Education Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Penn GSE is a pioneer in innovation and entrepreneurship in education. We are passionate about developing new approaches to address pressing problems in education and to shape the future of education across preK–12, higher education, and learning for working professionals.

Putting Synthetic Biology in the Hands of High School Students

Penn GSE's Yasmin Kafai is bringing the new field of synthetic biology into Philadelphia high schools. Kafai is collaborating with PennDesign's Orkan Telhan to develop affordable, safe, and user-friendly synthetic biology wetlab kits for high school students. Students use the kits to build genetic circuits, which they insert into microorganisms to manipulate the color, smell, and shape of the organisms. 

Rendering of overall look of the capital building expansion for Penn GSE

A Landmark of Twenty-First Century Learning: Penn GSE Plans State-of-the-Art Home for Education on Campus

This is a tremendous opportunity for Penn GSE to design educational spaces from the ground up, based upon cutting-edge knowledge of how to support active learning."

— Dean Pam Grossman

Related Programs

Education Entrepreneurship M.S.Ed.
Experiences in Applied Computational Thinking
Learning Sciences and Technologies M.S.Ed.
Medical Education M.S.Ed.
Penn Chief Learning Officer Ed.D.
Project-Based Learning
Virtual Online Teaching Program

Media Inquiries

Penn GSE Communications is here to help reporters connect with the education experts they need.

Contact us

Kat Stein
Executive Director of Penn GSE Communications
(215) 898-9642
katstein@gse.upenn.edu

Jeff Frantz
Senior Associate Director of Penn GSE Communications
(215) 898-3269
frantzj@gse.upenn.edu

Featured Research

Catalyst @ Penn GSE

A center for global education innovation, Catalyst @ Penn GSE connects people and ideas to develop new ways to advance education in novel and meaningful directions.

Coalition for Educational Equity

The Coalition for Educational Equity provides innovative resources, research-based training, and technical assistance and consultation to school district leaders throughout the Mid-Atlantic region in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

Collaboratory for Teacher Education

The Collaboratory for Teacher Education at Penn GSE is a laboratory for the design, implementation, and study of experimental approaches to teacher education.

Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition

The EBPC is considered the most prestigious and well-funded education business plan competition, celebrating and nurturing meaningful innovations in education, offering a full range of supports to elevate ideas to the next level and move research into practice.  

Penn Center for Learning Analytics

The Penn Center for Learning Analytics uses a blend of large-scale and small-scale research methods, from analytics and data mining to ethnographic and field observation methods, to study learning and engagement.

Penn Literacy Network

The Penn Literacy Network (PLN) is a comprehensive professional development/curricular enhancement/school reform program, providing on-site and regionally-based credit-bearing or non-credit bearing courses, workshops, coaching programs, and leadership trainings.

The Penn Project for Civic Engagement

The Penn Project for Civic Engagement is a cross-University project that collaborates with media, business and community agencies to identify and address projects on emerging issues. It links citizen concerns to expert knowledge and media coverage, to develop real-world solutions that might not emerge otherwise.

Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education

The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education celebrates innovation in education by recognizing outstanding individuals who have dedicated themselves to improving education and whose accomplishments are making a difference today.

See all Penn GSE Research >

You May Be Interested In

Related Topics