Professional Impacts Evaluation: Unpacking the STEM Imagination Convening and Activities

This report describes results of a professional impacts evaluation to understand the impact of the Unpacking the Imagination Convening on its participants. Evaluation Questions were: (1) What, if any, new perspectives on imagination, STEM, and learning did participants gain through the pre conference activities and/or the convening? (2) How, if at all, did participation in the convening impact participants’ awareness of current and recent ISE initiatives in which imagination is a thread? (d) How, if at all, did participation in the convening impact participants’ interest in positioning imagination as an explicit objective to address in their work? (4) How, if at all, did participation in the convening change the types if projects that participants intend to implement at their institutions, or in collaboration with other institutions? (5) To what extent did participation in the convening or post convening activities impact participant interest and engagement in seeking partners or collaborators for future work? Key findings were: (1) The convening helped participants see the relevance of imaginative ways of thinking to STEM. (2) The convening enhanced participants’ knowledge of research on imagination’s relationship with STEM. (3) Potentially because of their enhanced knowledge about imagination in STEM, participants indicated less comfort in talking with colleagues about imagination’s relationship with STEM after the convening. (4) Participants want additional discussions on imagination in STEM. They recognized the magnitude of work that went into the convening and felt there was an incredible amount of information from the convening to mine further. They are also interested in reconnecting with participants. (5) The convening highlighted the need for further work to support professionals in imagination endeavors in STEM. In particular, participants who work in museums desire tools to apply the convenings’ learnings to their practice.