Practical Education Network (PEN)

logo

Website

practicaleducationnetwork.com

Countr(ies)

Ghana

Grade Level of Students Participating

Grades 7-12

Number of Students Participating per Year

800+ teachers trained

Year Organization Began

2010

Relationship to the public education system

Partners with both Ghana’s Ministry of Education and external organizations to provide teacher professional development about STEM education

Organization’s Vision and Mission

Work with science teachers to develop low-cost, hands-on activities for their classrooms.

Brief Description of Program Activities

PEN provides a teacher professional development program infused with MIT-style learning-by-doing to promote hands-on science regardless of resource constraints.

“Hands-on science and curricula with real-world relevance improve student engagement and learning outcomes.”

“PEN offers a series of workshops where STEM trainers learn, design, and share hands-on activities, which complement the national curriculum and are created from low-cost and locally available materials.”

“Material resource constraints often leave teachers feeling limited to employing rote approaches. PEN empowers teachers around the world to engage their students in hands-on science projects.”

Their material blends “constructivist learning with design training to allow participants to discover key concepts and then harness that to engage in projects with relevance to their daily lives.”

Program Content: Intrapersonal Competencies

Intellectual interest and curiosity, initiative, self-direction

Program Content: Interpersonal Competencies

Collaboration, teamwork

Program Content: Cognitive Competencies

Critical thinking, problem solving

Program Content: Attitudes and Values

Empowers teachers and students to engage hands-on with science

Program Content: Pedagogy/Active Engagement of Students

  • Constructivist learning
  • Learning by doing
  • Hands-on learning

Reference List

1All information on this table came from Practical Education Network website. 

Prepared by

Ashley Lee