Education Week Webinar Explores How Invention Education Maximizes Student Outcomes

On Feb. 1, the National Inventors Hall of Fame^® partnered with Education Week to host a webinar detailing strategies district administrators and educators can use to engage students and maximize student outcomes.

To begin the presentation, Ashley Giordano, manager of program management at the National Inventors Hall of Fame, noted that in 2023, the organization provided programming in all 50 states, helping to inspire 361,000 children.

Giordano then went on to explain what invention education is and how the pedagogy is uniquely designed to engage students.

“Invention education is a pedagogy that invites students to discover or invent solutions to real-world problems,” Giordano said. “Through the act of hands-on invention prototyping, embracing this active approach to education places students in control of their learning and encourages them to incorporate their interests and passions directly into the problem-solving process.”

Leading Educators Share Their Experiences With Invention Education

Next, Giordano invited two career educators to share their firsthand accounts of invention education’s impact: Audra Rowell, advanced academics coordinator from Northwest Independent School District in Fort Worth, Texas, and Rick Oser, director of extended learning, intervention and enrichment from Escondido Union School District in Escondido, California.

Rowell first explained how she found success implementing invention education curricula in two separate school districts, each with very different socioeconomic conditions. In both situations, she was impressed by how much students grew throughout the experience.

“To see how the kids grow in terms of their confidence through that process — that persistence and that grit and just being able to work through something — it’s inspiring,” Rowell said.

Rowell’s remarks were followed by those of Oser, who shared with attendees that he chose to bring National Inventors Hall of Fame programs to his district after seeing past strategies fail to engage his students.

“Many of the strategies that we used previously didn’t really work back then, and now they are working even less,” Oser said. “This is where the National Inventors Hall of Fame comes in. Invention education really hits home because our students are demanding these experiences that are really going to engage them [and] captivate them to go beyond that individual learning experience.”

Hall of Fame Inductee Jacqueline Quinn Shares Insights Into the Power of Invention Education

One of the nation’s most highly respected environmental engineers, National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee Jacqueline Quinn concluded the webinar by sharing her perspective on invention education and describing the benefits she has seen firsthand.

“I’ve had a chance to visit a number of National Inventors Hall of Fame programs in my area in Florida,” Quinn said. “When I go, the kids’ eyes are just huge, they’re so interested in the moment and thinking out of the box and enjoying the process.”

Additionally, she reiterated the importance of hands-on curricula that engage children and allow them to embrace their natural creativity.

“When it is something that is engaging, that you get to work with other kids on and you see the creativity that comes out of that group — it’s just completely awe-inspiring,” Quinn said.

Additional Highlights From the Webinar Included:

• An exploration of different strategies proven to maximize student outcomes
   
• Techniques to engage both students and teachers authentically using the principles of invention education and the I Can Invent^® Mindset
   
• A discussion of how invention education fosters creativity, confidence and problem-solving skills in students from a range of populations, from gifted to ESL

Watch the Full Webinar Today!

Interested in learning more about the proven impact of invention education? We invite you to check out a full recording of our webinar, “Maximizing Student Outcomes Using Invention Education”!

To explore each of the invention education programs offered by the National Inventors Hall of Fame, visit our website.