Engaging Autistic STEM Undergraduates in Creating Supportive Learning Environments

该项目旨在通过确定加州州立大学(CSU)系统内三个校区的自闭症STEM学生的需求，并设计校园项目来改善自闭症学生的学习体验，从而服务于国家利益。该项目将与在合作校园注册的自闭症STEM专业的学生合作，并在STEM教职员工和学生服务人员的帮助下，赋予他们设计校园资源的能力。这些新资源将加深他们与STEM领域的接触，提供机会发展和追求他们的STEM职业兴趣，并建立有意义和持久的同行和导师关系。寻求大学学位的自闭症年轻人的数量继续增加，大学不准备利用自闭症学生可以为校园社区做出贡献的优势和兴趣。这一项目意义重大，因为它从设计到实施都涉及到自闭症STEM专业的学生。一个由研究人员、校园教职员工和自闭症本科生组成的合作团队将开发和试点旨在更好地支持自闭症学生的校园计划和活动，并在为期一学期的试行期后评估这些计划和活动的有效性。该项目的更广泛影响包括将计划和活动传播到全国其他校园，特别是类似于CSU内部的公立机构，这些机构为不同类型的学生提供服务，其中许多学生是低收入和第一代大学学位寻求者。值得注意的是，这个项目将使用身份优先的语言(即自闭症患者)作为自闭症患者的自我倡导者，最近的研究表明，这是自闭症社区的首选。该项目的主要目标是改善攻读STEM专业的自闭症学生的本科学习体验。该项目产生的项目不仅将直接惠及自闭症学生，而且在整个项目过程中，CSU三个校区的自闭症学生将被聘为其校园项目的研究伙伴和共同开发者。在第一年的访谈和焦点小组中确定的学生需求和兴趣的推动下，一个由研究人员、校园教职员工和自闭症本科生组成的团队将在第二年开发和试点旨在改善学生学习和参与的项目。项目工作人员将进行干预前和干预后的访谈和调查，以评估整个学期的试点项目，为未来的项目发展提出建议，并传播结果，目标是改善CSU内外自闭症STEM学生的本科教育。四个目标将指导这一为期两年的项目。首先是了解CSU三个合作校区为自闭症STEM本科生提供的现有支持环境。第二，从自闭症学生、教职员工和管理人员的角度找出CSU现有校园项目的差距，并提出填补这些差距的建议。第三，反复开发、实施和评估针对自闭症STEM学生的试点校园计划和经验，以及针对教职员工的专业发展。第四，也是最后一点，是准备通过综合基于试点项目实施结果的建议，将校园合作伙伴关系扩大到更多的大学。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过其参与的学生学习跟踪，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by identifying the needs of autistic STEM students across three campuses within the California State University (CSU) system and designing campus programs to improve the learning experiences of students on the autistic spectrum. This project will partner with autistic STEM majors enrolled on partner campuses and empower them to design campus resources, with the help of STEM faculty and student services staff. These new resources will deepen their engagement with their STEM fields, provide opportunities to develop and pursue their STEM career interests, and establish meaningful and lasting peer and mentor relationships. The number of autistic young people seeking college degrees continues to increase and universities are not prepared to harness the strengths and interests that autistic students can contribute to their campus communities. This project is significant because it employs and fully involves autistic STEM majors from the design through the implementation of this project. A collaborative team of researchers, campus faculty and staff, and autistic undergraduates will develop and pilot campus programs and activities aimed at better supporting autistic students on campus, and evaluate the effectiveness of these programs and activities after a semester-long pilot period. A broader impact of this project includes the dissemination of programs and activities to other campuses nationwide, specifically public institutions similar to those within the CSU who serve a diverse array of students, many of whom are low-income and first-generation college degree seekers. Of note, this project will use identity-first language (i.e. “autistic person”) throughout as autistic self-advocates and recent research indicates that this is preferred by the autistic community. The primary goal of this project is to improve the undergraduate learning experience for autistic students pursuing STEM majors. Not only will the programs produced by this project directly benefit autistic students, but autistic students at three CSU campuses will be employed as research partners and co-developers of programs on their campuses throughout the project. Driven by student needs and interests identified during interviews and focus groups held in Year 1, a team of researchers, campus faculty and staff, and autistic undergraduates will develop and pilot programs aimed at improving student learning and engagement in Year 2. Project staff will conduct pre- and post-intervention interviews and surveys to evaluate semester-long pilot programs, generate recommendations for future program development, and disseminate findings with the goal of improving undergraduate education for autistic STEM students within the CSU and beyond. Four objectives will guide this two-year project. First is to understand the existing support landscape for autistic STEM undergraduates at three partner CSU campuses. Second is to identify gaps in available CSU campus programs from the perspective of autistic students, faculty, staff, and administrators and make recommendations to fill these gaps. Third is to iteratively develop, implement, and evaluate pilot campus programs and experiences for autistic STEM students and professional development for faculty and staff. Fourth, and finally, is to prepare to expand campus partnerships to additional universities by synthesizing recommendations based on findings from pilot program implementation. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.