Integrating Informal STEM and Arts-Based Learning to Foster Innovation

巴尔博亚公园文化伙伴关系与圣地亚哥、芝加哥和马萨诸塞州伍斯特的几个非正式科学教育和其他文化和商业组织合作，正在实施一个研究和开发项目，调查在非正式STEM学习和创造性思维方法之间促进21世纪创造力技能和创新过程发展的一系列可能方法。这项研究的目的是促进对创造性思维方法对公众对STEM的理解和参与的潜在影响的理解，重点是青少年和成年人的21世纪劳动力技能。该项目开发活动的目标是在全国各地的城市试验各种“创新孵化器”模式。这些STEM孵化器仿照旨在促进和加速创新和创造力的企业“孵化器”或“加速器”，围绕STEM教育和其他当地感兴趣的STEM相关主题，促成不同专业人员和公众之间的合作，可以借助创造性的学习方法来探索这些主题，例如产生创造性想法的创新方法，将一个STEM想法转化为其他想法的想法，利用视觉和图形想法、即兴创作、叙事写作，以及使用创新的信息视觉显示来创建可视化路线图的过程。该项目的孵化器是巴尔博亚公园文化伙伴关系(圣地亚哥)、科学与工业博物馆(芝加哥)和生态博物馆(马萨诸塞州伍斯特)。国家合作伙伴是科学技术中心协会、美国科学促进会和美国艺术协会。活动将包括：三个孵化器网站的形成和协作过程、一项研究研究、开发融入科学教育的创造性思维课程、基于课程的专业发展、公众参与活动和展览、一个项目网站和社交网络工具，以及项目评估。国家咨询委员会包括教育、科学、创意和商业领域的专业人士。

The Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, in collaboration with several informal science education and other cultural and business organizations in San Diego, Chicago, and Worcester, MA are implementing a research and development project that investigates a range of possible approaches for stimulating the development of 21st Century creativity skills and innovative processes at the interface between informal STEM learning and methods for creative thinking. The goal of the research is to advance understanding of the potential impacts of creative thinking methods on the public's understanding of and engagement with STEM, with a focus on 21st Century workforce skills of teens and adults. The goal of the project's development activities is to experiment with a variety of "innovation incubator" models in cities around the country. Modeled on business "incubators" or "accelerators" that are designed to foster and accelerate innovation and creativity, these STEM incubators generate collaborations of different professionals and the public around STEM education and other STEM-related topics of local interest that can be explored with the help of creative learning methodologies such as innovative methods to generate creative ideas, ideas for transforming one STEM idea to others, drawing on visual and graphical ideas, improvisation, narrative writing, and the process of using innovative visual displays of information for creating visual roadmaps. Hosting the project's incubators are the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership (San Diego), the Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago) and the EcoTarium (Worcester, MA). National partners are the Association of Science-Technology Centers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Americans for the Arts. Activities will include: the formation and collaborative processes of three incubator sites, a research study, the development of a creative thinking curriculum infused into science education, professional development based on the curriculum, public engagement events and exhibits, a project website and tools for social networking, and project evaluation. A national advisory council includes professionals in education, science, creativity, and business.