It is critical to incorporate inclusive practices in the engineering curriculum which prepares neurodiverse students to achieve their full potential in the workforce. This work-in-progress paper seeks to capitalize on the unique strengths of marginalized neurodiverse engineering students. In this study, the innovation self-efficacy of engineering students who self-identify as neurodiverse is explored before and after a curricular intervention, which has been shown to have the potential to enhance innovation self-efficacy, in an environmental engineering target course. A previously validated Likert-type survey was used, which included the Very Brief Innovation Self-Efficacy scale, the Innovation Interests scale, and the Career Goals: Innovative Work scale. Among the 47 responses on the pre-survey, 13% of the students self-identified as neurodiverse and an additional 19% indicated that they were maybe neurodiverse. This included a much higher percentage of female than male students in the course (23% vs. 5% neurodiverse). There were no significant differences in the pre-survey or post-survey in the innovation self- efficacy and innovation interest among students who self-identified as neurodiverse, maybe neurodiverse, and not neurodiverse. Career goals based on the innovative work scale differed in the pre-survey among the three groups, being lowest among students who self-identified as maybe neurodiverse; there were no differences among the groups in the post-survey. It appeared that there were gains in the innovation self-efficacy between the pre and post-survey among the students who self-identified as neurodiverse and maybe neurodiverse but these differences were not statistically significant. A limitation of the study was the lack of ability to pair the data for individual students and a low number of neurodiverse students in the dataset. This preliminary work calls attention to the need to consider neurodiverse students in our instructional practices. In the future, we hope the research will expand our understanding of a neurodiverse-friendly curricular design in preparation for engineering students with autism spectrum disorder and other types of neurodiversity for the workforce, as well as assisting engineering educators in the adoption of practices that have the tendency to enhance innovation self-efficacy in neurodiverse students.
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Reframing neurodiversity in engineering education
A growing body of literature suggests that neurodiverse learners may possess assets that are highly desirable within engineering disciplines. Even so, despite the potential of neurodiverse individuals to contribute to innovation in science and engineering, neurodiverse students, such as those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, or dyslexia, remain highly underrepresented in engineering majors. We argue that the predominant perception of neurodiversity as a disability limits the participation of neurodiverse students in engineering education, ultimately impacting the diversity and creativity of the engineering workforce. In this paper, we review the emerging literature on neurodiversity that takes a social ecology approach and moves away from deficit-based models. We then describe the potential benefits and challenges of neurodiversity in the context of engineering education. We conclude with a concept analysis of how a strengths-based perspective of neurodiversity may be integrated within engineering education in particular, as well as in higher education overall, as we present our vision for a transformative education system that moves beyond mere accommodation of learning differences and empowers all students to leverage their unique strengths. In presenting a strengths-based approach to neurodiversity, we aim to contribute to a paradigm shift that transforms how university faculty and staff understand and perceive neurodiversity, improves the educational experiences of neurodiverse students in higher education and enhances the creativity of the engineering workforce.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1920761
- PAR ID:
- 10389866
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Frontiers in Education
- Volume:
- 7
- ISSN:
- 2504-284X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.995865
