More About Our Program
The invention education curriculum is a K-12, 10-week program. It can be taught in the classroom or offered as part of an after-school program.
The Open Source curriculum, shared with us through the 42-year old Connecticut Invention Convention, is Next Generation Science Standard/Common Core aligned, and utilizes a construct that asks students to identify a problem in their own lives, or that of their families’, employ problem solving and creative thinking processes to solve the problem, develop an invention idea, and finally build a prototype of the solution.
Teachers and program leaders are trained on curricular resources, then tailor the lessons to the requirements of their student body. In-school lessons are activities that can be attached to any subject, including Science, History, Math, Art, and Music coursework. About one hour a week is devoted to in-school mentoring, and the rest is done at home, often with parental help. At the end of the program, students come together to present their inventions and celebrate their creative problem-solving accomplishments.
Executive Director Brenda Payne discusses invention education and the California Invention Convention in this in-depth interview with Dot Cannon of Two Maverix® Multimedia. In this 43 minute interview, Brenda outlines how this project-based learning curriculum has grown in California, using student examples to explain the impact of the program.
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