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

该项目的目的是建立和促进阿拉巴马大学和自闭症艺术组织之间的新伙伴关系，艺术自闭症是一个社区组织，为患有自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)的儿童和青少年提供有监督的课后护理和外展服务。被诊断患有自闭症的青年参与许多学习机会的机会有限，这是由于残疾个人先前存在的社会障碍，如耻辱和缺乏照顾。对于被诊断为自闭症的个人来说，还有其他特定的障碍，如感官敏感性和社交沟通减少，这阻碍了他们的充分参与。与一家为患有自闭症的儿童和青少年提供服务的组织合作，将提供一种创新的结构，以量身定做侧重于机器人和编码的非正式学习计划的交付。该项目的目标是与利益攸关方接触，其中包括工作人员(n=4)、被诊断为自闭症的10-14岁儿童和青年(n=5-10)以及被诊断为自闭症的人的父母(n=10-20)，以确定并记录他们从事非正式计算机科学学习的需求和偏好。该项目将为儿童和青年开发新的非正式学习机会，通过机器人和编码进行自闭症诊断，以此作为参与STEM能力建设和社区建设的手段。该项目的目标是：1)收集和清点利益攸关方的意见；2)确定合作伙伴和成员的需求和偏好以及可行伙伴关系的必要组成部分；3)促进伙伴关系的登记和领导研讨会规划关于未来规划的讨论；以及4)协作规划未来的非正式研发项目，旨在对被诊断为自闭症的儿童实施和评估机器人技术和编码，以创造对STEM的机会和兴趣。为该项目收集的数据将包括：1)家长访谈和问卷调查，帮助研究人员确定适当的方式，让患有自闭症的青年参与机器人技术和非正式环境下的编码；2)在非结构化的偏好评估过程中观察患有自闭症的青年参与机器人和编码的偏好；3)观察、实地笔记和伙伴关系规划会议的记录。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年提供服务的组织建立一个新的以STEM为重点的伙伴关系。这一伙伴关系发展和规划项目由推进STEM非正式学习方案(AISL)资助，该方案支持以下项目：(A)促进关于STEM非正式学习在公平和归属STEM中的作用的研究和实践；(B)促进STEM个人和教育的成功；(C)促进公众对科学发现的参与；(D)培养对STEM职业的兴趣；(E)为有效的STEM非正式学习创造和加强理论和经验基础；(F)提高社区活力；和/或(G)加强科学交流以及公众对STEM和STEM进程的参与和了解。该项目的部分资金也来自学生和教师创新技术体验计划(ITEST)，该计划支持一些项目，这些项目建立对实践、计划要素、背景和过程的理解，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NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.