Learning to fail through making and tinkering

Encouraging youth to experiment — and fail — through STEM projects in an informal learning space is a powerful experience, according to Amber Simpson, an assistant professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Education Leadership in the College of Community and Public Affairs. She has seen this process and the learning that results from it play out over and over in a variety of community-based projects she has spearheaded or been a part of during and prior to her time at Binghamton.

STEM: where failure leads to innovation

Science, technology, engineering and math present a landscape abundant with opportunities to theorize, experiment, fail and then start the process again, Simpson said, especially as these fields increasingly shape the world around us, both in professional spaces and…