The Transformative Power of Invention Education
This approach to STEM learning ignites creativity, instills lifelong skills, and fuels the innovation economy.
By Elizabeth Stock, Executive Director, Oregon MESA; Michela Sottura, Communications and Marketing Coordinator, Oregon MESA; and Erin Tochen, Network Director, InventEd
WHAT MAKES STUDENTS INVENTIVE?
When we get past the outdated image of the lone and quirky inventor that pervades popular culture, there are some universal traits that we associate with inventiveness — creativity, perseverance, a willingness to try new approaches, and the ability to learn from failure just as much as success.
There is consensus that these traits are crucial for our current generation of students, who are entering a future of greater complexity and greater unknowns, and facing a growing number of present-day challenges our society and individual communities need to solve.
Like many young people, Essey Shimbahri — a recent graduate from Parkrose High School in Portland, Oregon — was drawn to invention naturally. “I was always tinkering with discarded devices around the house to see if I could understand how they worked and whether I could fix them,” he says. “But I moved around a lot, and there weren’t many options for me to continue pursuing this passion at school.”
School shouldn’t be a limiting factor to creativity and exploration — it should be a driving force. If we truly value these traits, how can we ensure that we teach inventiveness to all of our students, particularly for those who might not have the resources or support at home, or who don’t see themselves represented in STEM subjects?
Our answer is invention education.
WHAT IS INVENTION EDUCATION?
Invention education teaches the unique ways inventors find and solve problems. It aligns with the increased focus on adopting a more transdisciplinary approach to learning that applies STEM, other disciplinary knowledge, and even social skills to solving real-world problems.
According to a 2022 White House report on the topic, “Invention education has demonstrated increased student engagement in STEM while contributing to the development of characteristics, skills, and mindsets needed for student pathways to innovation and entrepreneurship.”
In short, its focus on identifying problems and devising novel solutions helps students engage in deeper learning and see real-world relevance, while also giving them a sense of agency in what, why, and how they’re learning.
For Essey, it took an out-of-school-time program he encountered in high school, Oregon MESA, to help foster his inventive mindset and to see himself as a problem-solver able to use STEM skills toward his innate interests.
Oregon MESA was founded in 1985 by leaders of color in Portland to address education equity issues by providing teacher training to support underserved middle and high school students in STEM disciplines. It evolved over the last decade to integrate invention education aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), teaching students how to apply STEM, teamwork, and leadership skills through collaborative, hands-on, invention education projects.
Essey started with Oregon MESA in 11th grade, joining a team of students meeting weekly with educators serving as MESA advisors to design an invention that solves a specific problem. In his junior year, his team created a “Mobile Locker System,” a prototype to increase confidentiality and accessibility for schools’ food pantries. They were inspired to address food insecurity by conditions in their own high school, where 71% of students qualified for free and reduced lunch.
In his senior year, his MESA team looked outward to the broader community. They invented the “Climate Mitigator,” a multipurpose clothes-drying tool to combat climate-related disasters and their disproportionate effect on unhoused populations. This invention won the team first place at Oregon MESA’s statewide competition, and then third place at the national competition where MESA USA’s ten state chapters compete nationally.
Throughout the process, Essey and his team learned a range of applicable skills — starting with problem identification and idea generation, and extending all the way through physical prototyping, iterative problem solving, and cooperative achievement. They even practiced public speaking as they learned how to effectively communicate about their invention.
“MESA was a major game changer for me from an educational perspective,” he says. “It allowed me to expand, explore, and build upon this fascination with invention I already had.”
His invention journey was marked by continuous collaboration, where dividing tasks, navigating challenges, and combining diverse expertise was crucial in propelling him and his team towards their shared vision. Also inherent to the invention process is dealing with failure, and MESA teachers and curricula help students learn that setbacks are expected and okay. “Failures encouraged us to reevaluate, edit, and tweak our work, always persisting and moving forward,” he says.
After graduation, Essey was inspired to continue pursuing his interest in STEM, and is now studying mechanical engineering at Portland State University. Over nearly forty years, Oregon MESA has had a similar impact on the trajectory of its alumni. Many have gone on to become change-makers in their field, and still credit the program for cultivating their mindsets at an early age. From Grammy-nominated entrepreneur and inventor Bosko Kante to restoration engineer for the Yurok tribe Brook Thompson, Oregon MESA alumni are a testament to the profound impact of the practical hands-on learning curriculum that it provides.
WHAT ARE WE HEARING FROM RESEARCH AND PRACTICE?
The data also back up these success stories. A 2023 Education Northwest survey and focus group showed that most of Oregon MESA’s student participants experienced a significant growth in their confidence and overall sense of belonging to the STEM world. A 2020 study examining the academic outcomes of 431 Oregon MESA students across 10 years and four school districts also found a tangible, positive impact for on-time high school graduation rates.
What we’ve seen through the lens of this one program is what we’re seeing from invention education writ-large. Studies are showing that invention experiences — delivered through a range of in-class instruction and curricula and out-of-school time programs — lead not only to mastery of the content. They are also associated with creating an inventive mindset in students, as well as increased self confidence, leadership skills, teamwork, and other social emotional learning competencies.
These experiences open doorways and pathways to new types of jobs and careers, and get students thinking about all kinds of post-secondary pursuits — whether it’s a university or community college, technical school or the workforce, or individual entrepreneurship. The existence and viability of these diverse pathways is one of the great strengths of the American education system, and what invention education taps into.
The expectation is not for all students to enter STEM fields, although there are many inspiring examples of just that. What we really want to do is prepare and empower students for a life where they see themselves as inventive, and where they can devise solutions to whatever challenges they see — in their communities and families, and in their professional and personal lives.
From educators, we hear most often that invention-based learning reinvigorates their teaching practice, better engages all types of learners in their classrooms, and creates a collaborative environment where students are more self-motivated and teachers don’t always have to be in the driver’s seat.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” says Antonio Gamboa, a science teacher at Garey High School in Pomona, California. “My students’ immediate response and level of engagement when they started thinking ‘I can invent something’…that got my attention.”
And despite its focus on invention, we’re not reinventing the wheel for teaching. That’s because invention education isn’t a standalone discipline. It’s an approach that can be infused into existing curricula, programs, and classes covering everything from math and computer science to English and social studies.
But a recent survey of current research also shows us that educators need more knowledge and experience to help them guide students from diverse backgrounds in open-ended, problem-based inquiry. They also need greater support on how to draw from knowledge and skills across a variety of disciplines in order to integrate STEM subjects into their lessons.
WHO ARE ADVOCATES FOR INVENTION EDUCATION?
Thankfully there’s a large community focused on building this field and supporting educators across the country. We call ourselves InventEd, and we’re a diverse national network comprising educators, administrators, program providers, researchers, government agencies, district leaders, funders, and others. We’re united in the belief that education can and should cultivate the inventive mindset that exists in all of our students.
This network meets throughout the year with working groups, webinars, and convenings to turn our passion for invention education into impact, sharing our challenges, opportunities, successful approaches, and the latest research.
We have two critical calls to action that we feel are essential to the growth of this field:
- One is to promote greater awareness — sharing data and stories at the local, state, and federal levels of invention education’s connection to STEM learning and its importance to our innovation economy and future societies, and related professional development opportunities for educators and administrators to learn more.
- The other is to advocate for more investment — funding research so that we can better assess invention education’s impact across a range of educational environments and geographies, and investing in partnerships that help forge connections between invention education, STEM, and workforce development.
We invite you to be a part of our growing network — a good first step is to attend a webinar or other event, join the conversation on LinkedIn or Facebook, or sign up for our newsletter for the latest updates and opportunities in invention education.
It’s our responsibility to ensure that every student has access to hands-on learning experiences to prepare them for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead — and create the next generation of forward-thinkers and problem-solvers ready to make a positive impact on the world.
