• Ann Lambros
• Barbara Levin
• Sara Sage
• Bill Stepien
• Linda Torp

Ann Lambros

Ann Lambros is currently the Director of the Center for Excellence in Research, Teaching, and Learning at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, where she is also a faculty member. Her extensive experience with problem-based learning began in 1987 when the medical school adopted a problem-based learning curriculum for medical students. She was instrumental in that curriculum's design and spent the next decade administering that program in the medical school.

Since then, Dr. Lambros, has conducted more than 150 professional development seminars in problem-based learning for faculty in professional schools, four-year universities, community colleges, and K-12 institutions. She is the author of Problem-Based Learning in K-8 Classrooms and currently at work on another book, Problem-Based Learning in High School Classrooms. Dr. Lambros now spends much of her time as a consultant in developing problem-based learning curricula at every level of formal education, kindergarten through professional and graduate school.

Lambros can be reached at the Center for Excellence in Research, Teaching, and Learning (CERTL Office) at:

 

Barbara Levin

Barbara Levin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Before earning her Ph.D. at the University of California-Berkeley in 1993 she was an elementary school teacher in Wisconsin for 17 years. Her Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction is from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she was an undergraduate History and Anthropology major at UC-Berkeley. Dr. Levin's research interests include the longitudinal development of teachers' pedagogical thinking, uses of case-based and problem-based learning for teacher education, and uses of technology for teacher education. At UNCG, Dr. Levin works with teams of elementary education majors in Professional Development Schools (PDS) and teaches social studies methods to undergraduates. She also teaches courses on classroom management, elementary curriculum, educational psychology, teacher action research, teacher leadership, and technology integration at the Master's level. At the Doctoral level she teaches courses in cognition and motivation, PDS research, and qualitative research methods.

Levin is the editor of ASCD's Energizing Teacher Education and Professional Development with PBL. She has developed and used several PBL units with undergraduate and graduate level elementary education majors. Dr. Levin can be reached at:

 

Sara Sage

Sara Sage is an assistant professor of secondary education at Indiana University South Bend. She earned her doctorate from Ohio State University in 1995. In addition to work as a special educator at the elementary and secondary levels, Sage has been a professional development and research specialist for the Center for Problem-Based Learning at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. Currently, as a teacher educator, she teaches courses in problem-based learning (PBL), interpersonal skills for teachers, general methods, individualized instruction, and principles of secondary education. Sage has coordinated several grant projects in collaboration with secondary teachers and with high school students interested in becoming teachers.

Sage is co-author of ASCD's Problems as Possibilities: Problem-Based Learning for K-16 Education as well as several book chapters and journal articles on PBL in K-12, undergraduate and graduate education. Her current research focuses on PBL in teacher education and on learners' experiences in PBL classes. In addition to problem-based learning, her interests include professional development, personality type and learning style, differentiated instruction, teacher recruitment and teacher education reform, and qualitative research. Sage may be contacted at:

 

Linda Torp

Linda Torp is a principal with Possibilities, Inc., an educational consulting firm specializing in curriculum change and data-driven decision-making. Her work in education as a teacher and consultant spans elementary through graduate levels. She has conducted professional development for many years in the areas of problem-based learning, integrated curriculum, literacy, and action research. Torp holds Masters and Education Specialist degrees in Curriculum and Supervision. She has served as Chief Education Officer for Success Lab, Inc. of Chicago; Director for Academic Planning and Research at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora; Strategic Coordinator for the Center for Problem-Based Learning; and visiting lecturer on PBL at the University of Newcastle in Australia.

Torp is co-author of ASCD's Problems as Possibilities: Problem-Based Learning for K-16 Education as well as journal articles on PBL and action research. Her current interests focus on PBL in service learning. Torp is the founding facilitator for Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development's Problem-Based Learning Network (PBL Net) and the American Educational Research Association's Special Interest Group for problem-based learning (SIG:PBL). Her professional contributions as committee chair and board member include numerous organizations—from local to international. Linda Torp can be reached at:

 

Bill Stepien

Bill Stepien holds a Masters degree in curriculum and instruction. Mr. Stepien's thirty-five years in education consist of extensive middle and high school teaching experience, including ten years on the faculty of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, and numerous roles in curriculum leadership. His experience as a curriculum writer, along with a reputation for bringing rigorous scholarship, creativity, and a love of discovery to his classroom, resulted in Bill's being selected as a senior social studies author for Scott, Foresman in 1976, the same year he founded Human Learning Resources, Inc. As a principal at HLR, Stepien has developed instructional materials for clients as diverse as: Standard Oil, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, National Livestock Board, National Science Foundation, and Prime Time School Television.

He has produced problem-based learning materials for: The Wall Street Journal, Law in American Society Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, McDonald Corporation, Hitachi Foundation, and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

Mr. Stepien is the author of Problem-Based Learning with the Internet and has conducted PBL workshops as the national consultant for ASCD that have produced hundreds of problem-based units for schools throughout the US. Stepien can be reached at: