Implementing what we know about learning in a middle-school curriculum for widespread dissemination: the project-based inquiry science (PBIS) story

Project-Based Inquiry Science (PBIS) is a comprehensive technology-enhanced science curriculum for grades 6 through 8 (ages 12 – 14), designed based on foundations in the learning sciences. Most of its units were developed during the 1990’s at Georgia Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, and University of Michigan. Over the past five years, researchers at these universities (and others) have been working to pull the units together into a curriculum that can be disseminated nationally (in the U.S.). During the last two years, we have been working closely with the publishing company, It’s About Time, to bring the curriculum to publication. We present the research foundations of PBIS along with the pragmatics of incorporating individual units into an integrated curriculum appropriate that addresses the diverse requirements of 50 states while also addressing the diverse needs of learners.