Since 2017, the Jameel World Education Lab has awarded more than $5 million in funding to MIT faculty and principal investigators for research and projects to address teaching and learning across the life cycle, from pK-12 to higher education to workforce learning. Over the years, grants have supported educational innovations across a rich variety of MIT fields: mechanical engineering, literature, architecture, computer science and artificial intelligence, aeronautics and astronautics, management, physics, and more.
“Our Education Innovation Grants support MIT research that can improve learning everywhere. We share ideas, disseminate emerging findings, and collaborate with innovators who join us to lead global change in education. Educators in dozens of countries will learn from this year’s inspiring efforts to tackle core challenges in education with innovative new methods and means. Through light-up sneakers, glassblowing, and autonomous vehicles, grantees are enabling learning from curriculum-linked real-world projects, prototyping effective ways to embed evidence-based insights and research into the design of learning experiences, and enabling transitional learners to benefit from high-quality education.”
- Anjali Sastry, Faculty Director, Jameel World Education Lab
In 2023, Education Innovation Grants totaling $917,526 supported 14 research projects exploring a range of topics, including electrical engineering, extended reality, physical movement, and ecological sustainability:
An online platform for explaining, promoting, and facilitating embodied education at MIT and beyond
Jennifer Light, Bern Dibner Professor of the History of Science and Technology; professor, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Light’s work on embodied education aims to close the gap between the growing body of research on movement and the learning process and the pedagogical strategies that educators use. Light seeks to find ways to help schools integrate physical activity and academic instruction at all levels — for example, teaching elementary school geometry through yoga, middle school physics through martial arts, and high school history through dance.
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Making implicit knowledge explicit: tacit knowledge transfer from expert glassblowing instructors to less-experienced students at the MIT Glass Lab
Andrés Felipe Salazar Gómez, research scientist, MIT Open Learning
Alexandre Armengol Urpi, postdoctoral associate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering
Sanjay Sarma, Fred Fort Flowers and Daniel Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Implicit knowledge is know-how that an expert is usually unable to verbalize, codify, or explicitly transfer to others. Salazar-Gomez seeks to understand representations of tacit knowledge using overt and covert attention signatures in a mentor/apprentice setting. This study will use scene point-of-view videos, eye tracking, and detailed instructions from glassblowing experts to naïve learners to create instructional resources that will be offered as novel instructional material.
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Games for climate education: developing game-based facilitation of the En-ROADS climate simulator
Lana Cook, associate director, MIT Systems Awareness Lab
Eric Klopfer, director, MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program; head of MIT Comparative Media Studies / Writing
Climate Interactive’s innovative climate change simulator En-ROADS has been very successful in engaging participants to think about the impact of alternative policies and actions to mitigate and reverse the effects of climate destruction. Yet, meaningful shifts in understanding, policy, and action requires education and understanding at massively greater scales than are currently possible with the En-ROADS’ facilitation model. Cook seeks to explore game-based facilitation.
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Minor notes: teaching the archival arts
Joshua Bennett, Distinguished Chair of the Humanities; professor, MIT Literature
Minor notes addresses current gaps in K-12 literary arts education through a novel approach that combines archival research with collaborative art making. Bennett plans to meet with a cohort of high school seniors and their faculty advisors to explore local community archives and compose original works of art inspired by the historical materials they discover in those spaces.
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Promoting creative learning through Festivals of Invention and Creativity: building on a successful model from Brazil
Ann Berger Valente, educational research manager, MIT Media Lab
Leo Burd, director of the Lemann Creative Learning Program, MIT Media Lab
As part of its Brazilian Creative Learning Network program, MIT Media Lab’s Lifelong Kindergarten group plans to develop a set of resources and guides to deepen and broaden the reach of creative learning experiences through Festivals of Invention and Creativity in countries around the world. Valente and Burd will gather input and feedback during the development process from educators in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, South Africa, and other countries to iteratively refine the resources.
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ODDS & MODS: Material circularity prototypes for rural communities
Sheila Kennedy, Chair of MIT Master of Science in Architecture Studies programs; professor, Department of Architecture
Caitlin Mueller, director of MIT Digital Structures Lab; associate professor, Department of Architecture
Kennedy and Mueller aim to foster practical learning by engaging students in circular material economies through project-based research and demonstrations. The integrated curriculum will explore material circularity in architecture, empowering students to drive decarbonization and lead transformative changes in design and construction practices while utilizing innovative materials and reducing environmental impact.
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Climate and Environmental Justice (CEJ) inclusion: exploring CEJ teaching practices across departments, labs, or centers at MIT
Christopher Rabe, postdoctoral associate of environmental and sustainability education, MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
John Fernández, director, MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative; professor of building technology, Department of Architecture
Higher education institutions — including MIT — lack a full integration of CEJ into its environmental and sustainability programs. This exclusion leads to underrepresented students, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) individuals, feeling discrimination and isolation within these programs. To truly address global climate justice, it is crucial for higher education to understand how CEJ is taught and its impact on BIPOC students' sense of belonging.
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Strengthening biomedical education curriculum in East Africa to incorporate hands-on learning and innovation
Nevan Clancy Hanumara, research scientist, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Alexander Slocum, Walter M. May (1939) and A. Hazel May Chair in Emerging Technologies, Department of Mechanical Engineering
While the scarcity of medical equipment in much of Africa is recognized, little attention has been given to local biomedical engineers who aspire to be innovators and develop context-appropriate medical devices. Hanumara proposes to create a scalable innovation module framework designed for East African biomedical students, based on the course 2.75/2.750 (Medical Device Design).
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MICRO 2.0: Cultivating students’ STEM identities through a blended learning research and education program
Jessica G. Sandland, principal lecturer, Department of Materials Science and Engineering; digital learning scientist, MIT Open Learning
Building on the success of Materials Initiative for Comprehensive Research Opportunity (MICRO), a program providing research opportunities to underrepresented undergraduate students, Sandland proposes MICRO 2.0: a blended program that combines online research, mentorship, workshops, and campus visits to foster participants' identities as STEM researchers and members of the materials science and engineering community. The program also seeks to address the underrepresentation of certain BIPOC groups in U.S. engineering doctoral programs.
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A climate toolkit for design thinking
Aisling O’Grady, project manager, MIT Energy Initiative
Christopher R. Knittel, George P. Shultz Professor, professor of Applied Economics, Sloan School of Management
A 2016 Science Magazine article revealed a disconnect between climate science progress and education resources, resulting in limited teacher time and awareness about climate change consensus. This lack of education hampers global youth engagement in climate solutions, which underscores the need to bridge the academic-societal climate education gap. The MIT Energy Initiative proposes creating a toolkit that focuses on impactful, student-centered climate education to support these efforts.
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Partnering with an Indigenous tribe to bring a successful STEM program for creating autonomous vehicles to the middle-school level
Sertac Karaman, professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
The Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Design, Build, Fly model aircraft curriculum aims to teach essential engineering concepts through model airplanes, catering to underserved and under-resourced students. By adapting the program for younger middle school students lacking certain mathematical skills, Karaman proposes to provide kits and materials for learning aerodynamics, designing, building, and testing, fostering STEM interest from an early age.
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Studying educators’ practices in makerspaces to build a curriculum for maker skill learning
Stefanie Mueller, TIBCO Career Development Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Existing research into makerspaces mainly focuses on students' experiences, neglecting educators' perspectives. Mueller proposes that understanding educators' viewpoints can guide the development of better educational tools and approaches, while studying diverse makerspaces across contexts can provide insights into effective practices.
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Light up kicks: engaging youth in shoe design using culturally sustainable pedagogy
Cristina Sáenz, invention education manager, Lemelson-MIT Program
Michael Cima, David H. Koch (1962) Professor of Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering; faculty director, Lemelson-MIT Program
Lemelson-MIT researchers plan to create an inventive curriculum for elementary students between 9 and 11 years old, centered on building a prototype shoe with lights. The curriculum addresses waning interest in STEM among young learners, focusing on diversity and multiculturalism to engage students from different backgrounds in the innovation process. Ultimately, this curriculum aims to boost diversity in the innovation ecosystem.
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Developing an ACT-R and error-based cognitive architecture for the development of virtual reality hands-on training
John Liu, principal investigator, Learning Engineering and Practice Group; lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering; digital learning scientist, MIT Open Learning
Hands-on manufacturing skills are crucial for success in today's technology-driven world, but the rapid advancement of manufacturing technology creates a gap between industry needs and workforce training. Liu proposes that extended reality offers a promising approach due to its scalability and personalized feedback potential, particularly for non-traditional education pathways.
