Designing our Tomorrow–Mobilizing the Next Generation of Engineers Public Audience Front-end Evaluation

This front-end evaluation study is part of Designing Our Tomorrow: Mobilizing the Next Generation of Engineers, a five-year project (2018–2023) led by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) with the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF, DRL-1811617) and project partners: Adelante Mujeres, the Biomimicry Institute, and the Fleet Science Center. The Designing Our Tomorrow (DOT) project seeks to promote and strengthen family engagement and engineering learning via compelling exhibit-based design challenges, presented through the lens of sustainable design exemplified by biomimicry. This front-end evaluation was conducted to inform exhibit development.  

The aim of this evaluation study was to understand more deeply how girls and their families relate to and care about sustainability issues, the natural world, and how they envision a present and future where the natural world and human-made designs merge and build a reciprocal and sustainable relationship. The evaluation team conducted four focus groups with girls from Oregon and California and 67 interviews with visitor groups from OMSI and the Fleet Science Center between November 2018 and June 2019. This executive summary presents highlights from all groups.