Engaging Autistic STEM Undergraduates in Creating Supportive Learning Environments

Education Development Center, Waltham MA

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by identifying the needs of autistic STEM students across three campuses within the California State University (CSU) system and designing campus programs to improve the learning experiences of students on the autistic spectrum. This project will partner with autistic STEM majors enrolled on partner campuses and empower them to design campus resources, with the help of STEM faculty and student services staff. These new resources will deepen their engagement with their STEM fields, provide opportunities to develop and pursue their STEM career interests, and establish meaningful and lasting peer and mentor relationships. The number of autistic young people seeking college degrees continues to increase and universities are not prepared to harness the strengths and interests that autistic students can contribute to their campus communities. This project is significant because it employs and fully involves autistic STEM majors from the design through the implementation of this project. A collaborative team of researchers, campus faculty and staff, and autistic undergraduates will develop and pilot campus programs and activities aimed at better supporting autistic students on campus, and evaluate the effectiveness of these programs and activities after a semester-long pilot period. A broader impact of this project includes the dissemination of programs and activities to other campuses nationwide, specifically public institutions similar to those within the CSU who serve a diverse array of students, many of whom are low-income and first-generation college degree seekers. Of note, this project will use identity-first language (i.e. “autistic person”) throughout as autistic self-advocates and recent research indicates that this is preferred by the autistic community. The primary goal of this project is to improve the undergraduate learning experience for autistic students pursuing STEM majors. Not only will the programs produced by this project directly benefit autistic students, but autistic students at three CSU campuses will be employed as research partners and co-developers of programs on their campuses throughout the project. Driven by student needs and interests identified during interviews and focus groups held in Year 1, a team of researchers, campus faculty and staff, and autistic undergraduates will develop and pilot programs aimed at improving student learning and engagement in Year 2. Project staff will conduct pre- and post-intervention interviews and surveys to evaluate semester-long pilot programs, generate recommendations for future program development, and disseminate findings with the goal of improving undergraduate education for autistic STEM students within the CSU and beyond. Four objectives will guide this two-year project. First is to understand the existing support landscape for autistic STEM undergraduates at three partner CSU campuses. Second is to identify gaps in available CSU campus programs from the perspective of autistic students, faculty, staff, and administrators and make recommendations to fill these gaps. Third is to iteratively develop, implement, and evaluate pilot campus programs and experiences for autistic STEM students and professional development for faculty and staff. Fourth, and finally, is to prepare to expand campus partnerships to additional universities by synthesizing recommendations based on findings from pilot program implementation. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. 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.