IDEAS: Inventing, Designing, and Engineering on the Autism Spectrum

目前的研究表明，每68名儿童中就有一名患有自闭症谱系，因此制定计划，为患有自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)的学生做好准备，以实现他们在劳动力中的全部潜力，这一点至关重要。这个为期三年的项目将汇集来自纽约科学学院的研究人员、Maker程序开发人员、具有支持ASD学生的专业知识的教育工作者以及自闭症学生，以创建一个混合的正式/非正式计划，为有和没有ASD的中学生作为发明家、设计师和工程师的职业生涯做准备。该计划的目标是由纽约市ASD包容性中学的教育工作者在这些学校可持续地实施该计划。该项目不仅将使全国最大、最多样化的ASD纳入计划的学生、教育工作者和工作人员受益，还将成为城市学区其他ASD纳入计划可效仿的合作计划开发和实施的典范。该项目将推动学生和教师创新技术体验(ITEST)计划的努力，以更好地了解和促进实践，提高学生在科学、技术、工程或数学领域追求职业的动机和能力，为如何将理论上有基础的、基于研究的支持自闭症学生的技术纳入Maker计划，以及如何在正式和非正式的包容性教育环境中实施此类计划提供新的知识。这将扩大我们对ASD中学生设计和工程劳动力准备的理解，为如何将非正式的STEM项目转化为基于学校的环境提供一个模型，并展示利益相关者如何根据不同的教育背景定制此类交叉设置的项目。研究人员将利用克莱门茨(2007)的课程研究框架，围绕以下几个阶段的工作安排，构建一种协作式共同设计方法。阶段1：协作程序重新设计。测试和重新设计一个以博物馆为基础的设计和制造学院课外项目，包括支持患有自闭症学生的技术，并在课后项目中增加课堂和午餐时间部分。阶段2：试行测试和修订。在三所全纳中学对重新设计的课程和研究工具进行试点测试，并根据结果进行修改。第三阶段：研究性学习。实施修订后的计划，并进行研究，以检查它是否显示出希望：(A)帮助计划参与者学习工程设计流程，(B)提高计划参与者的科学和工程兴趣和职业动机，以及(C)为城市ASD纳入计划创建可持续的计划和实施过程。

With current research indicating that up to one in 68 children is on the autism spectrum, it is critical to create programs that prepare students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to achieve their full potential in the workforce. This three-year project will bring together a team of researchers, Maker program developers from New York Hall of Science, educators with expertise in supporting students with ASD, and students on the autism spectrum to create a hybrid formal/informal program that prepares middle-school students with and without ASD for careers as inventors, designers, and engineers. The goal is for the program to be sustainably implemented in New York City's ASD inclusion middle schools by educators in those schools. Not only will this project benefit students, educators, and staff in the largest and most diverse ASD inclusion program in the country, it also will serve as a model of collaborative program development and implementation that other ASD inclusion programs in urban school districts can follow. This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics contributing new knowledge about how theoretically grounded, research-based techniques for supporting students with ASD can be incorporated into Maker programs, and how to implement such programs in formal and informal inclusion education settings. This will expand our understanding of design and engineering workforce preparation for middle school students with ASD, provide a model for how to translate informal STEM programs to school-based environments, and demonstrate how such cross-setting programs can be tailored by stakeholders to various educational contexts. The resources made available through this project will support the adaptation of the program by other districts.The researchers will use Clements' (2007) Curriculum Research Framework to structure a collaborative co-design approach, organized around the following phases of work. Phase 1: Collaborative program redesign. Test and redesign a museum-based Design and Fabrication Make Academy afterschool program to include techniques for supporting students with ASD, and to add classroom and lunchtime components to the afterschool program. Phase 2: Pilot test and revise. Conduct a pilot test of the redesigned program and research instruments in three inclusion middle schools, and make revisions based on findings. Phase 3: Research study. Implement the revised program and conduct research that examines whether it shows promise for (a) helping program participants learn the Engineering Design Process, (b) increasing the science and engineering interest and career motivation of program participants, and (c) creating a sustainable program and implementation process for urban ASD inclusion programs.