To provide for the establishment at the National Science Foundation of a program to promote and assist the teaching of inventiveness and innovation.

Summary: Innovations for our Nation's Vital Educational Needs for Technology Act - Directs the National Science Foundation (NSF) to: (1) establish a competitive grant program, with the goal of developing, and making available for use at the elementary, secondary, and undergraduate levels within two years after enactment of this Act, curriculum tools that will help foster inventiveness; and (2) develop and implement measures for the dissemination of such curriculum tools.

Directs the NSF to: (1) implement a public awareness and outreach campaign relating to invention and inventiveness; and (2) establish engineering and social science research programs on the process of invention and the teaching of inventiveness.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Innovations for our Nation's Vital 
Educational Needs for Technology Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Invention, the wellspring of innovation, is the basic 
        source of the economic wellbeing and quality of life enjoyed in 
        the developed world today.
            (2) There have been enormous differences in the 
        capabilities of different societies to invent, to carry the 
        inventions into practice, and to adopt the inventions of other 
        societies, and maintaining those capabilities will be key for 
        the future wellbeing of the United States.
            (3) Federal support of individual investigators doing basic 
        research has been effective in leading to scientific discovery, 
        but less effective in enabling those investigators to turn 
        those discoveries into invention.
            (4) The process of invention and the traits of the 
        inventive mind can be enhanced by education and fostered by 
        appropriate societal support.
            (5) In formal education, every student deserves the 
        opportunity to learn more about the nature of invention and to 
        acquire some simple basic skills and generative attitudes.

SEC. 3. INVENTIVENESS CURRICULUM MATERIALS.

    (a) Establishment of Program.--The National Science Foundation 
shall establish a competitive grant program, with the goal of 
developing, and making available for use at the elementary, secondary, 
and undergraduate levels within 2 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, curriculum tools that will help foster inventiveness.
    (b) Materials.--The curriculum materials developed under the 
program established under this section shall--
            (1) leverage existing knowledge on how the inventive mind 
        works on behalf of a more inventive society to address key 
        challenges of today's world, through--
                    (A) emphasizing adventure, excitement, and mystery 
                as much as the analytical and technical side of 
                invention;
                    (B) encouraging inventive thinking that crosses 
                boundaries of convention, expectation, and disciplines; 
                and
                    (C) anticipating that there will be unanticipated 
                consequences of invention, an enduring lesson from 
                history;
            (2) strengthen those aspects of the education process that 
        enhance creativity in general, and technological inventiveness 
        in particular, including--
                    (A) open-ended, problem solving assignments;
                    (B) historical study of the social and political 
                implications of inventions and new technologies;
                    (C) universities seeking research projects and 
                external collaborations, and policies that promote 
                inventive creativity of students and faculty;
                    (D) appropriate supporting infrastructure, which 
                should be fostered to enable teachers to utilize new 
                teaching methods and materials; and
                    (E) hands-on activities, visual thinking 
                experiences, historical case studies, and ``how things 
                work'' exercises for all students, not just engineering 
                or science majors; and
            (3) initiate, strengthen, and expand initiatives to involve 
        young people directly in the invention process, including--
                    (A) efforts to support teams in high schools and 
                colleges that work collaboratively with the private or 
                local government sectors to invent useful products or 
                processes;
                    (B) realistic, open-ended, design-oriented 
                activities, which can be included in university 
                engineering courses, with the primary goal of teaching 
                the important principles of a field in ways that will 
                promote inventive creativity in the application of 
                these principles;
                    (C) a network of community centers, ``invention 
                homes'', or ``free workshops'' that would provide 
                access to the tools, materials, and flexible space so 
                important to invention, to be based in schools, 
                museums, or other locations;
                    (D) workshops that would allow teachers to learn by 
                experience how to effectively lead a project-based 
                classroom; and
                    (E) networks of innovators and social entrepreneurs 
                both domestically and internationally.
    (c) Dissemination.--The National Science Foundation shall develop 
and implement measures, including workshops, for the dissemination of 
curriculum tools developed under this section.

SEC. 4. INVENTIVENESS PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
National Science Foundation shall implement a public awareness and 
outreach campaign relating to invention and inventiveness. The public 
awareness and outreach campaign shall--
            (1) foster public events, including competitions, public 
        displays, traveling exhibitions, and other ways to increase the 
        public profile of inventors and inventiveness; and
            (2) establish additional awards and prizes honoring 
        inventors, with the objective of stimulating invention in areas 
        of greatest need, as well as of raising the stature of 
        inventors and invention in the eyes of young people.

SEC. 5. ENGINEERING AND SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH PROGRAM ON INVENTION.

    The National Science Foundation shall establish engineering and 
social science research programs on the process of invention and the 
teaching of inventiveness. The research programs shall--
            (1) be aimed at a deeper understanding of the creative mind 
        and creative environment, the measurement of inventiveness, 
        diffusion of teaching of inventive creativity, and rapid 
        learning as part of the crossing of boundaries of convention, 
        expectation, and disciplines that is at the heart of invention;
            (2) include study of the influence of flexible learning 
        environments and role of parents, teachers, mentors, and 
        broader social institutions;
            (3) study the impact on inventive creativity of past major 
        programs of Federal and State support for elementary, 
        secondary, and higher education;
            (4) identify the major societal sectors that have had 
        significant effects on major inventions and innovations of the 
        recent past, and study the role of each such sector, the 
        importance of intersector interactions, and the impact of 
        patent and other relevant law; and
            (5) assess how invention could make a difference to the 
        sustainable development needs of the poorest regions and 
        nations, including research to understand and promote social 
        enterprise, cultivation of creativity on a local level, surveys 
        of key technology gaps, and surveys of available financial 
        resources.