Using Informal Learning Environments to Encourage More Diverse Engineers

Neurodiversity in engineering can be supported by encouraging all college capable students to consider engineering as a major. Many students who learn differently may not see themselves attending college and if they do see themselves in college they may not consider studying engineering. This past summer Aurora University in partnership with Landmark College held a summer residential program for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder to experience college including living away from home, academic work and afternoon activities both academic and recreational. Many of the afternoon activities explored engineering. These included robotics, code breaking, running a NASA mission to Mars and observing the night sky with telescopes at Yerkes observatory. The instructors and the parent evaluations can both attest to the growth of the students during the program. This paper will discuss the structure of the activities, the response of the students to these activities and the overall response of the parents to the program. It will conclude with a reflection on how as a community we might increase our diversity by including more learning styles in our programs.