Development

PRISM develops people as well as curriculum. Case development and professional development occur simultaneously as Fellows work together in a mutually beneficial partnership.

Summer Institute
All PRISM Fellows participate in a two-week Summer Institute on PBL and ICBL methodology. While gaining a foundation in theory, the teacher-student teams begin building the cases and problems they will implement in the classroom during the following school year. The Institute also serves as an opportunity to build teamwork among the teams and a collaborative spirit within each district. The 2004 Summer Institute was highly successful, building off lessons learned in our first year. The inclusion of Year 1 Fellows as instructors added tremendous value to the program, as they shared their experience and insight with the new Fellows.

The 2003 Summer Institute was led by Dr. Phil Gordon, Vice President of Research and Systems Design for Kelliher & Associates, who conducted a 5-day PBL Workshop. During Week Two, participants became students in the implementation of a two-day case led by Atlanta Public Schools Model Teacher Leaders Deneen McBean-Warner and Will Todd. The remainder of the week was dedicated to ICBL and an exploration of computer simulations and online case resources, led by Drs. Margaret Waterman, PI and Co-Director, LifeLines Online, Southeast Missouri State University, and Ethel Stanley, Director, BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium, Beloit College. Participants also enjoyed an afternoon at the Challenger Learning Center at SciTrek, where they role-played as astronauts and NASA personnell in a hands-on simulation of a mission to rendezous with Halley's Comet. The ICBL Workshop website contains valuable resources for case-developoment as well as the final problems and cases developed by our collaborative teams.

Did we have a good time? Our pictures speak for themselves.

Meetings & Workshops
At monthly meetings with the graduate fellows, co-PI Pat Marsteller leads a Professional Development Seminar covering such topics as developing a teaching statement, finding a postdoc, applying for a job, and interviewing.

PRISM encourages fellows to present at scientific meetings to share the materials they have developed and the unique experiences they have had. We have presented at the PBL 2004 International, FASEB, and AAAS conferences.