Promoting Student Engagement and Success through Assistive Technology

在改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）的支持下，该试点（轨道1）项目旨在让加州州立大学北岭分校的学生参与以辅助技术（ATs）为中心的基于项目的学习。在美国，大约有25%的成年人患有残疾，辅助服务机构在帮助残疾人适应不同环境方面发挥着重要作用，包括在教育、就业和独立生活方面。研究表明，来自少数群体的残疾人获得辅助治疗的可能性较小，并且更有可能报告未满足的辅助治疗需求。此外，学生们往往没有意识到这一领域有许多有益的职业机会。通过一个新的本科高级设计课程，该项目将支持学生发展强烈的职业认同和追求STEM职业的动力，特别是在人类技术前沿的职业生涯中。学生将有很多机会向AT专业人士学习，并通过一些旨在帮助他们了解残疾公民的现实、优势和挑战的经历建立同理心。教师将在整个项目中参与专业发展，这将使他们能够将基于项目的学习融入课堂，丰富学生的经验。辅助技术是高度跨学科的，需要与专业团队合作的经验。该项目提供以学生为中心、以项目为基础、个性化的体验式学习和跨学科的专业发展，以提高少数民族学生在STEM领域的成功。具体而言，该项目将：1)为STEM中代表性不足的学生建立一个支持系统；2)通过量身定制的活动提供真实的学习体验；3)提高机构能力，创造文化敏感的学习环境和跨学科的STEM课程；4)建立学生与雇主之间的联系；5)促进那些在STEM领域代表性不足的学生取得更高的学术成就。通过让服务提供者和行业代表参与教育活动，扩大了该项目的影响。项目评估将从调查和焦点小组中得出结论，以探索对学生和教师的影响，包括参与如何影响学生的归属感、STEM身份和技术知识。HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM参与，并在HSI进行能力建设。考虑到hsi的多样性和背景，实现这些目标需要创新的方法来激励机构和社区转型，并促进基础研究(1)关于参与式学生学习，(2)关于如何有效地使STEM多样化和增加参与，以及(3)提高我们对如何在hsi建立机构能力的理解。HSI计划支持的项目也将借鉴这些方法，为如何实现这些目标提供新的知识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-¬Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Pilot (Track 1) project aims to engage students at California State University Northridge in project-based learning centered on assistive technologies (ATs). Approximately 25% of adults in the United States live with a disability, and ATs play an important role accommodating people with disabilities in different environments, including in education, employment and independent living. Research has shown that people with disabilities from minority populations are less likely to have access to AT and are more likely to report unmet AT needs. Additionally, students are often unaware of the many rewarding career opportunities in this field. Through a new undergraduate senior design track this project will support students’ development of a strong professional identity and motivation to pursue a STEM career, particularly in careers at the human-technology frontier. Students will have multiple opportunities to learn from professionals in AT careers and will build empathy through several experiences designed to help them understand the realities, strengths, and challenges of disabled citizens. Faculty will engage in professional development throughout the project, which will allow them to incorporate project-based learning in their classrooms and enrich the experiences of their students. Assistive technology is highly interdisciplinary and requires experience working with a team of professionals. The project provides student-centered, project-based, and personalized experiential learning and interdisciplinary-based professional development to improve the success of minority students in STEM. Specifically, this project will: 1) build a support system for underrepresented students in STEM; 2) provide an authentic learning experience through tailored activities; 3) increase institutional capacity to create a culturally-sensitive learning environment and interdisciplinary STEM curriculum; 4) forge connections between students and employers; and 5) advance students who are underrepresented in their participation in STEM toward higher levels of academic achievement. The project’s impact is broadened by involving service providers and industry representatives in education activities. Project evaluation will draw from surveys and focus groups to explore impacts on students and teachers, including how participation influences students’ sense of belonging, STEM identity, and technical knowledge. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also draw from these approaches to generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.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.