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The InVenture Challenge: Inspiring STEM Learning through Invention and Entrepreneurship

Abstract

"The InVenture Challenge seeks to bring design, engineering, invention, and entrepreneurship to K-12 education by providing a framework, curriculum, and competition that can be used by teachers in different disciplines with support from Georgia Institute of Technology faculty and staff. Modeled after Georgia Tech's InVenture Prize, a 'Shark-Tank' style competition for Georgia Tech undergraduates that is televised throughout Georgia, the InVenture Challenge attempts to deliver the same authentic experience to younger participants by providing resources and mentoring to K-12 teachers to implement engineering, design, and entrepreneurship lessons. In this paper, we present the motivation for the InVenture Challenge, lesson plans, resources, teacher survey feedback, and teacher focus group themes from the third year of implementation. The teacher survey data is related to perceptions of the program, self-efficacy for teaching engineering and entrepreneurship, observed student outcomes, challenges experienced during implementation, and recommendations for implementation within different schools and classroom settings. In general, teachers perceive the InVenture Challenge as an engaging way to introduce students to engineering and find value in the connection to the Georgia Tech community."