Work in Progress: Transferability of a Neurodivergent Codebook Developed from TikTok to Neurodivergent Engineers

Autumn Cuellar; Sarah Principato; Sakshi Solanki; Catherine McGough Spence; Marissa A Tsugawa

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Conference: 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Baltimore , Maryland
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Start Date: June 25, 2023
End Date: June 28, 2023
Conference Session: Work-in-Progress Session: Emergent Methods for Engineering Education Research
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 11
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--44378
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/44378
Download Count: 215

Paper Authors

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Autumn Cuellar Utah State University

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Autumn Cuellar is a Ph.D. student in Engineering Education. Her undergraduate and master's careers were both in Computer Science. She believes that everyone can achieve their goals, regardless of physical ability. This is why Autumn strives to make engineering accessible for everyone.

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Sarah Principato

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Sakshi Solanki

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Sakshi Solanki is a PhD student in the Engineering Education department at Utah State University. She earned a bachelor's degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from ITS Engineering College, India and a master's degree in Data Science from University at Albany, New York. She worked as a Data Analyst during one of her summer internships in 2020, where she learned and gained experienced in data evaluating and validating company’s huge data using the techniques based on Excel, Python, and R. She is currently working with Dr. Marissa Tsugawa on Neurodiversity Research and Education. She believes that neurodiversity can help her better understand her younger brother's condition (Asphyxiation) and respond to his basic needs because his mind works differently from everybody else’s due to which he unable to express his feelings and pain.

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Catherine McGough Spence Minnesota State University, Mankato orcid.org/0000-0001-5288-8345

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Catherine Spence is an Assistant Professor at Iron Range Engineering through Minnesota State University, Mankato in the Integrated Engineering Department. She received her PhD in Engineering and Science Education in 2019 and a BS in Electrical Engineering in 2014 at Clemson University.

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Marissa A Tsugawa Utah State University orcid.org/0000-0001-6009-8810

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Marissa Tsugawa is an assistant professor at Utah State University focusing on neurodiversity and identity and motivation. She completed her Ph.D. in Engineering Education focusing on motivation and identity for engineering graduate students.

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Abstract

The purpose of this work-in-progress research paper is to determine the transferability of a previously developed neurodivergent codebook using social media content fromTikTok. Neurodiversity is a newer paradigm within the engineering education community that reframes disability from a deficit approach to a celebration of differences and acceptance of self-determination. Researchers and educators can leverage the neurodiversity paradigm to integrate accessible pedagogical practices that improve learning for all students. However, few scholars have published what it means to be neurodivergent from neurodivergent perspectives and language. We live in a unique time where neurodivergent people find community on social media and share their experiences to connect with other neurodivergent people. Because this community is growing, community members interact with one another to refine the language they use to describe their experience and are moving away from the deficit framing normalized by society.

To begin integrating neurodivergent perspectives and community language into research, we developed a neurodivergent codebook by analyzing the social media platform TikTok over the summer of 2022. TikTok is a growing, video-based social media platform where users create short video clips that describe or show their experiences as a form of expression and has unique community interaction. Using a predetermined inclusion criteria (e.g., publicly available, experiences shared), two neurodivergent researchers downloaded two hundred TikToks by searching hashtags such as #neurodivergent, #neurodivergentTikTok, #adhd, and #actuallyAutistic. The neurodivergent researchers watched the TikToks before downloading them to ensure they met the inclusion criteria. TikToks were then qualitatively coded, resulting in over one hundred nuanced codes that characterize being neurodivergent. This codebook gives us useful terminology that can be used to refer to neurodivergent individuals appropriately in engineering education. Example codes include stim, rejection sensitivity disorder, masking, anxiety, boundaries, and impulsivity. In this paper, we begin to determine the transferability of this neurodivergent codebook as the neurodivergent community language changes over time and social context. By determining the transferability of our neurodivergent codebook, we can use the terms in future engineering education research that explores neurodivergent engineering student experiences.

Citation
Format

Cuellar, A., & Principato, S., & Solanki, S., & Spence, C. M., & Tsugawa, M. A. (2023, June), Work in Progress: Transferability of a Neurodivergent Codebook Developed from TikTok to Neurodivergent Engineers Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44378

TY - CPAPER
AB - The purpose of this work-in-progress research paper is to determine the transferability of a previously developed neurodivergent codebook using social media content fromTikTok. Neurodiversity is a newer paradigm within the engineering education community that reframes disability from a deficit approach to a celebration of differences and acceptance of self-determination. Researchers and educators can leverage the neurodiversity paradigm to integrate accessible pedagogical practices that improve learning for all students. However, few scholars have published what it means to be neurodivergent from neurodivergent perspectives and language. We live in a unique time where neurodivergent people find community on social media and share their experiences to connect with other neurodivergent people. Because this community is growing, community members interact with one another to refine the language they use to describe their experience and are moving away from the deficit framing normalized by society.

To begin integrating neurodivergent perspectives and community language into research, we developed a neurodivergent codebook by analyzing the social media platform TikTok over the summer of 2022. TikTok is a growing, video-based social media platform where users create short video clips that describe or show their experiences as a form of expression and has unique community interaction. Using a predetermined inclusion criteria (e.g., publicly available, experiences shared), two neurodivergent researchers downloaded two hundred TikToks by searching hashtags such as #neurodivergent, #neurodivergentTikTok, #adhd, and #actuallyAutistic. The neurodivergent researchers watched the TikToks before downloading them to ensure they met the inclusion criteria. TikToks were then qualitatively coded, resulting in over one hundred nuanced codes that characterize being neurodivergent. This codebook gives us useful terminology that can be used to refer to neurodivergent individuals appropriately in engineering education. Example codes include stim, rejection sensitivity disorder, masking, anxiety, boundaries, and impulsivity. In this paper, we begin to determine the transferability of this neurodivergent codebook as the neurodivergent community language changes over time and social context. By determining the transferability of our neurodivergent codebook, we can use the terms in future engineering education research that explores neurodivergent engineering student experiences.
AU - Autumn Cuellar
AU - Sarah Principato
AU - Sakshi Solanki
AU - Catherine McGough Spence
AU - Marissa A Tsugawa
CY - Baltimore , Maryland
DA - 2023/06/25
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Work in Progress: Transferability of a Neurodivergent Codebook Developed from TikTok to Neurodivergent Engineers
UR - https://peer.asee.org/44378
DO - 10.18260/1-2--44378
ER -