Project Description
Designing Our Tomorrow: Mobilizing the Next Generation of Engineers was a 6-year, National Science Foundation-funded Innovations in Development project, carried out between 2018-2024 by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and its partners: Adelante Mujeres, the Biomimicry Institute, and the Fleet Science Center.
Because we want families to see how nature can inspire us to solve challenges in innovative ways, the project included an exhibition where families can exercise engineering learning together at design challenges that promote sustainable design and biomimicry practices. Building on previous informal education projects, Designing Our Tomorrow developed a framework for creating exhibit-based engineering design challenges and expand an existing model of facilitation for engineering exhibits.
To help dismantle barriers to equity and access, this project focuses on girls ages 9-14 and their families, and is co-developed with culturally responsive strategies to ensure the inclusion and influence of Latino communities.
Mobilizing the Next Generation of Engineers
2018-2024
Resources & Research
Engineering Practices Research
To advance our understanding of how institutions can broaden participation of underrepresented groups and fill gaps to maximize innovation in solving future problems, this project included two research studies:
These studies build on prior work on engaging girls in STEM using altruistic, personally relevant and social experiences, and increasing bilingual exhibits that teach engineering proficiencies. By better understanding and promoting engineering learning in ISE, we will raise public awareness of sustainable engineering practices.
C-PIECE Study
The C-PIECE Study, A study of collaborative practices at interactive engineering challenge exhibits, was the first of two research studies in the the DOT research program.
In this study we explored engineering practices used by families engaging with design challenge exhibits, guided by one overarching question:
“What can we better understand about fostering engineering design practices associated with more informed levels of engineering proficiencies by improving engineering design challenge exhibits and facilitation for families?”
While the research did not proceed linearly — it involved reflecting, revising, and working on multiple aspects of the project simultaneously — it roughly followed this process:
The purpose of the C-PIECE Study was to develop theory-based measures of engineering proficiencies within an exhibit context. The investigation was guided by the following research questions:
- What instruments capture engineering proficiencies at exhibits?
Specifically, what are valid approaches to assess visitors’ proficiency in
(a) Defining a problem
(b) Optimizing Solutions at exhibits? - What is a valid method for determining visitor awareness of engineering process in an exhibit?
- What is a valid method for determining intergenerational collaboration?
The C-PIECE Study developed integrated measures for several visitor experience outcomes including engineering proficiencies, intergenerational collaboration and visitor satisfaction. We employed culturally responsive approaches to data collection and analysis, in which the culture and context of the visitors are considered crucial facets in evaluating the study’s impact. This included a culturally responsive framework specific to the project and strategies for data collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination.
EP&UDL Study
A study of conversation participants’ choices and connections on the topic of engineering practices and usefulness in day-to-day life (EP&UDL Study) looked at the storytelling choices parents and educators use to communicate to other parents and educators that the DOT practices in the exhibit are usefully relevant to engineering practices in families’ everyday lives and their community goals.
This study centered the voices of parents and guardians (caregivers) by having parents in roles to generate stories, respond to stories, and revise stories. Building on theories of relevance in education and the theory-based C-PIECE framework, caregivers helped develop a conjecture visualization and an evidence-based, contextual model of the types of strategies that might inform stories about the DOT exhibit’s connections to families’ everyday engineering practices.
The study reveals evidence that begins to show relationships between variables such as the content strategies in the stories and the perceived usefulness of DOT engineering practices mentioned in the stories. The study was designed to support stories that are part of ecological communications; not any one particular stereotype story. The approaches and model emerging from this evidence can inform many types of stories that are told about the value and usefulness of exhibits, such as between parents or between educators and parents.
Creatividad silvestre | Wild Creativity Exhibit
The Designing Our Tomorrow project produced Creatividad silvestre | Wild Creativity Exhibit, a bilingual Spanish/English 2,500 square foot traveling exhibition that engages visitors in biomimicry, an approach to engineering where we can learn from nature’s strategies to design solutions for the challenges we face in our own communities and around the world.
Developed in partnership with Adelante Mujeres, Biomimicry Institute, and the Fleet Science Center, the exhibit is the first of its kind and this exhibit serves a model for others. The creation of the exhibit was guided by a theory of action, as well as theories and practices from a study of collaborative practices at interactive engineering challenge exhibits (C-PIECE Study), in particular, the C-PIECE Framework.
The exhibit’s theory of action guided the development of the exhibit and was informed by valuable insights and perspectives of a Youth Advisory Board comprised primarily of Latina girls aged 9–14.
The C-PIECE Framework was used by exhibit developers to support exercising engineering practices into the exhibit activities.
Examples of exhibits in action
Salta | Jump
A family adjusts the angle and spring tension of a ball launcher, learning about how fleas store and release energy .
Rebota | Bounce
By adjusting the angle of trampolines and drop height of a ball, a family learns about how kangaroos bounce to gain energy
Vuela | Fly
Mimicking natural strategies from squirrels, dandelion seeds, and gliding birds, two youth create kite designs to test how much wind energy their designs can produce.
Ventila | Ventilate
A family stacks prairie dog tunnel “mounds” of different shapes and heights at the entrances to change airflow within the tunnel.
In the exhibit, visitors explore stories of nature and engineering from communities around the globe. They experience the diversity and wonder of nature, are introduced to the fundamentals of biomimicry and look to the natural world for inspiration. Hands-on engineering design challenges give visitors a chance to practice designing their own solutions inspired by nature. The exhibition guides visitors through a process of exploration, inspiration, and innovation with exhibits in three categories:
- Pillars – Components introducing biomimicry and creating a community space.
- Community Challenges – Design challenges focusing on how biomimicry solves community issues.
- Nature’s Inspiration – Interactive components exploring nature’s amazing engineering solutions
Design Challenge Resource Collection
The Design Challenge Resource Collection was created by a cross-functional team at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) with decades of experience conceptualizing, developing and building museum exhibits. The collection is intended to support exhibit developers and designers as they work to create interactive design challenges.
The modules are designed for someone to read individually or facilitate with a team. There are great benefits derived from collaborating on the exhibit development process. Each module stands alone; there is no specific order to explore the modules, nor is there a need to read them all. However, in some cases, references are made between modules for opportunities to learn more. Finally, these resources are not meant to be prescriptive, but rather examples, tools and approaches the OMSI team has found valuable in the development of non-facilitated engineering design challenge exhibits for the museum floor that are accessible, relevant and engaging for visitors.
Introduction to Design Challenges ↓
Explore the history, benefits and key characteristics of engineering design challenge exhibits.
Exploring Design Challenges ↓
Use this tool to take a close look at some existing exhibits and identify factors you want in your exhibit.
Approaches to Exhibit Accessibility ↓
Make exhibits that work for everyone; a framework for thinking about accessibility of exhibits.
Testing a Design: Measures of Success ↓
See examples of ways visitors can receive feedback about the success of their designs.
Exhibit Design Sprints ↓
Learn about processes to quickly generate, evaluate, iterate and improve ideas for an exhibit.
Graphic Development for Design Challenges ↓
Dive into types of graphics, placement and best practices for exhibit labels.
Prototyping Design Challenge Exhibits ↓
See tips and tricks for testing your ideas to save time, money and create a great experience.
Participatory Co-development of a Bilingual Exhibit ↓
Ensure the context of your exhibit will be relevant and interesting to audiences.
Documenting Exhibits – The Exhibit Record Tool ↓
Find out about exhibit records that concisely document and communicate the purpose and vision of your exhibit.
Educator Resources
We all engineer. From organizing our belongings to improving recipes, we’re constantly innovating, building, and designing. When we’re creating with a team, doing engineering that has the potential to make the world a better place.
We have collected a wide range of activities and professional development resources, all using approaches to interest women and girls in engineering
Professional Development
Activities to Use with Youth
DOW Introductory Materials ↓
This manual was written to guide program facilitators through behavioral, structural, and curricular aspects of the Designing Our World (DOW) programs. The materials in this document was used to help develop the Activities to Use with Youth.
Who is an Engineer? ↓
This discussion-based activity activates prior knowledge of engineering and challenges stereotypes about who can be an engineer.
Energetic Ocean ↓
Participants design a model offshore wind and wave energy farm to maximize the amount of energy the farm can produce.
Get It Together ↓
Participants plan an efficient assembly line process to put together emergency supply kits.
Pollution Solution ↓
Participants create model neighborhoods that incorporate green spaces, such as bioswales and parks, to prevent pollution from flowing into a river.
Save the Day ↓
Participants play a card game to generate ideas for creative designs that will help different people and animals in various disaster scenarios.
Shake, Don’t Break ↓
Participants determine the effectiveness of various materials at isolating the base of a structure during a simulated earthquake.
Smooth Travels ↓
Participants design an accessible path that will allow for the slowest, safest route possible down a mountain.
Sounds of the Sea ↓
Participants engineer carriers to hold different objects underwater at particular depths.
Surgical Solutions ↓
Participants develop, build, and test a surgical tool to use in various model medical challenges.
The Perfect Present ↓
Participants design and improve a gift for their class partner based on their individual needs and unique interests.
Zip Line Rescue ↓
Participants design and build a zip line carrier that will move an injured or stranded person safely and quickly out of danger.
Creatividad silvestre | Wild Creativity Educators Guide
Evaluations
Designing Our Tomorrow was a complex project with many different deliverables. Throughout the project, evaluation activities were used for many purposes: help monitor team engagement in continuous improvement, provide accountability, build knowledge, and inform project deliverables. For example, findings from front-end and formative evaluation activity guided the development of the Creatividad silvestre | Wild Creativity exhibit.
Much of the evaluation was conducted by OMSI evaluation staff. However, the summative evaluation was conducted by an independent, external evaluator: Rockman et al.
Publications and Presentations
Presentations
Research Papers
Collaborators
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DRL-1811617. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.