The Peer-Enhanced Blockchain-Based Learning Environment (PEBBLE) project was launched in 2023 by three Psychology Professors (Brooks, Cumiskey, McCloskey) in the Department of Psychology at the College of Staten Island in the City University of New York. The primary objective of PEBBLE is to create a decentralized, blockchain-based ecosystem that supports peer-led team learning environments. This approach aims to improve student engagement, retention, and performance, particularly in STEM disciplines.
The project began with the goal of addressing challenges in traditional educational models, such as the lack of personalized learning experiences and limited peer-to-peer interaction. By leveraging blockchain technology, PEBBLE ensures transparency, security, and the ability to issue and track educational tokens that represent students' achievements in various competencies, including communication, teamwork, professionalism, research, and technology. By keeping track of their token accumulation, through gamified competition, students learn how their day to day activity in a course translates to competencies valued by employers.
Brooks, Cumiskey and McCloskey received seed funding from NYC Tech Talent Pipeline Program and a grant from National Science Foundation (NSF HSI IUSE Award 2318196) to design and implement the PEBBLE program in Introductory Psychology, the STEM course taken by most college freshmen in the United States. However, the program was designed specifically to be discipline agnostic and to be plugged into a variety of courses where students can benefit from knowledge of workforce skills development.
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