Abstract:

Maker programs, which involve hands-on production of physical or digital artifacts, are an engaging way to have youth pursue their personal interests as they learn the engineering design process (EDP) (Martin and Dixon, 2016; Bevan et al., 2018). Making can support development of a range of academic, social-emotional, and interpersonal abilities (Halverson and Peppler, 2018). Autistic youth often have deep interests related to STEM fields (South et al., 2005) and autistic college students are drawn to majors in STEM fields at higher rates than the general population (Wei et al., 2013). However, young autistic adults often have difficulty joining or remaining in the STEM workforce (Shattuck et al 2012). To prepare autistic youth for careers, they can benefit from experiences that help them translate their interests into real-world engineering design practices (Klin et al., 2007) that allow them to interact productively with peers (Wolfberg et al., 2015). 

With the goal of creating maker programming to enable autistic youth to engage in the EDP with typical peers, a multidisciplinary team created the Inventing, Designing, and Engineering for All Students (IDEAS) Maker Program, now in its sixth year. IDEAS brought together experts in maker education, autism inclusion, engineering, co-design, and research to bring interest-driven maker clubs into autism-inclusion public schools in New York City. IDEAS is run outside of instructional time in eight autism inclusion elementary, middle and high schools by special education and science teachers in those schools.

Research on the IDEAS Maker Program has demonstrated that it had a positive impact on students’ interest in engineering careers and understanding of the EDP (Martin et al., 2020). Most recently, the IDEAS research team administered a STEM interest survey and EDP assessment to students in maker clubs at the beginning and end of the 2021-2022 school year. The survey sample included 38 students across five schools, 25 middle school students and 13 high school students. Although survey results showed consistent attitudes toward STEM before and after maker club participation, the EDP assessment showed a statistically significant pre to post gain, suggesting a positive impact on students’ understanding of the engineering design process. In addition, teachers reported that students who often struggled with executive function and socializing were able to engage in and complete projects based on their interests and socialize with peers around the activities (Chen et al., 2021). 

If invited, our paper will discuss the ways in which IDEAS supports autistic learners as well as the results and limitations of our 2021-2022 STEM interest survey and EDP assessment. This discussion will present considerations for teachers and schools interested in the maker club approach and researchers of STEM education and inclusion.

Keywords:

Inclusion, autism, STEM, maker clubs, universal design for learning.