Encouraging the Participation of Neurodiverse Students in STEM Graduate Programs to Radically Enhance the Creativity of the Professional Workforce

神经多样性个体，包括患有多动症，阅读障碍以及经常并发的书写困难和计算障碍等疾病的个体，具有独特的技能，这些技能可能是科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）领域的资产，如冒险，发散思维和空间可视化。鼓励这些学生参与STEM研究生课程将大大有利于我们专业劳动力的创造力，这反过来将有助于确定突破性的解决方案，以应对国家面临的大规模和复杂的科学和技术挑战。除了支持国家的繁荣和竞争力，增加神经多样性个体在研究生课程中的参与将大大有利于这些边缘化个体的福祉，这些边缘化个体目前在STEM教育中的代表性严重不足。这个国家科学基金会研究生教育创新奖（IGE）授予康涅狄格大学将采用基于力量的方法来实现神经多样性。通过确定神经多样性学生在STEM研究生教育的普遍一刀切模式中面临的挑战的性质，该项目旨在试点和测试创新方法，以提高神经多样性研究生的归属感，生产力和整体体验。在这样做的过程中，该项目将产生知识，为开发更具包容性的教育实践提供信息，这些实践利用了神经多样性个体的独特才能。这些实践将支持神经多样性学生的学术成功，并使这些人能够为未来的科学和技术进步做出贡献。将残疾、功能障碍和障碍的范式转变为多样性的范式，不仅提高了非传统学习者在STEM教育中的参与度，也有利于整个社会和国家。通过采用基于力量的方法来实现神经多样性，该项目将走在努力促进STEM研究生教育包容性文化的最前沿。为此，该项目采用了变革模型理论，其中包括四项综合活动，以试点和测试易于实施的干预措施，这些干预措施具有很高的潜力，可以支持患有ADHD和阅读障碍的学生在STEM研究生课程中取得成功。活动将通过采用基于力量的方法来鼓励这些学生群体的参与。本项目旨在评估三个核心假设：1）增加神经多样性学生对自己独特优势和挑战的认识，提高他们的自我效能和自我宣传，2）提供同伴互动的机会，提高神经多样性学生在STEM研究生课程中的归属感和经验，3）提供专注于学生元认知技能的写作干预措施，提高他们的写作效率。来自综合研究计划和正式评估的数据将为扩大拟议活动提供关键知识，并为STEM研究生教育的未来改进提供信息。该项目将生成关于循证方法和干预措施的有效性的数据，这些方法和干预措施受到积极心理学框架的启发，为包容性研究生教育环境的发展提供信息。这些知识将通过ASEE年会上的研讨会和正式出版物与工程教育工作者分享。在强大的机构承诺的支持下，由主要研究人员组成的多学科团队和由大学管理人员、研究人员、行业领袖、慈善家和研究生组成的多元化项目顾问委员会将指导该项目的招募、数据收集、数据分析、传播和推广活动。研究生教育创新（IGE）计划专注于研究生教育研究。IGE的目标是试验、测试和验证研究生教育的创新方法，并产生将这些方法推广到更广泛的社区所需的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

Neurodiverse individuals, including those with ADHD, dyslexia, and frequently co-occurring conditions like dysgraphia and dyscalculia, have unique skills that may be assets in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics(STEM) fields such as risk taking, divergent thinking, and spatial visualization. Encouraging the participation of these students in STEM graduate programs will significantly benefit the creativity of our professional workforce, which in turn will help to identify groundbreaking solutions to the large-scale and complex scientific and technological challenges facing the nation. In addition to supporting national prosperity and competitiveness, increasing the participation of neurodiverse individuals in graduate programs will significantly benefit the well-being of these marginalized individuals who are currently highly underrepresented in STEM education. This National Science Foundation Innovations of Graduate Education (IGE) award to the University of Connecticut will embrace a strength-based approach towards neurodiversity. By identifying the nature of the challenges that neurodiverse students face in the prevailing one-size-fits-all model of STEM graduate education, this project aims to pilot and test innovative approaches to improve the sense of belonging, productivity, and overall experience of neurodiverse graduate students. In doing so, this project will generate knowledge that informs the development of more inclusive educational practices that capitalize on the unique talents of neurodiverse individuals. These practices will support the academic success of neurodiverse students and empower these individuals to contribute to future scientific and technological advancements. Changing the paradigm of disability, dysfunction, and disorder to one of diversity not only enhances the participation of nontraditional learners in STEM education but also benefits society and the nation at large.By adopting a strength-based approach toward neurodiversity, this project will be at the forefront of efforts to promote a culture of inclusivity in STEM graduate education. Toward this end, the project employs a theory of change model with four integrated activities to pilot and test easy-to-implement interventions with high potential to support the success of students with ADHD and dyslexia in STEM graduate programs. Activities will encourage participation of these populations of students by adopting a strength-based approach toward neurodiversity. This project aims to evaluate three core hypotheses: 1) increasing neurodiverse students’ awareness of their unique strengths and challenges enhances their self-efficacy and self-advocacy, 2) providing opportunities for peer-to-peer interaction enhances the sense of belonging and experience of neurodiverse students in STEM graduate programs, and 3) providing writing interventions focused on students’ metacognitive skills enhances their writing productivity. The data from the integrated research plan and formal evaluation will generate critical knowledge for the scale-up of the proposed activities and inform future enhancements of STEM graduate education. This project will generate data on the efficacy of evidence-based approaches and interventions that are inspired by the framework of positive psychology to inform the development of an inclusive graduate education environment. This knowledge will be shared with engineering educators through a workshop at the ASEE annual meeting and formal publications. Supported by a strong institutional commitment, the multidisciplinary team of principal investigators and the diverse project advisory board composed of university administrators, researchers, industry leaders, philanthropists, and graduate students will guide the recruitment, data collection, data analysis, dissemination, and outreach activities of the project.The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program is focused on research in graduate education. The goals of IGE are to pilot, test and validate innovative approaches to graduate education and to generate the knowledge required to move these approaches into the broader community.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.