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There is growing evidence that emphasizing the social and personal contexts of engineering can open up the field to people who have been conspicuously underrepresented, particularly women and girls. Recent research and advances in educational policy have advocated for reframing engineering education to prioritize social responsibility, empathy, and care for others as integral aspects of engineering practice. But how do we measure things like empathy in engineering practices of younger children? This paper features work from a three-year design-based research project in which we used narrative elements to frame engineering problems in ways that evoked empathy for others’ needs, and examined the intersections between expressions of empathy and engineering design practices among girls ages 7-14. This paper outlines the theoretical underpinnings of this approach, and our methods for observing empathy and engineering practices in this age group. 

This report summarizes findings from the summative evaluation of the NSF-AISL funded Narrative Elements Shaping Engineering Engagement design-based research project led by NYSCI. The evaluation examined if and how narrative design elements experimented with by NYSCI and partner teams impacted 7-14-year-old girls’ expressions of empathy and engagement with engineering across different museum activities and settings. Using observation and semi-structured interview methods with 202 girls across three museum settings, the evaluation was designed to: 1) understand whether and how narrative-based elements influence engagement in engineering activities for 7 to 14-year-old girls across three engineering design activities;2) highlight whether and how museum settings influence engagement with engineering practices for 7 to 14-year-old girls; 3) investigate the relationship between engineering practices, narrative practices, and empathy markers for 7 to 14-year-old girls within the designed engineering activities; 4) research how activity designs influence girls’ narrative practices, engineering practices, and empathy markers across activities and museums. To study these related goals involving the intertwined relationship between narrative, engineering, empathy, two conditions (i.e., initially defined as narrative and non-narrative) of three select engineering design activities were observed within one museum, and one activity was implemented across two additional museum sites.