1 Introduction: the importance of learning frameworks in invention education
In a world with rising and complex challenges, it is imperative that the next generation is equipped with the skills, tools, and motivation to think nimbly and invent solutions to address local and global challenges. As free-choice learning theorist and researcher John Falk notes, we live in a time when volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity are “battering individuals, organizations, and even whole societies” with disruptive change (Falk, 2022, p. 156). Invention education as a specialized subset of informal learning has enormous potential to empower youth to combat this gloomy outlook.
Informal education institutions, such as museums and makerspaces, are spaces where youth can “question and challenge their model of the world” (TEDx Talks, 2020). Learning frameworks and theories of…
