Marie desJardins (incoming COEIT Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Computer Science) led a team of six administrators from UMBC that attended the inaugural Institute on Project-Based Learning at Worcester Polytechnic Institute on June 24-27, 2015. The team also included COEIT Dean Julie Ross, Steven McAlpine (Assistant Director of Interdisciplinary Studies), Simon Stacey (Director of the Honors College), Dr. John Stolle-McAllister (Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences), and Michele Wolff (Director of the Shriver Center).

The team's central goal was to explore how UMBC could provide significant applied learning opportunities for all students. Applied learning in this context refers to activities that provide students with real-world, meaningful experiences that offer significant cognitive and affective learning outcomes, including project-based learning in courses across the curriculum, undergraduate research and creative achievement, service-learning, internships and co-ops, community outreach, interdisciplinary programs, and study abroad experiences. Applied learning can enrich and enhance disciplinary learning, interdisciplinary understanding, and “soft skills,” including interpersonal skills, global perspectives, resilience, self-discipline, and problem solving.

During the workshop, the team shared ideas with the 18 other participating universities, and developed recommendations for pilot activities that will align with UMBC's emerging strategic plan and that emphasize its commitment to academic rigor, experiential learning, and depth and breadth of knowledge.