AP® Environmental Science PBL
AP Environmental Science Summer Institute (Project-Based Learning Focus)
Hawaii APSI 2026
July 20, 2026 – July 23, 2026
8:00 AM-4:00 PM
Farrington High School
This workshop is operated on-site.
This program is an interactive professional development experience. It includes an
AP Summer Institute and optional online support sessions focused on implementing a
project-based learning approach in an AP classroom.
Project Implementation Guides: Provide adaptable course planning and pacing,
recommended assessments and assignments that encompass the entirety of the
course.
Summer Institute: Four-day training in the summer. The workshop includes project
simulations, large group discussions, small group activities, reflection and critique, and
individual learning.
During the Summer Institute, you will:
• Identify how students learn AP content and skills through course projects.
• Understand and apply high-quality PBL design elements and teaching practices.
• Simulate and model PBL practices using examples from the course projects.
• Adapt and prepare to implement the projects with your students.
Support Sessions: Five optional online support sessions are offered throughout the
academic year. These sessions will provide support and learning opportunities before
the beginning of each project. In these support sessions, you will:
• Reflect on prior project work to identify needs for future project implementation.
• Review and adapt the upcoming project to best serve your students.
• Refine your PBL practice within the context of a project-based AP course.
Join us in Hawaii at Farrington High School, June 20-23, 2026, and experience Aloha!
Mahalo
Speaker
Erica Cochran
Erica Cochran is a science teacher at Granada Hills Charter School in Granada Hills California. She has been teaching PBL for 6 years, and has taught AP classes for 11 years. She is not only actively teaching the APES PBL curriculum, but is working with College Board to make the curriculum even better than it already is. What she loves most about PBL is that it is much more engaging for the students to participate in. The students’ energy and involvement while working together is so much higher than the traditional lecture environment, and allows for more real-world application.
Erica has seen countless students leave her classroom feeling more prepared for the exam, but more importantly, more prepared to make a positive change in their part of the world. In addition, the new PBL/College Board collaboration has helped her to feel confident that the students are being properly prepared for the exam. Erica also teaches chemistry, and is a proud wife and mother of two boys Payton (1) and Hudson (8) and stepdaughter Avery (13).
4 Day Agenda
