ABSTRACT
The story of project-based learning at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) really begins, in some sense, more than 150 years ago when the institute was founded. The WPI faculty sensed that the first year was not living up to the goals of the WPI Plan, and data from the National Survey of Student Engagement confirmed that feeling. The WPI Plan started when President Storke charged the faculty planning committee. Many faculty, especially a group of young faculty, were dissatisfied with the traditional engineering curriculum and were ready to make a change. In 1968, President Storke created “the faculty planning committee” and challenged this small group of faculty to envision an entirely new WPI. The WPI graduate of the future must have an understanding of a sector of science and technology and a mature understanding of himself and the needs of the people around him.
