Children with Disabilities Engaging in STEM: Exploring How a Group-Based Robotics Program Influences STEM Activation

Children with disabilities encounter many barriers in engaging in science, math, and technology courses such as discriminatory attitudes and inaccessible classes, which can limit their educational and future employment opportunities. Helping children to foster an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines early on can help to expand their career options. This study explored how a group-based robotics program impacted the STEM activation among children with disabilities. Children (n = 33) aged 6-14 completed pre-and post-surveys to assess any changes in STEM activation. Our results showed that for most groups, children's STEM activation scores increased from the beginning to the end of the program; however, these differences were not significant. It was encouraging to see that among the children who participated in the program more than once (n = 18), there was a significant increase in their STEM activation. Qualitative findings of children's experience in the programs show that they liked building, programming, and learning about robots. These findings suggest that it is worthwhile to engage children with disabilities in STEM programs.