The Environmental Project Management Academy (EPMA): An Interdisciplinary Project-Based Experience

Westminster College, Fulton MO

Investigators

Abstract

Employers express concerns that STEM graduates, while proficient in their disciplines, lack the critical skills necessary for success in the workplace. In addition, many non-STEM majors do not develop the basic scientific literacy that could help them succeed in the workplace. To address these needs, the investigators will design and test an interdisciplinary, project-based experience, the Environmental Project Management Academy (EPMA), in which sophomore and junior undergraduates pursuing either STEM or business majors will work together on a semester-long service learning project. The program will combine an existing 100-level environmental science course (Principles of Environmental Science) with a new 200-level project management course (Principles and Practices of Project Management) designed and taught by faculty in the School of Business. Through the EPMA, students will collaborate with community stakeholders as they integrate knowledge of environmental science and project management in a project involving environmental issues relevant to the region, such as solar energy, resource commercialization, and rain gardens. The EPMA will help develop business-competent, STEM-literate graduates with an understanding of significant environmental challenges as well as the interdisciplinary thinking and project management skills required to address them. The EPMA program will weave the known benefits of service learning and project-based learning into interdisciplinary STEM and business education. The objectives are (1) to engage 20 undergraduate students per cohort (60 over the entire project period), with STEM and business majors equally represented, in a "cluster course" that focuses on a service learning project addressing a community need; (2) to establish an effective interdisciplinary STEM teaching and learning environment in which 85% of each cohort demonstrates competence in scientific literacy, project management skills, interdisciplinary thinking, and intangible skills such as teamwork and leadership; and (3) to determine whether this innovative educational model can be scaled and sustained long-term, financially and logistically. Program design and evaluation will be completed in collaboration with a professional evaluator and an advisory board, including experts practicing science in a business setting. Broadly applicable results from this project should include (1) a model for interdisciplinary project-based learning in which STEM and non-STEM majors collaborate on a STEM-based project and (2) a model for the incorporation of project management techniques into STEM coursework.