Transforming a National Invention Education Program through a Strength-based Approach

Abstract

This system-level ethnographic study of a strength-based approach to transforming a national invention education program makes visible how program leadership drew on research and their own expertise to shift who and how they served. With data analysis grounded in program reports, documentation, and internal and published research, the program’s developmental trajectory is (re)constructed and (re)presented with contextual details provided by program leadership to bring forward how facets of a strength-based approach informed the overtime transformation. Working in conjunction with program leadership to identify common design elements across new program offerings, this study presents this program’s principles for designing for instruction and considerations for curricular integration of invention education into K-14 educational institutions. Furthermore, how these principles align with a strength-based approach are discussed.