Square Pegs and Round Holes: Pedagogy for Autistic Students in Computing Education

Abstract

Contribution: This study proffers a practical flexible framework for teachers and researchers embodying diverse computing pedagogies, to impart computing education (CE) to autistic students. The framework is based on the tenets of inclusion and personalised learning manipulating explicit CE pedagogies. Background: Research and anecdotal evidence exhort that autistic learners tend to favor coursework and careers in the STEM domain. Specifically, autistic young people excel in the fields of computing and programming. Computing is very logical and precise and seems to suit the strengths that categorize autism. Yet, the needs of autistic students are still not being met in the classroom as the education sector continues to explore inclusive models for teaching and learning. Intended Outcomes: The CE pedagogies infrastructure is propitious to augment the learning potential of autistic students. Application Design: The CE framework was developed pursuant to a mixed-methods study, encompassing a literature review, ethnographic experiences of this article’s authors, a survey of computing and autism specialist teachers, and teacher interviews. Findings: This study’s findings underscore that teachers are predisposed to what they know, and are not always aware of the emerging pedagogies beneficial to their pupils. Unplugged computing, physical computing, and predict, run, investigate, modify, and make (PRIMM) were adjudged as the most coveted pedagogical tools for autistic pupils. The greatest gaps in teachers’ experience and knowledge were concept maps followed by semantic waves. Although autistic pupils seem to respond best to hands-on activities, teachers require a greater understanding of the range of computing pedagogies, as well as inclusive education.