Development of a University-Community Partnership to Offer Informal Computer Science Opportunities to Children and Youth Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder

这个项目的目的是在阿拉巴马大学和Arts n’Autism之间建立和促进一种新的伙伴关系。Arts n’Autism是一个社区组织，为被诊断为自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的儿童和青少年提供有监督的课后护理和外展服务。被诊断为自闭症谱系障碍的青少年参与许多学习机会的机会有限，这是由于对残疾个体存在的社会障碍，例如耻辱和缺乏住宿。此外，自闭症谱系障碍患者还存在其他障碍，如感觉敏感性和社交能力下降，这些障碍阻碍了他们的充分参与。与一个为患有自闭症的儿童和青少年提供服务的组织合作，将提供一个创新的结构，以定制一个专注于机器人和编码的非正式学习项目的交付。该项目的目标是与利益相关者进行接触，包括工作人员（n=4）， 10-14岁被诊断为ASD的儿童和青少年（n=5-10），以及被诊断为ASD的个人的父母（n=10-20），以确定和记录他们参与非正式计算机科学学习的需求和偏好。该项目将通过机器人技术和编码，为患有自闭症谱系障碍的儿童和青少年提供新的非正式学习机会，作为参与STEM能力建设和社区建设的手段。这个项目的目标是：1)收集和整理干系人的意见；2)确定合作伙伴和组成部分的需求和偏好以及可行的伙伴关系的必要组成部分；3)促进合作伙伴签到，领导车间计划讨论未来规划；4)共同规划一个未来的非正式研究和开发项目，旨在与诊断为ASD的儿童一起实施和评估机器人和编码，以产生对STEM的机会和兴趣。本项目收集的数据将包括：1)家长访谈和问卷调查，这将帮助研究人员确定在非正式环境中让自闭症青少年参与机器人和编码的适当方式；2)对自闭症青少年参与机器人和编码的偏好进行非结构化评估的观察结果；3)观察结果、实地记录和合作计划会议的记录。数据将使用并发混合方法设计进行分析。该项目将与一个为被诊断为自闭症的儿童和青少年提供服务的组织建立一个以stem为重点的新伙伴关系。该伙伴关系发展和规划项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划支持以下项目：(a)促进研究和实践，考虑非正式STEM学习在STEM公平和归属方面的作用；(b)促进个人和教育在STEM方面的成功；(c)促进公众参与科学发现；(d)培养对STEM职业的兴趣；(e)为有效的非正式STEM学习创造和加强理论和经验基础；(f)改善社区活力；及/或(g)加强科学传播和公众对STEM和STEM过程的参与和理解。该项目还得到了“面向学生和教师的创新技术体验”（ITEST）项目的部分资助，该项目支持建立对实践、项目要素、背景和流程的理解，有助于提高学生对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）以及信息和通信技术（ICT）职业的知识和兴趣。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。

The purpose of this project is to establish and foster a new partnership between the University of Alabama and Arts n’ Autism, a community organization that provides supervised after-school care and outreach to children and youth with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). There have been limited opportunities for youth with ASD diagnoses to engage in many learning opportunities due to pre-existing societal barriers for individuals with disabilities, such as stigma and a lack of accommodations. There are also additional barriers specific to individuals with ASD diagnoses, such as sensory sensitivities and diminished social communication, which impede their full participation. Partnering with an organization that serves children and youth with ASD will provide an innovative structure to tailor the delivery of an informal learning program focusing on robotics and coding. The goal of this project is to engage with stakeholders, including staff (n=4), children and youth ages 10-14 with a diagnosis of ASD (n=5-10), and the parents of individuals diagnosed with ASD (n=10-20) to determine and document their needs and preferences for engaging in informal computer science learning. The project will develop novel informal learning opportunities for children and youth with ASD diagnoses via robotics and coding as the means of engagement to build capacity and community in STEM. The objectives for this project are to: 1) Gather and inventory stakeholder input; 2) Determine the needs and preferences of partners and constituents and the necessary components of a viable partnership; 3) Facilitate partnership check-ins and lead workshop planning discussions on future planning; and 4) Collaboratively plan a future informal research and development project aimed at implementing and evaluating robotics and coding with children diagnosed with ASD to generate opportunities and interest in STEM. Data collected for this project will include: 1) Parent interviews and questionnaires that will help the researchers determine appropriate ways to engage youth with ASD in robotics and coding in an informal setting, 2) Observations during unstructured assessments of preferences as youth with ASD engage with robotics and coding, 3) Observations, field notes, and transcripts from partnership planning meetings. Data will be analyzed using a concurrent mixed methods design. The project will produce a new STEM-focused partnership with an organization that serves children and youth diagnosed with ASD. This Partnership Development and Planning project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which supports projects that: (a) contribute to research and practice that considers informal STEM learning's role in equity and belonging in STEM; (b) promote personal and educational success in STEM; (c) advance public engagement in scientific discovery; (d) foster interest in STEM careers; (e) create and enhance the theoretical and empirical foundations for effective informal STEM learning; (f) improve community vibrancy; and/or (g) enhance science communication and the public's engagement in and understanding of STEM and STEM processes. This project is also partially funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers.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.