Collaborative research with Purdue Polytechnic High School: Documenting Student Impact

February 23, 2023

The College of Education, the Purdue Polytechnic Institute, and Purdue University Online are partnering to co-fund collaborative research projects at three campuses of the Purdue Polytechnic High School (PPHS) as the PPHS Collaborative Research Projects Initiative.

Purdue Polytechnic High School Schweitzer Center at Englewood in Indianapolis celebrated its first graduating class in June of 2021. Many students continue their education at Purdue or other four-year or community colleges. (Purdue University photo/John Underwood)

The initiative shows another effort by the College to impact future students and Indiana education.

“The purpose of this collaboration is to unleash the collective and creative genius between the Purdue Polytechnic Institute and the College of Education in order to contribute to the success of PPHS,” said Wayne Wright, associate dean for Research, Graduate Programs, and Faculty Development, and professor and Barbara I. Cook Chair of Literacy and Language in the College of Education.

“This is a great opportunity for our faculty researchers to work with students in an applied setting to solve problems and improve a real-life, innovative educational system where students, rather than instructors, are the center of classroom attention,” said Kathryne A. Newton, interim associate dean for Research and Graduate Programs in the Polytechnic Institute and professor of Supply Chain and Sales Engineering Technology.

Originally launched in 2019, past and current collaboration research projects so far include:

  • ACCESS Purdue – Early College Program Proposal (Greg Strimel; David Sears; Nathan Mentzer; Scott Bartholomew)
  • Holistic Talent Development for Underserved Youth:  Cybercrime, Internet Safety, and Achievement Motivation (Marcia Gentry; Kate Seigfried-Spellar)
  • A Personalized Project-Based Approach to STEM Learning:  How Does the PPHS Model Serve Students At-Risk? (Tahir Khan; Sunnie Watson; Denise Whitford; Lisa Snodgrass; Lisa Bosman; William Watson)
  • Integrating STEM through Food Systems Incubation Design Challenges (Hui Hui Wang, Lisa Bowman, and Neil Knobloch)
  • Foregrounding High School Mathematics in Project-Based Learning (Rachael Kenney, Signe Kastberg, Elizabeth Suazo-Flores, Fay Barber-Dansby, Jeff de Varona)

The College is calling for another round of proposals by the end of the spring semester of 2023. Faculty from the College of Education and the Polytechnic Institute met with PPHS leaders on Monday for a luncheon to learn more about the PPHS model, hear the results from past research projects, and network to form cross-college teams and brainstorm ideas for new research proposals. According to Wright, these proposals will be different from the past proposals because:

  1. Budgets have been increased to $50,000 and may extend across two years (2023-2025)
  2. Financial contributions from Purdue University Online will enable at least one of the funded projects to include some focus on online or hybrid instruction.
  3. Paired faculty from the College of Education and the Polytechnic Institute will collaborate as partners with PPHS teachers and staff on these research projects.

“We want to document what’s working well and identify areas for potential improvements and innovations in order to ensure the continuing success of the Purdue Polytechnic High Schools and students,” Wright said.

Source: Wayne E. Wright, wewright@purdue.edu

Website: https://pphs.purdue.edu/