TExTs for the 21st Century

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Engineering (53) This project is transforming the delivery of STEM education by replacing the textbook and lecture mode of teaching with a kit that is just as easy for an instructor to use and which encourages multiple forms of active learning. The primary deliverable for this project is a Toolkit for Exceptional Teaching (TExT) for the 21st century (to replace the current textbooks). A TExT, as defined here is a complete and integrated package that not only facilitates information transfer, but also the implementation of active learning and other teaching methods that are proven to be effective. It does this by shifting the information transfer process outside the classroom via a full set of written, audio and video materials. It then provides a complete and integrated set of active learning tools with lesson plans for the instructor that can be used during class time so that students begin learning the material with direct guidance from their teacher. The lesson plans that accompany each active learning tool are sufficiently detailed that a teacher who is not well versed in the education literature can nonetheless implement these improved teaching/learning methods with no more effort than they formerly invested in preparing their lecture notes. Of course, many will wish to improve these tools or create new ones, and this project is encouraging that activity in order to build a community of scholars in the field of the TExT who are working on its continual improvement, assessment, and expansion. This project is a prototype that, if successful, could serve as a model for TExTs across the STEM curricula. The TExT is a complete toolkit; it also provides resources for continued independent learning outside the classroom, tools for assessment, and tools for delivery.