funding from the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education program (NSF ATE). The PHOTON Projects, a series of three curriculum and professional development and laboratory improvement projects in optics and photonics, engaged middle and secondary school teachers and college and university professors across the U.S. The Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Projects have developed a collection of authentic real-world multimedia Challenges(case studies) with industry partners in the areas of optics and photonics, sustainable technologies, and advanced manufacturing and introduced them to teachers worldwide. Visit the CHALLENGES to view the existing problem-based learning curriculum.

The PHOTON Projects ( FOTEP, DUE # 9553762 ; PHOTON, DUE # 0053284, PHOTON2 DUE # 0302528 ) and the PBL Projects ( Advanced Photonics Manufacturing PBL, DUE # 1801115 ; Advanced Manufacturing PBL , DUE #1204941; STEM PBL , DUE #0903051 ; PHOTON PBL, DUE # 0603143) were funded by the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education program (NSF ATE). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Your use of the NEBHE Problem Based Learning Projects website and its materials is subject to our Creative Commons License and other terms of use.