Lifelong Project Impact

WPI’s distinctive project-based educational model has been praised by the most recognized and valued resources in the academic world, as well as by those who know the benefits of a WPI education firsthand—WPI students and alumni.

While we’ve never had any doubt about the value of this method of education, we now have powerful empirical evidence of its effectiveness—an extensive study of more than 2,200 WPI alumni, conducted in 2021 and 2012, has confirmed that there are lifelong professional and personal benefits of experiential, hands-on learning through project work. The 2021 study including 40 classes of WPI alumni from 1980 to 2019, asked about skills, mindsets, and experiences WPI alumni might attribute to their projects—and the findings demonstrate significant impacts on their lives and careers.

Student project team working from WPI's Iceland Project Center

NAFSA 2024 Spotlight Award

In recognition of WPI’s commitment to immersive global experiential learning, NAFSA: Association of International Educators selected WPI as a winner of the NAFSA 2024 Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award for Campus Internationalization. This award celebrates WPI's efforts to maximize student participation in the Global Projects Program—a signature element of WPI’s project-based learning that gives students the opportunity to complete required research projects off-campus at 50+ WPI project centers worldwide.

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students work on a project in the wind harvesting lab

Undergraduate students conducting hands-on research

CUR 2023 Award

WPI is the proud recipient of the esteemed Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) 2023 Award for Undergraduate Research Accomplishments (AURA). A leader in experiential undergraduate education and research excellence, WPI’s holistic and deliberate approach to project-based education integrates research and design experiences into the entire curriculum, building a scaffold of various research projects throughout a student’s journey.

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WPI students at the Monteverde Costa Rica Project Center

Student project team working from WPI's Monteverde, Costa Rica Project Center

2023 IIE Andrew Heiskell Award

WPI is honored to receive the 2023 Institute of International Education (IID) Andrew Heiskel Award for innovation in student mobility and expanding access to global projects. The award promotes and honors outstanding initiatives in international higher education by recognizing innovative and successful programs such as WPI’s Global Projects Program—a signature component of WPI’s project-based learning model that facilitates student travel to more than 50 project centers around the world.

WPI Alumni Report Project Work Has Powerful Long-Term Professional and Personal Impacts

In the 2021 alumni survey—analysis conducted by Hanover Research—alumni were asked to rate the extent to which their project work contributed to 39 professional skills and abilities, world views, and personal attributes. Respondents from this survey reported significantly greater impact from formal project experience across all 39 areas as compared to alumni surveyed in 2012 regarding the same 39 attributes. The survey also revealed that alumni who completed a project off-campus at one of our domestic or international project centers reported more positive impact than alumni who did not.

Additional key findings from the 2021 survey revealed that:

Women alumni reported more positive impact of project work than men in all 39 areas, with the most notable differences in world views and personal impacts.
95% of respondents reported that their project experience prepared them for their current career.
In addition to major project requirements, 98% of respondents indicated they had projects in at least some of their courses at WPI.

A team of WPI students stand in a field while one student stands in a ground water well

Alumni and Students Reflect on the Impact of Project Work

A 2021 study including 40 classes of WPI alumni, from 1980 to 2019, asked about skills, mindsets, and experiences alumni might attribute to their projects—and the results were powerful. In this video series, hear from WPI alumni and students alike about how their WPI project-based education has had a lifelong impact on their professional and personal lives, as well as their world views.

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In industry, it isn't what you know today, but more importantly what you are able to learn. WPI and its project-based curriculum taught me how to learn and feel comfortable with the unknowns.

WPI Alumnus '00
Electrical Engineering

Project work is key to prepare students for real life work.

WPI Alumnus '85
Chemical Engineering

My experience at WPI was one that shaped my career and set the stage for my success in the real world.

WPI Alumnus '10
Industrial Engineering

The culture of WPI is rooted in projects, and this focus on collaboration and creative problem-solving has had far-reaching effects on my life both personally and professionally after leaving WPI.

WPI Alumnus '12
Biomedical Engineering

WPI has More than 50 Years Experience with Project-Based Learning—Meet Our Experts

Marja Bakermans

Teaching Professor, The Global School

The goal of Professor Bakermans' research program is to promote the conservation of biodiversity by maintaining viable wildlife populations across the landscape. Specifically, her research addresses the influence of anthropogenic disturbances, like forest management, urbanization [...]

Kristin Boudreau

Professor, Humanities & Arts

Professor Boudreau's research in literature, culture, and education is unified by broad concerns for justice, inclusion, and social progress. Her literary scholarship considers the ways literature helps to advance social progress and justice, while her educational research invest [...]

Lindsay Davis

Assistant Professor of Teaching, Humanities & Arts

Professor Davis is a scholar of 20th century U.S. history, focusing specifically on topics of race, gender, legal history, and critical prison studies.

Arne Gericke

Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Undergraduate Studies

Professor Gericke is a biophysical chemist studying lipid mediated protein functions using calorimetric, spectroscopic, and advanced microscopic techniques. An area of particular interest is phosphoinositide mediated signaling.

Arthur Heinricher

Professor, Mathematical Sciences

Professor Heinricher is the Dean of Undergraduate Studies. As dean, he is responsible for ensuring the quality and effectiveness of all aspects of the undergraduate experience at WPI, providing leadership and working with the faculty to implement new undergraduate curricular and [...]

Angela Incollingo Rodriguez

Associate Professor, Social Science & Policy Studies

Professor Rodriguez's research program uses a biopsychosocial approach to study health and health behaviors. She conducts research at the intersection of social phenomena (such as weight stigma), biomarkers (such as the stress hormone cortisol), and psychological factors (such as [...]

Geoffrey Pfeifer

Associate Professor of Teaching, The Global School

Professor Pfeifer’s research focus in philosophy is on contemporary continental philosophy, social and political philosophy, global justice, and development ethics. He teaches philosophy courses, international studies courses, and for the Great Problems Seminars—WPI’s distinctive [...]

Kent Rissmiller

PR - Professor, The Global School

Professor Rissmiller has served in a number of leadership positions associated with WPI's global studies, including most recently as The Global School dean, ad interim. He also teaches government, law, and public policy, directs the Pre-Law program, and oversees the Law and Techn [...]

William San Martín

Assistant Professor, The Global School

Professor San Martin is a historian of science, environmental change, and public policy. His work examines the history of the science-policy interface to inform contemporary debates on environmental governance. I specialize in international development, global environmental polic [...]

Mimi Sheller

Dean of Global School, The Global School

Mimi Sheller is the Dean of The Global School at WPI. She is a widely cited expert in the post-colonial context of the Caribbean, with particular expertise on Haiti. Sheller also founded and directed the Center for Mobilities Research and Policy, an interdisciplinary field t [...]

Gillian Smith

Associate Professor, Computer Science

Professor Smith is an award-winning game designer. Her interdisciplinary work merges technical research in AI and HCI with creative practice in textiles and games, with a view towards addressing social issues and broadening participation and perspectives on computing.

Sarah Stanlick

Assistant Professor, The Global School

Sarah Stanlick, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in The Global School at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Her research interests include vulnerable populations, health and human rights, global and local citizenship, and technology's impact on empowerment and capacity to build com [...]

Elisabeth Stoddard

Associate Professor of Teaching, The Global School

Professor Stoddard is a human-environment geographer who is interested in the intersection of nature, society, and social justice. She looks at the ways in which farmed animal production can create environmental hazards and injustice for local communities, including water, air, a [...]

Yunus Telliel

Assistant Professor, Humanities & Arts

Professor Telliel teaches a range of courses on ethics, rhetoric, religion and culture, and science and technology studies. His current research examines the ethical implications of technologist's work as designers and maintainers of socio-technical systems, such as what counts a [...]

Kristin Wobbe

Director, Center for Project Based Learning, Project-Based Learning

As director of WPI’s Center for Project-Based Learning (PBL), Dr. Kris Wobbe has worked with peers across higher education, nationally and internationally, to facilitate the advancement of project-based learning, tailored for their students, their curriculum, and their institutio [...]

WPI's 5-Part PBL Podcast Series on The Academic Minute, WAMC National Production

Episode 1 | June 3, 2024

Maximizing Learning through High-Impact Practices | Kris Wobbe

This podcast examines the unique contribution of five high-impact practices (HIPs) on a range of outcomes confirming that stacking HIPs over time provides unique benefits to students.

Listen below:

Link to episode 1

Episode 2 | June 4, 2024

Project-Based Learning: More Is Better | Kimberly LeChasseur

This podcast explores the dosage effects of project-based learning—the amount of a particular type of learning experience an individual must have to receive the potential benefits.

Listen below:

Link to episode 2

Episode 3 | June 5, 2024

The Unexpected (and Expected) Benefits of Projects in the Humanities | Ryan Madan

This podcast examines the impact of a Humanities or Arts capstone project on several outcomes and whether it might amplify learning of technical skills for engineering students.

Listen below:

Link to episode 3

Episode 4 | June 6, 2024

Failing Forward with Project-Based Learning | Sarah Stanlick

This podcast examines initial struggles with project-based learning and the impact on subsequent project experiences highlighting the differences between satisfaction and learning.

Listen below:

Link to episode 4

Episode 5 | June 7, 2024

Projects Narrow Self-Efficacy Gaps for Women | Lindsay Davis

This podcast examines project-based learning’s effectiveness on self-efficacy with women, suggesting that PBL can be an attractive pedagogy for recruiting and retaining women in STEM.

Listen below:

Link to episode 5

WPI's Project-Based Curriculum: In the News

Media Coverage

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The Worcester Guardian

WPI profs earn state honor for decade of clean‑water projects

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has given its Educator Award to Corey Denenberg 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. The award recognizes Dehner and Mathisen's work as co-directors of the Massachusetts Water Resource Outreach Center. The project center allows WPI student teams to partner with municipalities, local government agencies, and watershed organizations to work on water resource challenges.

WCVB

Worcester Polytechnic students revolutionize rocket and aircraft design with hands-on projects

WCVB's Chronicle program highlighted two student-led initiatives focused on building a remote-controlled plane and rockets. Students shared their skyward work for Wings of Gompei, a Major Qualifying Project by students in mechanical engineering that took part in an international competition in Texas, and the High Power Rocketry Club, a student organization that participates in a variety of competitions.

Focus Magazine

Project-based approach offers real-world learning — the world over

For an issue on learning that happens outside of classrooms, Focus Magazine, produced by Lumina Foundation, provided an in-depth look at the opportunities available to WPI students through our unique approach to project-based learning through projects conducted off-campus and in partnership with communities. This magazine article follows a recent Interactive Qualifying Project done through the Boston Project Center and includes interviews with students, a project sponsor, an alum, and leaders in the Global Projects Program.

WPI Receives Three Prestigious Awards Celebrating Project-Based Learning—Lauded as a Model for Other Higher Ed Institutions

WPI Alumni Report Project Work Has Powerful Long-Term Professional and Personal Impacts

WPI has More than 50 Years Experience with Project-Based Learning—Meet Our Experts

WPI's 5-Part PBL Podcast Series on The Academic Minute, WAMC National Production

Maximizing Learning through High-Impact Practices | Kris Wobbe

Project-Based Learning: More Is Better | Kimberly LeChasseur

The Unexpected (and Expected) Benefits of Projects in the Humanities | Ryan Madan

Failing Forward with Project-Based Learning | Sarah Stanlick

Projects Narrow Self-Efficacy Gaps for Women | Lindsay Davis

WPI's Project-Based Curriculum: In the News

Media Coverage

Announcements

News

Lifelong Project Impact

WPI Receives Three Prestigious Awards Celebrating Project-Based Learning—Lauded as a Model for Other Higher Ed Institutions

WPI Alumni Report Project Work Has Powerful Long-Term Professional and Personal Impacts

WPI has More than 50 Years Experience with Project-Based Learning—Meet Our Experts

WPI's 5-Part PBL Podcast Series on The Academic Minute, WAMC National Production

Maximizing Learning through High-Impact Practices | Kris Wobbe

Project-Based Learning: More Is Better | Kimberly LeChasseur

The Unexpected (and Expected) Benefits of Projects in the Humanities | Ryan Madan

Failing Forward with Project-Based Learning | Sarah Stanlick

Projects Narrow Self-Efficacy Gaps for Women | Lindsay Davis

WPI's Project-Based Curriculum: In the News

Media Coverage

Announcements

News

Two WPI Professors Recognized with State Educator Award

The Power of Academic and Industry Collaboration Comes to Life through Student Research Projects at WPI

Project-Based Learning Fellowship Benefits Faculty at WPI—and Beyond

Real-World Learning, From Hawaii to Morocco