InnovaTE³ Girls Innovating with Technology as Entrepreneurial Environmental Engineers

Melissa Koch, Reina Fujii, Torie Gorges, Christopher Harris, Teresa Lara-Meloy, Jasmine Lopez, Patrik Lundh, Bill Penuel, Patti Schank

The InnovaTE³ curriculum uses a cradle-to-cradle paradigm (rather than cradle to grave) to intrigue and challenge high school girls to develop ecologically sustainable innovations. Developing these innovations motivates girls to explore the STEM fields and careers needed to address these important problems. The InnovaTE³ curriculum, professional development, and assessment materials, developed by SRI International, TERC, and Girls Incorporated of Alameda County and funded by NSF, are portable to Girls Inc.'s 1,500 program sites that reach more than 800,000 girls annually.

InnovaTE³ is a problem-based curriculum that capitalizes on girls' interest in design and environmental issues. It provides structured interactions with STEM professionals, including having girls participate in engineering teams and presenting their innovations to STEM professionals. InnovaTE³'s use of the innovation process, cradle-to-cradle design approach, an embedded assessment system, and a six-year continuum (2 years of Build IT in middle school and 4 years of InnovaTE³ in high school) of STEM experiences for girls to encourage their interest in STEM careers will provide new insights and opportunities for research on learning STEM concepts in informal learning environments.

InnovaTE³'s goals are to encourage girls to

value and persist in STEM learning
see pathways for themselves to STEM career(s)
understand concepts in Earth system science
become fluent in innovation and engineering practices

In addition, the InnovaTE³ program also seeks to build Girls Inc.'s staff capacity to implement and sustain STEM programming.

Materials developed during the InnovaTE³ project include

problem-based curriculum developed using the Understanding by Design approach.
an assessment system that includes embedded formative assessments and scaffolds for evaluating fluency in Earth System Science, innovation, and engineering.
youth staff professional development materials to enhance staff capacity.
frameworks for involving STEM professionals.
evaluation instrumentation and research findings.

10/2008 - 10/2011 (current)