Meeting Abstract
This session is for those who have ever wondered about how to influence students’ preparation for STEM careers. It is for professors and researchers wondering how to shape others’ ability to ask questions and investigate a problem, and see the consequences of structure and function in the natural world. Though examples mount to demonstrate that hands-on, inquiry-driven learning effectively cultivates the critical and creative thinking skills needed for discovery and innovation, mainstream schools have to balance this type of instruction with fact delivery and test prep. Yet alternative learning environments such as museums, zoos, and farms routinely offer both the capacity to communicate critical knowledge and platforms for prototyping and assessing inquiry-driven methods for teaching and learning. We show how we rely on design practice to create place-specific experiences to allow visitors to learn for themselves: when they create a nature trail, and conduct creek research, and climb through a landscape that makes them feel the size of ants, they learn their impact on the landscape and how to empathize with creatures that may look different from them. How do we know when a creation works? How do we know when a design is the right design? During the session we speak to our design process, fruitful and frustrating collaborations, and protocols for improving our process and practice.
