Using Narratives to Evoke Empathy in Museum-Based Engineering Activities

• In Event: 47.073 - Weaving Stories Into STEM Learning

Abstract

Purpose: In this design-based research project, researchers and activity developers across four institutions are investigating how narratives can influence girls’ participation and engagement in museum-based engineering design activities. By developing and testing activities that incorporate narratives in a variety of ways, the project aims to help museums create equitable and effective STEM learning experiences that engage all children in the core concepts and practices of engineering.

Theoretical framework: Research in engineering education and policy has shown that girls remain underrepresented in engineering, in part because they perceive engineering to be focused on physical products rather than people and social contexts. Nevertheless, perspective-taking and empathy are integral parts of the design process, allowing engineers to understand the experiences of their clients and design solutions that meet their needs. Researchers and activity developers in museums have found that adding narratives to otherwise abstract engineering activities is a promising strategy for evoking empathy and engaging girls. However, there is little systematic evidence that defines what kinds of narrative elements are most effective in eliciting empathic responses and supporting engineering practices like ideation and iteration.

Methods and data sources: In this project, museum practitioners and researchers are developing and testing six pairs of engineering activities. Each pair includes one version of the activity with narrative elements, and one without — for example, designing an invention to lift a heavy object (non-narrative) or to help a grandmother carry her groceries (narrative). Through iterative development of these activity pairs, we are building a conceptual model defining how engineering activities can incorporate narrative elements to support empathy and engagement. By comparing narrative and non-narrative versions of each activity, we are examining whether and how narrative elements influence girls’ ideation and persistence in iterating their designs. Data include: 1) observations and interviews with girls (ages 7-14) participating in narrative and non-narrative versions of each activity with their families, 2) documentation of materials and facilitation strategies used, and 3) the amount of time children spent with each version.

Results and Significance: To date, three pairs of activities have been developed and tested, with three additional pairs to be developed by the conference date. Our conceptual model identifies a variety of narrative elements (including characters, settings, and problem frames) that can evoke empathy by suggesting a point of view and connecting visitors with the users of a design. Observations and interviews revealed how specific materials and facilitation strategies can help communicate these narratives and support the engineering design process. For example, activities were most engaging when the materials conveyed a realistic problem that was familiar enough for children to make use of prior knowledge when generating potential solutions (like taking care of a pet or helping a grandparent), and when facilitators asked questions that focused on the user’s point of view. Through collaborative development of these activities, this project advances theoretical knowledge about how a narrative framing can support the engineering design process, and will result in practical strategies for designing more equitable experiences with engineering.

Authors

• Dorothy Bennett, New York Hall of Science

• Susan M. Letourneau, New York Hall of Science

• Katherine McMillan Culp, New York Hall of Science

• ChangChia James Liu, New York Hall of Science

• Yessenia Argudo, New York Hall of Science