Collaborative Research: The Notion of Failure and Maker Programming for Youth: Supporting the Professional Development, Reflection, and Learning of Informal Educators

This report presents the final summative evaluation of Collaborative Research: The Notion of Failure and Maker Programming for Youth: Supporting the Professional Development, Reflection, and Learning of Informal Educators, funded by the National Science Foundation through the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program. The evaluation was conducted by Monika Mayer, the project’s external evaluator. The report examines the development, implementation, and outcomes of the Failure in Making (FiM) professional development (PD) program. Over four years, FiM partnered with 27 museums across three cohorts to develop and refine a PD model and open-access toolkit designed to help informal STEM educators recognize and respond to youths’ experiences with failure during making and design activities. Drawing on surveys, interviews, formative and summative assessments, and site reports, the evaluation explores how the program influenced educator practices, mindsets, team collaboration, and learning environments. Findings show that FiM strengthened facilitation practices, fostered communities of practice among educators, and shifted perspectives on failure. Participants moved from trying to prevent failure to intentionally designing for it as part of the learning process. Even sites with lighter participation adopted core principles. Overall, FiM demonstrates how research-informed PD can support resilient, experimentation-focused learning environments in informal STEM settings.