Note to users:

Funding for the SLED project officially ended on August 31, 2019. However, this site will continue to be available to individuals and organizations that are interested in SLED and its curricular materials. SLED curricular materials are included on the list of evidence-based STEM curriculum provided by the Indiana Department of Education, and teachers and schools are welcome to use the materials free-of-charge. Because project funding has now concluded, new updates to this site will be limited.

SLED, Science Learning through Engineering Design, was a National Science Foundation Math Science Partnership project of Purdue University, regional businesses, and participating school districts in Indiana. The original project partners included Purdue’s Colleges of Education, Engineering, Science, and the Purdue Polytechnic; the Discovery Learning Research Center; and the Lafayette, Tippecanoe, Plymouth, and Taylor Community schools. The project expanded to include teachers and classrooms in schools throughout the State of Indiana (see list).

The goal of the SLED partnership was to improve science learning in grades 3-6 through the integration of an engineering design-based approach to science learning in the targeted grades. The project achieved this goal by preparing teachers and prospective teachers to utilize engineering design as a way to teach inquiry-based science in the classroom, adapting and creating curricular materials that support the teaching of elementary science through design, and gathering evidence of outcomes that contributes to a better understanding of how teachers teach using design and how students learn science through design-based activities.

The partnership involved teachers and administrators in the participating schools, teacher educators, university scientists and engineers, and community partners all working together to improve students’ learning.

If you are a teacher or school administrator interested in using SLED materials in your school, read Getting Started with SLED.

Learn More about SLED

Contact Information

SLED Project
Professor Brenda Capobianco
Purdue University
Beering Hall of Liberal Arts and Education
100 N. University St.
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2098

Phone: (765) 494-9635, E-mail: sled@purdue.edu

This project is supported by the National Science Foundation, award #0962840. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.