More stimulating lessons for children with autism
A maths geek with zero interest in social interaction? That’s the sort of cliché often applied to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). But these clichés are far from doing justice to the complexity and diversity of this neurological phenomenon. Every person’s neurological development is unique – including those of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Children on this spectrum may show peculiarities in terms of perception, communication or social behavior. They may have amazing talents and interests or comparatively modest gifts. What they do have in common is that they are challenged when it comes to developing a “theory of mind”, i.e. imagining what is going on in another person’s mind.
Promoting individual skills
Many children on the autism spectrum can be integrated into school classes. Getting appropriate support that addresses their individual abilities and builds a bridge to their classmates can have a positive impact on their development. Experts in didactics and educational science at the University of Graz are exploring a new strategy in this context, investigating whether and in what way children with ASD can benefit from biology experimentation classes in inclusive schools. A project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF brings together principal investigator Uwe Simon and Nadine Otto, who work on didactics in biology, and Barbara Gasteiger-Klicpera, who conducts research in the field of inclusive education and special educational psychology.
The idea for the research topic originated from Simon's work in science-teacher training. “Teachers keep noticing that, when doing experiments in groups, children with ASD really thrive and they participate much more actively in lessons,” explains Simon. “Since there is hardly any scientific literature that looks into this kind of phenomenon in a classroom setting, we wanted to investigate the issue.”
Scientific experiments in groups can help students with autism to better express both their goal-oriented and social skills.
The project “ASDEX: Autism Spectrum Disorder Students and EXperimentation” is investigating this method on an empirical basis. The findings aim to provide tools for more inclusive teaching.
Structure and freedom
One of the underlying ideas behind the project is that group work on biology experiments could have several advantages for pupils with ASD. “Conducting experiments requires structured work towards a specific goal, which caters to many of these children's abilities. At the same time, this setting also gives them enough freedom to engage in social interaction – an area in which many people with ASD have deficits,” notes Gasteiger-Klicpera. It has been difficult to transfer normal therapeutic formats, which are based on very restricted settings, to inclusive classroom teaching. Biology experimentation classes do show some parallels, but also offer a lot of freedom.
The researchers posit that this form of teaching makes learning easier for children with ASD and promotes social interaction, which in turn counteracts negative factors such as bullying and ostracism. In the pilot study, the approach is being explored and tested in order to obtain first findings – not yet ready for general applicability. During the implementation phase of the project, Nadine Otto, who was in charge of the operational side, contacted biology teachers in Styria to find candidates. In secondary academic schools (AHS) and lower secondary schools, she found ten classes that included children with ASD – and that were prepared to take part in the project.
Earthworms and red cabbage
Otto designed special experiment teaching units that were based on the respective curricula and were also tailored to the needs of the children with ASD. “The pupils, who were all between 11 and 15 years old, explored for instance what made earthworms important soil dwellers, or used red cabbage juice as an indicator for the pH value of a liquid, investigated how the human eye works or tested how to protect themselves from ultraviolet radiation with the help of special UV-sensitive beads,” explains Otto. The lessons were conducted by Otto in the presence of university students who acted as observers.
The observations confirmed the great differences in how neurodiversity manifests itself. “One child with ASD, for example, was so excited about the experiment with the red cabbage juice that he was quickly overwhelmed. Others just soaked up the knowledge and couldn't get enough of the experiments,” says Otto, describing the range of reactions. “But it became apparent that many of them definitely showed more interaction with other pupils, such as asking questions or making suggestions.”
Some of the classes served as a control group. They also had group work, but without biology experiments. Before and after the project-related teaching periods, all classes sat in interviews and filled in questionnaires to collect teachers’ and pupils’ assessments of the classroom atmosphere. The children's knowledge, intelligence and social skills were also assessed in the process. The results were ambivalent but still encouraging.
Differences according to school type
“Of course, it was not possible to completely transform the classroom climate through this brief intervention,” explains Gasteiger-Klicpera. “It was interesting to note, though, that the results varied greatly de—pending on the type of school: In AHS classes, we saw very positive results in children with ASD that were not observed in lower secondary schools. At the same time, the interviews with the pupils in all school types revealed a much more positive assessment of what they had experienced than did the questionnaires.”
The researchers can only make assumptions about what caused these differences. “Perhaps the AHS students were already more familiar with biology experiment lessons. Unfortunately, it is still not a regular feature in many lower secondary schools,” says Simon. “The more positive feedback in the interviews could be due to the fact that filling out the questionnaires was simply too much of a burden for some children with ASD.”
The biology experimentation classes have shown that children with ASD can do more than is currently expected of them in many cases, emphasizes Simon. “In an appropriately designed setting, this can be a very positive experience for them.” At any rate, the approach is to be tested and expanded in further projects and the results made available to all teachers. “Ultimately, we want to reach a point where inclusion and subject didactics are no longer considered separately, and we want experts from both areas to develop teaching period content together,” says Simon. “Then, teaching formats such as inclusive science experimentation teaching units could become a generally accepted fixture.”
Personal details
Uwe K. Simon is a professor at the Department of Biology at the University of Graz, where he is also part of the Center for Didactics of Natural Sciences and Mathematics for the subjects of biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics (DINAMA) and the Regional Center for Didactics of Biology. Nadine Otto, who was engaged in the project full-time, also works at the Regional Center for Didactics of Biology.
Gasteiger-Klicpera is a professor at the Department of Educational Research and Teacher Education at the University of Graz and deputy head of the Research Center for Inclusive Education, which is supported by the University of Graz, the University College of Teacher Education Styria and the Augustinum Private University College of Teacher Education. The project “ASDEX: Autism Spectrum Disorder Students and EXperimentation”, which will run from 2022 to 2025, was awarded EUR 147,000 in funding by the Austrian Science Fund FWF under its “1000 Ideas” research funding program.
