Mines received a $150,000 grant to participate inHP’s Catalyst Initiative, a social innovation program designed to develop more effective approaches to STEM education worldwide. The project will explore the use of tablet PCs in enhancing learning at Mines.

Frank and Susan Kowalski will lead the initiative and continue to develop a teaching model that utilizes ‘digital ink,’ a special pen that enables students to write directly on computer screens to respond to questions and provide professors with immediate feedback through web-based software created by Mines students.

“This funding from HP puts us at the forefront of efforts to shape the way education and, ultimately, society evolve,” said Frank Kowalski. “We have been successfully using this technology in physics and chemical engineering classes for several years, but this award will help us apply it to other subjects and instructional styles.”

Read this in depth Mines magazine feature story for more background.