Change Your Game / Cambia tu juego Process Evaluation

With funding from a National Science Foundation (NSF) Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) grant #2005404, the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (NMAH) launched the project Change Your Game / Cambia tu juego. The project aimed to develop a STEM exhibition for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History with embedded research into visitors’ exploration of inventive identity.

In the process evaluation, the project team complimented the collaborative project plan, particularly valuing how the project was designed to include many voices into the exhibition development process. NMAH staff perceived the process as particularly collaborative and innovative for them in its focus on promoting inventive identity, which fostered a relationship with educational psychology researchers around a dynamic systems model of identity. However, the project team identified challenges that prevented the project from fulfilling the collaborative nature they had desired. The COVID-19 pandemic added a layer of uncertainty and required adaptability not previously encountered. The project was also challenged by turnover within the project team.

Looking to the future, we helped NMAH staff identify three areas for improvement in their process: build in ample time and resources on collaborative projects to address challenges that may emerge, identify fewer priority audiences for an exhibition, and engage priority audiences even earlier in the exhibition development process.