The PBL3 STEAM Institute in Detroit is a multi-day professional learning experience introducing teachers to project-, problem-, and place-based learning. The institute leverages Detroit's histories, culture, museums, community organizations, and outdoor spaces as launching pads for PBL3 unit ideation. 

Using Detroit’s island park, Belle Isle, as home base, a cohort of fifteen Detroit Public Schools Community District teachers (DPSCD) grades 3 through 7 will visit an array of local, informal learning spaces to discover everything from underlying histories to current community-action efforts. Institute staff will then lead collaborative conversations with our participants, helping them see the valuable connections these rich community resources have for student learning across grade-level curriculum connected to larger educational goals.

To deepen and enrich their unit, we will introduce teachers to relevant Library of Congress primary sources and strategies from the Teaching with Primary Sources program. For example, teachers in our institute visit Henry Ford’s automobile assembly Piquette plant and discuss the societal impact of car production from the past, and the industry’s continued effects today. We will deepen this experience by layering in primary sources from the Library, such as this text set on early electric vehicles from Chronicling America, the blog post on early electric cars from the Teaching with the Library of Congress blog, and images from the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library like these. We recognize that the Library is rich in historical documents that teachers can use to enhance their PBL3 units, and we will guide them through discovery of these relevant resources, model use of primary sources, and assist them to incorporate the Library resources into their teaching. 

The Institute will conclude with a gallery walk of teachers presenting their unit plan to their colleagues and to community leaders from the spaces they visited during the week.

The PBL3 STEAM Institute in Detroit is designed and enacted by InnovatED313, a nonprofit that creates and delivers innovative educational programs and teacher PD in Detroit (the 313 area code).