Project-based Learning

While many colleges and universities offer study abroad programs, few provide international experiential learning opportunities to the extent WPI does. The Open Doors 2025 Report on International Educational Exchange found WPI has the fifth highest rate of U.S. undergraduate student participation in study abroad programs among leading U.S. doctoral universities. The Worcester Guardian reported on the finding and the university's distinctive Global Projects Program that allows students to engage in hands-on project-based learning experiences off campus at more than 50 project centers on six continents.

News outlets in Nantucket reported on an Interactive Qualifying Project students are working on with community groups and leaders on the island to seek to identify long-term solutions to litter problems. The students are using research methods including surveys during this experience, which is one of three required projects for graduation that are part of WPI's project-based learning curriculum.

The Great Problems Seminar is featured in IIENetworker magazine, from the Institute of International Education, in an issue focused on innovations in first-year programs in international higher education. The article, authored by The Global School Associate Dean Sarah Stanlick, showcases WPI’s two-term course that immerses first-year students in university-level research and introduces them to the university’s project-based curriculum.

The Telegram & Gazette reported on the accomplishments of the Massachusetts Water Resource Outreach Center. The project center allows students to work with regional cities, towns, and other organizations on water resource challenges. The article discusses the 10-year history of projects conducted through the center and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection's Educator Award which was given in June to the center's co-directors: Corey Dehner, associate professor of teaching in The Global School, and Paul Mathisen, associate professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering and WPI’s director of sustainability.