Explore Imagination in STEM

This past September, the Museum of Science, Boston, hosted an nine-day online convening of STEM  researchers, practitioners, and professionals to examine the use of imagination in STEM. Funded by the National Science Foundation, “Unpacking the STEM Imagination” focused on imagination in STEM at the intersections of research and practice in informal (out-of-school-time) learning settings.

Participants were deeply immersed in this topic through panel discussions with experts and workshops led by facilitators. Topics included “Raising the STEM Imagination”; “Unearthing the STEM Imagination”; “Imagination and STEM Futures”; “Positioning Imagination in STEM Practice and STEM Education”; ‘Cultivating Contexts for Imaginative Thinking in STEM”; “Creating Conditions for Imaginative Engagement with STEM; and “Framing a More Imaginative Future for ISE (Informal Science Education) Research and Practice”.
Many valuable resources from the convening are now available on informalscience.org. Follow this link to access the convening’s proceedings, including panel and workshop details, resources, and much more.
Of particular interest are:

1. A poster overview of the entire project
2. An exercise to define imagination in STEM
3. Videos of a variety of perspectives on imagination in STEM.

Further findings from this project will be available on informalscience.org in 2022.