PhET Global: STEM Education for All

Expanding the global impact of PhET simulations to increase the access to and quality of science education

With the Yidan Prize funds, the PhET Global: STEM Education for All project, led by Professor Kathy Perkins and Professor Carl Wieman, will establish a global, scalable model for impacting STEM education.

This project will address a grand challenge facing nations around the world: engaging and educating the next generation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Building on and extending the approaches pioneered by Professor Wieman and the PhET Interactive Simulations project at University of Colorado Boulder, PhET simulations create an open exploratory environment that taps into students’ natural curiosity, engages them in scientific inquiry and discovery, and develops their science practices and ways of thinking.

This project focuses on four interrelated levers working together to advance accessible, effective, and enjoyable science learning.

1. Building the research base on simulation-supported STEM expertise development

To carry out new research to examine and further advance the educational value of PhET simulations

2. Expanding simulation content coverage and access

To complete the design and development of 8-10 next-generation HTML5 PhET simulations for both physics and chemistry, filling in some of the most critical conceptual gaps in the current collection

3. Creating simulation-based lessons and teaching materials

To create high-quality simulation-based lessons and teaching materials for each next-generation PhET simulation with a co-design approach which involves experienced secondary physics and chemistry teachers from US, Canada, Latin America, and Africa regions

4. Supporting global dissemination and teacher professional development

To enhance offline dissemination and access of PhET simulations globally and create a network of partnerships between PhET and global, regional, and local partners with an ultimate reach of at least 2,000 STEM teachers through the train-the-trainer model