Problem-Based Case-Based Projects
At the Synergy 2004 Conference sponsored by CITE and its partners, keynote speakers Doug Busch, CIO for Intel, and John Bransford, a leading learning scientist, presented the same message independently of each other. Busch said the workforce needs innovative thinkers, and Bransford described adaptive expertise (Bransford & Brophy, Nov. 2003). Both converged on the need for education and training to prepare a workforce that can solve problems in adaptive, innovative, and creative ways to meet ever-changing industry needs. The ideal worker described by Busch and Bransford will possess both breadth and depth of knowledge.

CITE and The CaseFiles project at Nashville State Community College have focused on some of the key aspects of reform needed to create the workforce described by Busch and Bransford. Capitalizing on the integration of "problem-based learning” (Barrows, 1995) and case-based learning (Kolodner,1993), CITE has been working as an ATE Center to translate this research on teaching and learning (Bransford, Brown, and Cocking, 1999) into learning environments that will prepare technology students to meet current and future industry needs. These well-known experts in learning science state that learning works best when it occurs within a context. CITE and The Case Files have added the integration of authentic industry problems in the classroom to the practices recommended by these learning scientists to create an ideal learning environment for workforce development. A CITE signature program, Corporate Scholar Solutions (CSS), introduces real-world, real-time (first generation) business problems into technology classrooms to seek solutions through actual partnership with the business community. The CSS program is providing a robust and interactive opportunity for faculty, students, and industry to engage in mutually beneficial experiences that identify and align workforce skill sets with current industry needs. At the same time, the Case Files project has further refined the use of second generation problem-based and case-based (PBCB) learning experiences, thereby providing a necessary complement for the CSS program.