pK-12 Action Group

The new pK-12 Action Group is a new effort that will bring MIT’s unique “Mind and Hand” learning approach beyond the campus to pre-Kindergarten through grade 12 (pK-12) learners and teachers around the world, building upon existing efforts and developing new ones. The Action Group will fill a growing need in STEM education by initiating new research, design, and outreach programs that will transform how students learn – and our understanding of how students learn.

MIT has a long and rich tradition of innovation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education. The most recent manifestation of this vision is The Future of MIT Education Task Force Report from 2014, which documents the ways in which MIT envisions moving forward in the coming years through digital learning opportunities. While the influence of this innovation can be readily seen on campus, this same force has also shaped education off campus. Through classroom technologies, curriculum units, teacher professional development, and learning research, the faculty, staff, and students of MIT have sought to improve STEM education broadly beyond campus, with a special emphasis on pre K-12 learning.

The pK-12 Action Group will bring MIT’s unique “Mens et Manus”, hands-on and minds-on, learning approach beyond the campus to pre-Kindergarten through grade 12 (pK-12) learners and teachers around the world. The Action Group will build upon existing efforts and develop new ones and engage MIT faculty, staff, students, and researchers in pursuing two major, interrelated goals:

(1) Changing the World through Learning -- Bringing the MIT hands-on, minds-on approach to pK-12 learners and teachers through the development of new technologies, services, and curricula. These will range from low-cost laboratory instruments and innovative computing environments to new strategies for connecting learners around the world.

(2) Changing the World of Learning -- Advancing understanding of what we know about teaching and learning through a diverse set of research methodologies, from basic cognitive science and neuroscience to design-based research and classroom experiments.

The Action Group will fill a growing need in STEM education by initiating new research, technologies, curricula, and outreach activities. This means designing targeted solutions that ranges from low-cost laboratory instruments to innovative computing environments, and advancing our understanding of teaching and learning through a diverse set of research methodologies, from basic cognitive science and neuroscience to design-based research and classroom experiments.