Transforming STEELS Pedagogy in Technology and Engineering, STEM and Curriculum-based Professional Learning (CBPL)

Instructor(s): Eric Yoder, Jigar Patey, Peney E. Wright 
Description of Activity: 
Prerequisites: STEELS Immersive Experience, ENGINE 3D STEELS Educators Community of Practice (CoP) or district PL day STEELS introduction 
Preferred Prerequisites: STEELS Special Topics A & B 
Prerequisite Strongly Recommended: National Research Council. 2012. A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. free download Part 1 and chapters I & 2, Part II and chapters 3, 4 & one science field focus 
 

Participants will bring current STEM/STEELS curricular materials, including one unit and one selected lesson to review and shift towards STEELS aligned pedagogy. Ongoing support throughout the school year through TIU 11’s PennSEL STEELS Collaborative Community of Practice PLC will continue to provide time, space and collaboration for educators. 
 

Engineering by Design (EbD), free curricular resources recommended K-12. 
Youth Engineering Solutions (YES), free curricular resources recommended PreK-8. 
 

Additional focus on the Technology and Engineering Practices and Contexts within the T&E Curriculum Frameworks and Long Term Transfer Goals . 
 

Technology and Engineering Practices 
(TEPs) 
1. Attention to Ethics 
2. Collaboration 
3. Communication 
4. Creativity 
5. Critical Thinking 
6. Making and Doing 
7. Optimism 
8. Systems Thinking 
 

Technology and Engineering Contexts
1. Computation, Automation, 
Artificial Intelligence, and 
Robotics  
2. Material Conversion and 
Processing  
3. Transportation and Logistics  
4. Energy and Power  
5. Information and 
Communication  
6. The Built Environment  
7. Medical and Health-Related 
Technologies  
8. Agricultural and Biological 
Technologies

TIU 11 ROVER STEM Van available resources and curriculum also included. 
 

What is Curriculum-based Professional Learning (CBPL)? 
The goals for CBPL is for students to be able to use skills to “wrestle with complex problems, collaborate with one another and investigate and apply information in creative ways.” 
CBPL is a “core set of research-based actions, approaches, and enabling conditions that effective schools and systems have put in place to reinforce and amplify the power of high-quality curriculum (HQIM) and skillful teaching. CBPL is anchored in the instructional materials teachers will use with their own students.” 
These include, for both teachers and students: 
- Incorporating active learning 
- Supporting student collaboration 
- Using models of effective teaching practices 
- Providing coaching and support to learners 
- Offering instructive feedback and reflective opportunities 
- Is of sustained duration 
- Is pedagogy and content focused using Anchoring and Instructive Phenomenon and the 3-Dimensions: Science and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Disciplinary Core Ideas 

Using “educative instructional materials (HQIM which supports both student and teacher learning), challenges teachers to think differently about learning and teaching and content. Instead of a textbook that provides only what to teach,” these instructional materials also provide support for “how to teach.” Because incorporating support for teaching into 
instructional materials makes them different and educative for both student and teacher learning, most teachers benefit from a rich form of ongoing professional learning that helps them learn how to use such materials and practices effectively. This type of professional learning is grounded in immersive learning experiences for teachers where they experience as learners (their own students) the new instructional materials in ways that mirror their intended use with students.” 
Transforming Teaching through Curriculum-based Professional Learning: The Elements (2023)