Website
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