<p>Research in pre-college engineering education has been on a sharp rise in the last two decades. However, less research has been conducted to explore and characterize the engineering thinking and engagement of young children, with limited attention to children with special needs. Conversations on broadening participation and diversity in engineering usually center around gender, socio-economic status, race and ethnicity, and to a lesser extent on neurodiversity. Autism is the fastest growing neurodiverse population who have the potential to succeed in engineering. In order to promote the inclusion of children with autism in engineering education, we need to gain a deep understanding of their engineering experiences. </p> <p> </p> <p>The overarching research question that I intend to answer is <i>how do children with mild autism engage in engineering design tasks</i>? Grounding this study in theories of Constructivism and Defectology, I focused on children’s engagement in engineering design practices and the ways their parents supported their engagements. To engage children with mild autism in engineering, I have developed an engineering design activity by considering suggestions from these theories and previous literature on elementary-aged children’s engagement in engineering design, and by focusing on individuals with mild autism strengths in STEM. This activity provides opportunities for children to interact with their parents while solving engineering design problems. The families are asked to use a construction kit and design their solutions to the problem introduced in the engineering design activity. The engineering design activity consists of a series of five challenges, ranging from well- to ill-structed.</p> <p> </p> <p>This is an exploratory qualitative case study, using a multiple case approach. These cases include 9-year-old children with autism and their families. Video recordings of the families are the main source of data for this study. Triangulation of data happens through interviewing parents and children, pictures of children’s artifacts (i.e. their prototypes), and use of the Empathizing-Systemizing survey to capture background information and autism characteristics. Depending on the data source, I utilized different methods including video analysis, thematic analysis and artifact analysis. </p> <p>This study expands our understanding of what engineering design can look like when enacted by children with mild autism, particularly as engineering design is considered to be a very iterative process with multiple phases and actions associated with it. The findings of this study show that these children can engage in all engineering design phases in a very iterative process. Similarities and differences between these children’s design behaviors and the existing literature were discussed. Additionally, some of the behaviors these children engaged in resemble the practices of experienced designers and engineers. The findings of this study suggest that while children were not socially interacting with their family members when addressing the challenges, their parents played an important role in their design engagement. Parents used different strategies during the activity that supported and facilitated children’s engineering design problem-solving. These strategies include soliciting information, providing guidance, assisting both verbally and hands-on, disengagement and being a student of the child. </p> <p> </p> This study provides aspirations for future research with the aim to promote the inclusion of children with neurodiversity. It calls for conducting similar research in different settings to capture the engineering design engagement of children with mild autism when interacting with teachers, peers, siblings in different environments. Additionally, the findings of this study have implications for educators and curators of engineering learning resources.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:33:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Lajara Janaina Lopes Correa.pdf: 1662892 bytes, checksum: 6e859d11b2b2a70f52a1b0fe1cc25351 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-02-17 / This research aims to analyze the trajectories of former students of pre-university course Herbert de Souza, located in Campinas (SP), who enrolled in universities, to identify: (i) points in the trajectories that contributed to longevity school these young people, (ii) how they interpret and evaluate their educational experiences and school and (iii) possible contributions that the institution may have provided for their students to critically interpret the Brazilian school system and become activists in their fight against inequality. Regarding methodology, we conducted desk research on the local community college and semi-structured interviews with seven former students of Herbert de Souza. Because it is a qualitative research, respondents were not chosen according to statistical criteria, but intentional. The search for the respondents, or employees, occurred in part through the test network, whereby the interviewees themselves suggest others to be interviewed, creating a community of arguments. The qualitative analysis of empirical data allow to indicate how results: (i) the almost total absence of incentive for high school teachers for employees to attend craved Higher Education, (ii) in return had influence within and outside the household for the continuation of studies, primarily by attitudes of the families of employees who, though little educated, they pointed to the value of school, (iii) the trajectory of its employees as an arena of struggle in that conflict were not considered good students, not like the school, have low cultural capital and at the same time, have adequate provisions for the sacrifices of schooling, (iv) the entry of these subjects at university does not put an end to these struggles, because the route to higher education remains marked by challenges inescapable and obstacles in the encounter between institutions and teachers trained to work with students from more affluent social classes and our collaborators, in popular classes, (v) evidence that the actions of militant former students to have as a result of inflow and relations established in the preparatory course, (vi) evidence that these actions do not materialize militants in university spaces and (vi) the challenges in setting up a preparatory course intended for the young working class and its double goal: preparing for the examination of vestibular and training critical, despite the efforts of institutions to foster critical interpretations of the Brazilian educational system and the entrance exam, which is difficult to infer the effective implementation of this process in a broader sense. Thus, we conclude that the educational experiences at prep school show a contradiction between the preparation for the exam and training in relation to this critical examination and the Brazilian educational system in general. We expect this work to contribute to a deeper understanding of education through the lives of former students of Project Herbert de Souza, in view of the role of political-educational teaching spaces, which are defined as social movements for democratization of education higher. / Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar as trajet?rias de ex-alunos do curso pr?vestibular Herbert de Souza, situado na cidade de Campinas, (SP), que ingressaram em universidades, buscando identificar: (i) pontos nestas trajet?rias que contribu?ram para a longevidade escolar destes jovens; (ii) como interpretam e avaliam suas experi?ncias educacionais e escolares e (iii) poss?veis contribui??es que a institui??o possa ter fornecido para seus estudantes interpretarem de forma cr?tica o sistema escolar brasileiro e se tornarem militantes na luta contra as suas desigualdades. Quanto ? metodologia, realizamos pesquisa documental sobre o cursinho e entrevistas semi-estruturadas com 7 ex-alunos do Herbert de Souza. Por se tratar de uma pesquisa qualitativa, os entrevistados n?o foram escolhidos segundo crit?rios estat?sticos, mas de forma intencional. A busca pelos entrevistados, ou colaboradores, ocorreu, em parte, atrav?s do crit?rio de rede, pelo qual os pr?prios depoentes indicam outros para serem entrevistados, criando uma comunidade de argumentos. As an?lises qualitativas do material emp?rico permitem indicar como resultados: (i) a quase total aus?ncia de incentivo dos professores de Ensino M?dio para que os colaboradores almejassem cursar o Ensino Superior; (ii) em contrapartida, houve influ?ncia dentro e fora do grupo familiar para o prosseguimento dos estudos, sobretudo por atitudes das fam?lias dos colaboradores que, embora pouco escolarizadas, destacaram para eles o valor da escola; (iii) a trajet?ria dos colaboradores como uma arena de lutas em que entra em contradi??o terem sido considerados maus alunos, n?o gostarem da escola, terem baixo capital cultural e, ao mesmo tempo, terem disposi??es adequadas para os sacrif?cios da escolariza??o; (iv) o ingresso desses sujeitos na universidade n?o p?em fim a estas lutas, j? que o percurso no Ensino Superior permanece marcado por desafios e obst?culos inescap?veis no encontro entre institui??es e professores preparados para trabalhar com alunos de classes sociais mais abastadas e os nossos colaboradores, pertencentes ?s classes populares; (v) evid?ncias de que as atua??es militantes dos ex-alunos se deram em decorr?ncia do ingresso e das rela??es estabelecidas no cursinho; (vi) ind?cios de que estas atua??es militantes n?o se concretizam nos espa?os universit?rios e (vii) os desafios na constitui??o de um cursinho voltado para jovens de classes populares e seu duplo objetivo: o preparo para o exame de vestibular e a forma??o critica; apesar dos esfor?os da institui??o para fomentar interpreta??es cr?ticas do sistema educacional brasileiro e do vestibular, ? dif?cil inferir qual a efetiva concretiza??o deste processo, de um modo mais amplo. Sendo assim, conclu?mos que as experi?ncias educacionais no cursinho mostram uma contradi??o entre a prepara??o para o vestibular e a forma??o cr?tica em rela??o a este exame e ao sistema educacional brasileiro, de uma forma geral. Esperamos com este trabalho contribuir para um aprofundamento do conhecimento da Educa??o a partir da trajet?ria de ex-alunos do Projeto Herbert de Souza, tendo em vista o papel pol?tico-pedag?gico destes espa?os de ensino, que se definem como movimentos sociais para a democratiza??o da educa??o superior.

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The Caribbean University's Pre-College Program (PCP) served as the conduit for the nation's academically underprepared high school graduates to matriculate to university and earn a degree. The PCP student enrollment increased annually since 2010; however, less than 70% of the total PCP students matriculated to an associate degree. Without a formal program evaluation, the empirical evidence into the factors that influenced PCP students' progress remained unknown. The purpose of this participatory-summative logic outcomes program evaluation was to measure stakeholders' perspectives of the ways in which the PCP's purpose, structure, and outcomes were manifested in the practices at the Caribbean University. A purposeful sample of 9 PCP students from the 2010 to 2015 PCP cohorts volunteered and received a 31-item Likert-scale College Persistence Questionnaire (CPQ) on-line survey to garner insights into the factors influencing the PCP learners' outcomes. Nine PCP faculty members and the deputy registrar completed separate versions of an online questionnaire. The PCP students' responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The open-ended responses were coded and analyzed. The PCP faculty members and deputy registrar's open-ended responses were coded, and thematically analyzed. Participants' responses identified institutional, curricular, and admissions criteria issues that influenced PCP students' low academic performance while supporting the PCP's program continuation. Findings and recommendations were included in an executive report for the study site. Providing the outcomes of this research to the leadership at the study site may lead to positive social change by supporting a second chance for this Caribbean nation's academically underprepared high school graduates who seek a college degree.

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Urban high schools that predominantly service at-risk students have not been faring well, with disproportionate numbers of minority children and poor White children are dropping out. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the relationship between leaders' successes and the number of reduced dropout initiatives in 2 urban schools. This research was guided by empirical literature that included a review of various successful leadership practices. Case study interviews were conducted with 2 principals and 3 directors and were analyzed for common themes. Quantitative survey data were collected from a purposeful sample of 195 students and 7 administrative leaders in these schools; these quantitative data were then analyzed via descriptive statistics. Findings from the interviews indicated that multiple styles of leadership (e.g., distributive, transformational) are recommended as critical in these complex environments. Findings from the quantitative surveys indicated that students appreciated the role of management and the need for increased engagement in school. Administrators indicated a need for upper management support. This study contributes to social and organizational change by providing stakeholders with a better understanding of how management indirectly influences reduced dropout of at-risk youth. Future studies should include parent voices as they relate to high school dropout and connectedness to schools.

Within a professional organization for women in mathematics in the US, two mathematicians and a middle school teacher organize a program to link teachers of students at the pre-university level with professionals in the mathematical sciences in and outside of academia to promote collaborations among different communities in the mathematics education of students. This paper describes the program and its operations, some of its experiences, as well as some results from a formative evaluation conducted for the program. Some recommendations are given for potential organizers of similar programs in other countries.

Within a professional organization for women in mathematics in the US, two mathematicians and a middle school teacher organize a program to link teachers of students at the pre-university level with professionals in the mathematical sciences in and outside of academia to promote collaborations among different communities in the mathematics education of students. This paper describes the program and its operations, some of its experiences, as well as some results from a formative evaluation conducted for the program. Some recommendations are given for potential organizers of similar programs in other countries.