skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


  • NSF Public Access
  • Search Results
  • Measuring the Impact of Innovation Programs on STEM Students’ Mindsets: Development of the Transformative Learning Scale

This content will become publicly available on May 30, 2026

Title: Measuring the Impact of Innovation Programs on STEM Students’ Mindsets: Development of the Transformative Learning Scale
Innovation competitions and programs (ICPs) are becoming pivotal in STEM education by immersing students in experiential learning that fosters an innovation mindset. However, measuring the transformative impact of ICPs on students remains a challenge due to the lack of validated frameworks. This study introduces the Transformative Learning Scale for the Innovation Mindset (TLSIM), designed to assess shifts in self-awareness, open-mindedness, and innovation capabilities among STEM students. Using Transformative Learning Theory (TLT) and Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network's (KEEN) 3Cs framework (Curiosity, Connections, Creating Value), TLSIM was developed and validated through expert reviews, focus groups, and psychometric analysis with data from 291 STEM students, 70.2% of whom were engineering majors. Confirmatory Factor Analysis revealed strong psychometric properties, demonstrating TLSIM’s reliability and validity in capturing transformative learning in ICP contexts. The scale emphasizes the multidimensional nature of the innovation mindset and focuses on both the outcomes and processes of developing an innovation mindset. Thereby, the TLSIM provides a new way for educators and program designers to assess and enhance the effectiveness of ICPs in fostering innovation mindsets in STEM education. The paper also presents preliminary findings about the connections between ICP processes and innovation mindset. The TLSIM tool has the potential to significantly improve the assessment and development of ICPs, which could result in more impactful innovations in STEM education. Future research will focus on refining the instrument and exploring its cross-disciplinary applications.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2120936
PAR ID:
10636110
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Editor(s):
Gentry, E; Ju, F; Liu, X
Publisher / Repository:
Proceedings of the IISE Annual Conference & Expo 2025
Date Published:
Format(s):
Medium: X
Location:
https://iise.secure-platform.com/annual/solicitations/102003/sessiongallery/schedule/items/94368/application/5556
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; (, Entrepreneurship Education)
    Abstract The transformative learning scale for the innovation mindset (TLSIM) is an instrument that effectively assesses both process-related experiences and outcome-oriented shifts in students’ self-awareness, open-mindedness, and innovation capabilities resulting from participation in innovation competitions and programs (ICPs), namely, experiential learning opportunities. It was developed using transformative learning theory (TLT) and the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network’s (KEEN) 3Cs framework (Curiosity, Connections, and Creating Value). The study involved developing scale items, validating content and face validity through expert reviews and student focus groups, as well as conducting psychometric analysis using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on data collected from 291 STEM students (70.2% from engineering) who participated in ICPs. The CFA results showed strong factor loadings across most constructs, with Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) values within acceptable limits, confirming the robustness of the TLSIM for measuring both process-oriented (RMSEA = 0.047, CFI = 0.929) and outcome-oriented constructs (RMSEA = 0.052, CFI = 0.901) in the development of an innovation mindset. The analysis showed that TLSIM is a reliable and valid instrument with strong psychometric properties for measuring key constructs related to the innovation mindset. TLSIM can capture significant changes in students’ beliefs, attitudes, and self-perceptions regarding innovation. Future research should refine TLSIM across various disciplines. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; (, ASEE Zone 1 Conference)
    Innovation Competitions and Programs (ICPs), such as design challenges, hackathons, startup incubator competitions, boot camps, customer discovery labs, and accelerator programs, are informal learning experiences that supplement the formal education of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students. As learning dynamics are shifting toward becoming more personalized, location-unbounded, and spontaneous, informal learning is also becoming increasingly important for achieving the broader objectives of STEM education. ICPs are important in educating the next generation of innovators, and they serve as a gateway to innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems in many colleges. The current literature provides limited quantitative and qualitative evidence on student learning because of participation in ICPs. This paper summarizes the findings of a study to investigate the learning and experiences of students who participated in ICPs. The results showed that overall, students rated technical and problem-solving skills higher than some innovation mindset skills, such as understanding people’s needs and pains. Furthermore, the results demonstrated relationships among student backgrounds, learning experiences, and ICP types. Findings suggested that incorporating more entrepreneurial elements in ICPs may improve the innovation mindset learning outcomes of ICPs 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; (, ASEE Conferences)
    Innovation Competitions and Programs (ICPs), such as design challenges, hackathons, startup incubator competitions, boot camps, customer discovery labs, and accelerator programs, are informal learning experiences that supplement the formal education of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students. As learning dynamics are shifting toward becoming more personalized, location-unbounded, and spontaneous, informal learning is also becoming increasingly important for achieving the broader objectives of STEM education. ICPs are important in educating the next generation of innovators, and they serve as a gateway to innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems in many colleges. The current literature provides limited quantitative and qualitative evidence on student learning because of participation in ICPs. This paper summarizes the findings of a multi-institutional study to investigate the learning and experiences of students who participated in ICPs. The results showed that overall, students rated technical and problem-solving skills higher than some innovation mindset skills, such as understanding people’s needs and pains. Furthermore, the results demonstrated relationships among student backgrounds, learning experiences, and ICP types. Findings suggested that incorporating more entrepreneurial elements in ICPs may improve the innovation mindset learning outcomes of ICPs. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; (, IEEE)
    Engineering and computing education have always embraced student Innovation Competitions and Programs (ICPs), such as design challenges, hackathons, startup competitions, and boot camps. These programs are typically organized to increase interest in STEM fields, achieve the broader objective of forming well-rounded engineers and encourage students to bring their innovative ideas into real life. In addition, all ICPs also aim to advance students' innovative thinking skills. With the increased focus on entrepreneurship and innovation in STEM programs, many higher education institutions now organize some form of ICPs. This increased popularity of ICPs bears the questions of (i) whether ICPs achieve their intended objectives, (ii) what program components are most effective, and (iii) how to design ICPs for recruiting diverse student groups. Although these questions are highly relevant to advancing the educational benefits of ICPs, the literature lacks holistic studies focusing on the best practices of ICPs. In this paper, we present the findings of a qualitative research study to investigate ICP types and attributes that make the most impact on fostering an innovation mindset. We interviewed the organizers of ICPs to understand their objectives for organizing their events and rationales for specific program elements. Besides, we asked questions about how they promote their events, the best ways to reach out to students, team selection and forming, their assessment and judging procedures, during and after competition support, and the best practices and challenges. These interview scripts were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using qualitative data analysis software. An analysis of extracted thematic concepts was performed to identify the best practices and strategies that ICP organizers utilize to increase the Impact of their programs. The paper presents the preliminary results of this thematic analysis of the codes. Overall, findings suggest that incorporating more entrepreneurial elements, innovation training in ICPs, and effective mentoring may improve the learning outcomes related to innovative thinking skills. 
    more » « less
  5. (, Scholar Space)
    Student Innovation Competitions and Programs (ICPs), including design challenges, hackathons, startup competitions, and boot camps, play a critical role in entrepreneurship and innovation education. These programs foster students' technical skills, networking opportunities, and innovation mindsets. However, the literature lacks an exploration of ICPs' transformative impact on students' entrepreneurial mindsets, which involves profound changes in students' values and abilities. This study addresses this gap by applying the Transformative Learning Theory (TLT) to examine how ICPs can be transformative experiences for students. Using a qualitative inductive approach, semi-structured interviews with 36 students who participated in ICPs were conducted. Thematic analysis was performed using both human coders and ChatGPT 4.0 to identify the strengths and weaknesses realized by students during ICPs. The results showed a high level of agreement between human and AI-generated codes, highlighting ICPs' role in enhancing self-awareness and personal growth. Key strengths discovered included communication skills, leadership, problem-solving, organizational skills, tenacity, and interpersonal skills, while common weaknesses were noted as time management, communication challenges, lack of self-advocacy, trust issues, inflexibility, conflict management, and stress and anxiety. These findings suggest that ICPs are instrumental in fostering an entrepreneurial and innovation mindset, but organizers should address time management and stress issues to maximize benefits to students. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email