Participate and share: Poster 
Purpose and Objectives:
The primary purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate how SmartLabs effectively enhance student engagement through the integration of curriculum, materials, and environment design. Attendees will learn how dynamic, inclusive learning spaces foster curiosity, improve academic outcomes, and prepare students for future success.
Participant Outcomes:
Understand the Importance of Integration: Participants will understand how connecting curriculum, materials, and environment design can address key educational challenges such as student disengagement and inequity.
Enhance Student Engagement: Participants will learn how well-designed project-based learning (PBL) and STEM projects create engaging learning experiences that foster long-term curiosity and academic success.
Prepare for Future Skills: Participants will understand how integrated PBL+STEM programs prepare students for citizenship and the workforce by incorporating career and technical education (CTE) skills into their teaching practices.
Educational or Infrastructure Challenge/Situation:
Post-pandemic, educators face significant challenges in re-engaging students and addressing the end-of-ESSER fiscal cliff. Additionally, there is a growing focus on Career and Technical Education, requiring a rethinking of foundational skills necessary for citizenship and the workforce.
Technology Intervention:
SmartLab by Creative Learning Systems provides a comprehensive, turnkey solution that includes:
Digital Tools: A variety of software and hardware resources that support interactive, technology-enhanced learning.
Interactive Learning Spaces: Customizable environments equipped with technology to support hands-on, collaborative learning.
Models Employed:
Project-Based Learning (PBL): An instructional approach that engages students in real-world projects, fostering critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration.
STEM Integration: Incorporating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics into interdisciplinary projects that connect learning to real-world applications.
Lesson Plans or Instructional Activities/Strategies Employed:
STEM Projects: Hundreds of STEM projects designed to engage students in hands-on and digital learning experiences.
Collaborative Learning: Projects and environment are designed for students to work collaboratively to solve problems using technology.
Differentiated Instruction: LearningHub platform is designed to provide translations of text and other scaffolds.
Evidence of Success:
Improved Student Engagement: Schools implementing SmartLab have reported increased student engagement and motivation.
Enhanced Academic Outcomes: Students participating in SmartLab programs show improved performance in STEM subjects.
Preparation for Future Careers: Graduates of SmartLab programs are better prepared for careers in STEM fields, demonstrating strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
Our understanding of the presentation model is that the 90 minutes will be broken up into ad-hoc engagements with small groups who come through and leave at their leisure. With that in mind, our plan is to engage attendees in a Socratic question and answer session to get them thinking about how learning environment, curriculum, materials, and even teacher training are all related (or could be). We will briefly explain why we use PBL as a frame for STEM education, K-12, and briefly discuss outcomes, then let attendees ask questions.
“Rigorous Project-Based Learning is a powerful lever for improving equity.”
“Integral to PBL is the explicit valuing of students’ expertise and agency as resources for learning, a tenet at the heart of equity-centered instruction.”
Lucas Foundation Research, 2021: https://www.lucasedresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Equity-Research-Brief.pdf
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“There is substantial evidence to support the use of Project-Based Learning as making a positive impact on the school attendance of economically disadvantaged.”
Teaching Academy | Purdue University: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1496&context=ijpbl
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“Create authentic experiences, increase student engagement and generate feelings of belonging within.”
Lucas Foundation Research, 2021: https://www.lucasedresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/LTP-Research-Brief.pdf
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