2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

As K-12 supports improve inclusivity, more neurodivergent students enter undergraduate Computer Science programs. This field frequently attracts students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, dyslexia, and other neurological differences from the expected norm. Many of these students have an intense interest in Computer Science and other capabilities that are well-suited to the field. Unfortunately, their attrition rates are disproportionately high. This is because higher education was not designed for students with disabilities, and work must be done to improve inclusivity for all students.

This can be done, in part, by making teaching practices more inclusive. While the exact numbers are unknown, every Computer Science class is neurodiverse, meaning that the way instructors teach and provide support must account for all students. But neurodivergent student voices are underrepresented in education research, limiting instructor insight into the practices that would make teaching most inclusive. Typically, research on effective learning and instructional practices focuses on neurotypical students, conducted by neurotypical researchers. Without neurodivergent perspectives in research, we fail to account for the way these students regularly face challenges in undergraduate education. Additionally, the few university-provided accommodations in the United States available at most schools for neurodivergent students are not based on research to determine what would be effective for their needs.

In this exploratory research study, we sought to understand neurodivergent students and neurodivergent instructors’ experiences of inclusive practices. In the Spring Semester of 2023, the research team conducted a series of individual interviews and group interviews with separate teams of two neurodivergent faculty and three students in an undergraduate Computer Science program at a large, urban, Northeastern American university. Teams were tasked with sharing and reflecting on their perspectives about practices and interactions that shaped student learning. Individual student interviews were reserved for gaining additional insight into student experiences throughout the semester. Interviews were semi-structured to encourage students to share any experience that impacted their learning, whether in the classroom or on campus. Interviews and meetings were transcribed from audio files and analyzed through an interpretive phenomenological inquiry approach, an inductive approach that seeks to understand experiences as those who lived them perceived them.

Several themes emerged about the types of practices students and faculty collectively believe impacted the inclusivity of their classroom and their experiences of them. The many practices they described can be categorized into best practices, inclusive practices, and exclusive practices. That is to say, all students benefit from faculty and teaching assistants who use best practices, the basic required teaching practices to support learning. That includes making classrooms feel safe, eliminating distractions where possible, and keeping organized and clear instructions. For all students to be able to learn effectively, even those with disabilities or who are disadvantaged by classrooms that do not reflect their language, culture, or identity in other ways, teaching practices must also be inclusive. Universal Design for Learning is an excellent example of this type of approach, by implementing adaptability for a diverse set of students. For example, the framework recommends including multiple options for engagement and communication. In addition to these practices, however, neurodivergent students and faculty also had perspectives on practices that might not be beneficial to all students, but could improve things for neurodivergent students.

In this work-in-progress paper, we share student and faculty perspectives on how these practices shape their experiences, in addition to implications for strategies instructors can implement to improve instruction for Neurodivergent Students in Undergraduate Computer students. Ultimately, we anticipate inclusive practices will help lower attrition rates for neurodivergent students, and effectively structure an inclusive learning environment within undergraduate Computer Science programs as a whole.