At Phenomena, we believe:

1. The best way to learn is by seeing and doing

We're big believers in mental models. Mental models are what guide engineers, scientists and mathematicians to do what they do — to come up with new ideas and to find new solutions. But how does one develop a mental model for a phenomenon? By observing it change over time, by interacting with the inputs and by seeing the effects on the outputs. When this feedback loop happens many times over, mental models begin to take shape. This is how people learn naturally and it works for STEM subjects too.

At Phenomena, we provide models that students can interact with, so that they can develop their own mental models based on what they see and do.

2. Engagement is the first step to success

Behind every scientist or engineer is a story about engaging with a particular STEM subject, usually around middle school or high school. Sometimes it's through a science fair project or a trip to the museum or even an experiment at home. At the heart of every story are two things: a sense of wonder about the world and the joy of understanding. At Phenomena, we try to maximize both this sense of wonder and joy. This is what drives engagement, which drives motivation, which ultimately drives meaningful and lasting learning.

3. Great design enables greater learning

As you may have noticed, we care a lot about design. But why? Well, it's not about aesthetics or about having the coolest looking website. The reason we care about design is because the essence of design is thoughtful communication. It's about putting everything in the right place so it's easy to understand, so it's simple and so it makes sense. Design is also about revealing just a little bit at a time, so students are never overwhelmed. And design is about making it fun, because that's important too. See for yourself or take our word for it, design makes a big difference.

4. All students are capable of learning STEM

No doubt, this is a cliché. But there's actually a subtle and important point here. While everyone wants this to be true, the truth is that many students fall behind in STEM or fail entirely for two very specific and very connected reasons — textbooks and reading levels. Students oftentimes fail STEM subjects because they cannot parse the dense and dry textbook text. Meanwhile, if you show the same concepts to these students, and let them play with it and interact with it, they understand it. And not only do they get it, they do so quickly. As it turns out, these students were capable of understanding all along.

5. There should be joy in learning

At Phenomena, we believe in the joy of learning. This is not about fun and games (though those can be great too) or about earning rewards just for the sake of the reward. For us, the joy of learning is the feeling associated with understanding something for the first time. It's the process of seeing something revealed, of playing with variables and observing an unexpected effect, and of discovering something new. It's also the sense of pride and accomplishment that comes with figuring something out, and knowing that you'll now have that understanding forever. This is the joy of learning and it's at the heart of what we do here at Phenomena.