Collaborative Research: REE: Makescape - A Constructionist Museum Installation to Advance Engineering Literacy

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This engineering education research project seeks to create a constructionist exhibit at the New York Hall of Science and use the exhibit to understand how informal engineering activities change students' pathways in ways that can eventually lead to more students pursuing engineering degrees, a current national priority. To understand the impact on students, particularly those in middle school, the project will log student activities and interaction with museum staff as well as collect post-visit data from participants.The broader significance and importance of this project arises from the potential to inform how museum exhibits, which annually reach millions of students, can be used to increase the number of students who follow pathways to eventual engineering careers. The project will reach large numbers of students from groups currently under-represented in engineering degree programs. This project overlaps with NSF's strategic goals of transforming the frontiers through preparation of an engineering workforce with new capabilities and expertise. Additionally NSF's goal of innovating for society is enabled by building the capacity of the nation's citizenry for addressing societal challenges through engineering.