Resources Archive

Report on Reports I

Recommendations for Action in support of Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Project Kaleidoscope, 2002 This report on reports presents valuable perspectives on the past, present, and future of undergraduate programs in mathematics, technology, and the various fields of science and engineering. For one we see a remarkable consistency of vision in these seventeen years of reports– […]

Words of Wisdom

But an institution cannot be built of wholesome usage, until its precise mission has been determined. An institution is a machine in that its whole structure and functioning must be devised in view of the service it is expected to perform. In other words, the root of university reform is a complete formulation of its […]

Library of Evidence

This Library of Evidence begins with incorporating resources now available through our individual sites, with the addition of recent and emerging findings from research and practice focusing on why spaces matter and how we know. The resources included in the Library reflect the work of a diversity of stakeholders. This includes individual researchers and teams […]

Learning Spaces for Undergraduate Mathematics

What kind of learning spaces work for undergraduate mathematics learning communities? This question was posed by an architect with more experience in shaping spaces for learners and researchers in the laboratory sciences. We sent this question to colleagues at MAA (Mathematical Association of America), who forwarded the question to members of the MAA Project NExT. […]

Social Creativity: Making All Voices Heard

by Gerhard Fischer, Center for LifeLong Learning and Design (L3D) – University of Colorado The power of the unaided individual mind is highly overrated. Much human creativity is social, arising from activities that take place in a social context in which interaction with other people and the artifacts that embody collective knowledge are essential contributors. Social creativity […]

From the LSC Archives: NSF Distinguished Teaching Scholar Interviews

A collection of reflections by STEM faculty honored almost two decades ago as recipients of the NSF Director’s Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars. In her role as Founding Director of Project Kaleidoscope, Jeanne L. Narum was commissioned by the National Science Foundation (2001 – 2005) to interview DTS Awardees and prepare a publication for distribution […]

From the LSC Archives Postings: Essays

The People of Reform At the 2005 PKAL Seminar on Leadership at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, The keynote speaker was William Pulleybank described his work in orchestrating, in 2004, the development of IBM’s Blue Gene super computer, as well as his involvement with the Council on Competitiveness’s National Innovation Initiative (NI). The […]

Structures for Science: A Handbook for Planning Facilities for Undergraduate Natural Science Communities (PKAL 1995)

The work of the LSC builds on decades of facilities-related initiatives undertaken by Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL), an NSF-funded project (1988) to identify and promote best practices in strengthening undergraduate STEM. The early PKAL leadership group quickly realized that attention to spaces was critical, if larger national goals for undergraduate learning were to be realized. In […]

Report on Reports II

Transforming America’s Scientific and Technological Infrastructure: Recommendations for Urgent Action Project Kaleidoscope, 2006 The reports cited in these pages present specific recommendations for immediate action by one or many of the stakeholder communities: educational and business leaders, politicians and parents, staff of public and private funding agencies. The highlighted “calls to action” are one beginning […]