NSF INCLUDES Planning Grant: Developing a Collaborative Infrastructure for Educating STEM Undergraduate Students who are Neurodiverse Learners

Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff AZ

Investigators

Abstract

The growth of the United States STEM workforce is important to economic and global competitiveness. Developing STEM talent among all sectors of society is needed in order to grow the workforce. The proposed collaboration brings together personnel from Northern Arizona University, The Ohio State University, Auburn University, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Hawaii and Kansas State University, to address the five key elements of collaborative infrastructure for a future alliance of stakeholders and a national broadening participation agenda. The team will focus on the challenge of increasing people with neurodiversity in STEM fields, by increasing the number of undergraduate students with Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and other diverse neurological disabilities who succeed in STEM education. The team’s plan includes multiple regional convenings of team members and community stakeholders. The project is expected to eventually engage a broad group of representatives from dozens of universities, colleges and community colleges, including those institutions of higher education that are known to serve specific diverse populations, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs). Included among these institutions are former recipients of the NSF Research in Disabilities in Education (RDE) program’s Alliance for Students with Disabilities in STEM awards and NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot grants (DDLPs). Additionally, stakeholders from national organizations, industry, vocational rehabilitation, and STEM students who identify as neurodiverse will be involved. The planned stakeholder meetings will provide a forum for partners to build a culturally appropriate collaborative infrastructure: To develop a shared vision; to expand the partnerships to include a broad community of organizations and institutions; to establish shared goals and metrics; to solidify the leadership structure; to establish and improve communication across the partners; and to scale or expand the work. This NSF INCLUDES planning grant is funded by the NSF’s Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science program (NSF INCLUDES), a comprehensive national initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in discoveries and innovations by focusing on diversity, inclusion and broadening participation in STEM at scale. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.