CAREER: Promoting Engineering Innovation Through Increased Neurodiversity by Encouraging the Participation of Students with ADHD

工程师面临的挑战是大规模、复杂和多方面的，他们的解决方案需要根本性的进步。因此，有必要调查和利用非传统的、发散的思想家的潜力，以促进激进的技术突破。有充分的证据表明，性别、性取向、种族和民族的多样性可以提高团队的生产力和创造力。然而，人们很少意识到神经多样性的潜力，即通过多样化的方法、解决问题的方法和该领域的思维方式来支持创造性的、富有成效的工程师团队。很多时候，非传统的思考者在传统工程教育项目的限制下挣扎，而他们为该领域做出贡献的独特潜力仍未得到开发。这个CAREER项目旨在通过增加注意力缺陷（多动）障碍（ADHD）学生在工程领域的参与来促进神经多样性。虽然ADHD患者的创造潜力得到了文献的广泛支持，但他们在工程项目中的代表性却极其不足。为了促进该领域的认知多样性，迫切需要了解ADHD学生在工程项目中的挑战和潜力。产生支持神经多样性对创造性生产力的重要性的知识可能导致工程教育和工程实践的转变。该项目将为神经多样性、个性化教育和扩大参与的未来研究提供信息和刺激。这个项目的成果有望成为社会和教育项目如何看待神经多样性个体的范式转变的前沿。该项目的意义在于，它致力于扩大代表性不足的学生的参与，这些学生具有很高的潜力，但目前在传统工程项目的参与和保留方面面临障碍。本项目的主要目标是通过研究与教育的结合，形成一个将ADHD学生纳入工程教育的基础研究基地。本项目的研究目标是确定：(1)与ADHD特征相关的认知构念可以预测创造潜力；(2)调节或调节具有ADHD特征的工科学生学业成绩的教育系统的因素和特征；(3)神经多样性学生团队的工程产品比同质性团队的产品在多大程度上更具创造力。这些目标将通过混合的定量/定性研究设计来实现。该项目的综合教育目标侧重于扩大ADHD学生对工程的参与。为了实现这一目标，研究团队将：(1)为患有多动症的高中生设计并提供一个暑期研究项目，以吸引他们学习工程学，并将其推广到其他学校以扩大规模；(2)为患有多动症的本科生开发和实施一个学年计划，以改善他们的经验，并鼓励他们继续攻读研究生。通过将研究结果传播给工程教育界和为患有多动症的学生提供住宿的组织，这个项目的影响将会扩大。

Challenges facing engineers are large-scale, complex, and multifaceted and their solutions require radical advancements. Therefore, there is a need to investigate and capitalize on the potential of nontraditional, divergent thinkers in order to promote radical technological breakthroughs. There is ample evidence that diversity in gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity, improve productivity and creativity of teams. However, there is little awareness of the potential of neurodiversity to support creative, productive teams of engineers by diversifying the approaches, problem solving, and ways of thinking in the field. Too often, nontraditional thinkers struggle within the confines of traditional engineering education programs, while their unique potential to contribute to the field remains untapped. This CAREER project aims to promote neurodiversity by increasing the participation of students with Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder (ADHD) in engineering fields. While the creative potential of individuals with ADHD is extensively supported by literature, they are extremely underrepresented in engineering programs. There is an urgent need to understand the challenges and potential of students with ADHD characteristics in engineering programs in order to promote cognitive diversity in the field. Generating knowledge that supports the significance of neurodiversity on creative productivity may lead to transforming engineering education and engineering practice. This project will inform and stimulate future research on neurodiversity, personalized education, and broadening participation. The outcomes of this project will hopefully be at the forefront of a paradigm shift in how neurodiverse individuals are perceived, by both society and education programs.The significance of this project is grounded in its commitment to broadening the participation of underrepresented students who have high potential, but currently face barriers to participation and retention in traditional engineering programs. A main goal of this CAREER project is to generate a foundational research base for transforming engineering education to include students with ADHD through the integration of research and education. The research objectives of this project are to determine: (1) the cognitive constructs related to ADHD characteristics that can predict creative potential, (2) the factors and features of educational systems that mediate or moderate the academic performance of engineering students with ADHD characteristics, and (3) the extent to which the engineering products of neurodiverse teams of students are more creative than the products of homogenous teams. These goals will be met though a mixed quantitative/qualitative research design. The integrated education objectives of the project focus on broadening the participation of students with ADHD in engineering. To accomplish this, the research team will: (1) design and provide a summer research program for high school students with ADHD to attract them to pursue engineering and disseminate it to other schools for scale-up, and (2) develop and implement an academic year program for undergraduate students with ADHD in engineering to improve their experience and provide encouragement to pursue graduate studies. The impact of this project will be broadened by disseminating the findings to the engineering education community and organizations providing accommodation to students with ADHD.