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This paper describes a collaborative effort to develop, implement and research an empathy-driven, accessibility-focused engineering internship program for teens underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The program builds on a foundation developed by the Build a Better Book (BBB) project over several years and addresses a significant need to motivate, prepare and support a more diverse engineering workforce. Centered around principles of universal design, designing for accessibility, and engineering with empathy, this NSF-funded project examines how high school interns’ perceptions of engineering and self-identities as engineers are formed, nurtured, and cultivated as they design and create more accessible products for authentic community clients who are blind or visually impaired. Across sites, the project emphasizes building an inclusive and diverse community of interns, including many who may not initially view themselves as engineers. Underpinning this work is the People Part of Engineering framework, which emphasizes that engineering with people, as people and for people influences teens’ motivation and persistence of interest in engineering. To assess the effectiveness of the BBB teen internship model, the project team implemented and researched different formats of the program in two educational settings: an intensive 4-week summer program at a public university and an out-of-school-time, semester-long program at a public library makerspace. Combined, these programs engaged 59 youth in an iterative engineering design process focused on the design and fabrication of accessible products (e.g., games, toys and STEM learning models) for children and youth who are blind or have low vision. (An additional year-long, in-school program is currently in process.) Each program incorporates several key internship design principles, including authentic, client-based projects; a student-directed, collaborative work environment; and individual and team mentorship. The current project aims to impact teens’ perceptions of engineering, their engineering identity, and their confidence and competence in engineering and 21st century workplace skills. These outcomes were measured through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including pre-/post- surveys and audio reflections by students, interviews with site leaders, and culminating focus group discussions. Early findings suggest positive changes in the intended outcomes, across sites, including broader perceptions about engineering and a growing overlap in identity between participants and engineers, increased confidence and competency in engineering and technical skills, and gains related to interpersonal skills and other 21st century skills such as communication, critical-thinking and collaboration. The project’s ongoing and future work will test the internship model at additional sites, including a school and science center, and continue to assess the effects of variation in program format, projects, work environment, and support and training on interns’ engineering identities, their persistence of interest in engineering and how they engage as young engineers with, as, and for people.
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Engagement of Student Interns to Address Disability-Related Issues in Informal Learning Opportunities and Academic Courses
The University of Washington’s (UW) Access to Informal STEM Learning (AccessISL) project employs a student-centered approach and potentially transformative practices that embrace the social model of dis- ability, social justice education, disability as a diversity issue, intersectionality, and universal design. A leadership team of interns—each member a UW student with a disability or a museology graduate student—along with project staff engage with the UW Museology program to identify and implement strategies for making ISL activities and courses more welcoming and accessible to individuals with disabilities. Initial outcomes of AccessISL intern engagement include specific changes within ISL programs, increased awareness and implementation of universal design principles in the Museology graduate program, and expanded skills about the accessible/universal design of informal learning within future professionals who served as interns in AccessISL.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1906147
- PAR ID:
- 10371698
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of postsecondary education and disability
- Volume:
- 35
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 2328-3343
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 261-266
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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