CASTLE Seminar: Seeing the Universe through a Divergent Lens: Investigating Neurodivergent Physics Learning and Performance

CASTLE Seminar
Seeing the Universe through a Divergent Lens: Investigating Neurodivergent Physics Learning and Performance

Dr. Liam McDermott
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Connecticut

Event Details:
Neurodiversity is, simply put, a celebration of the immense diversity of human minds. Neurodiversity is also a rejection of the pathologization of differences in thinking, sensing, learning, and performing, and the subsequent marginalization of people whose minds work non-normatively. As more neurodivergent students enter higher education each year, it is imperative that educators and researchers apply the principles of neurodiversity, both the celebration of diversity and the rejection of pathologization, to pedagogy, mentorship, and research. Critical to this endeavor of applying neurodiversity frameworks in higher education, we must interrogate and dismantle barriers to inclusion of neurodivergent students and purposefully build accessible and inclusive spaces within which students learn and thrive. My work, which I discuss in this talk, centers neurodivergent students and their narratives to investigate the phenomenon of being neurodivergent in physics. I especially focus on how neurodivergent identity is constructed and developed in physics through the use of material, relational, and ideational resources, and how neurodivergent students learn and perform physics/STEM tasks with the goal of creating neuroinclusive pedagogical praxis. In this talk, I discuss neurodiversity in higher education, neuro-inclusive pedagogy, my past work on neurodivergent identity in physics, and current and future work on neurodivergent physics learning and performance. I conclude with discussion on the pedagogical implications of my group's work and provide recommendations for creating a neuro-inclusive spaces in physics.

Bio:
Liam McDermott is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Connecticut - Avery Point. Working with Dr. Erin Scanlon, Liam's work focuses on the STEM and physics-specific learning and performance of neurodivergent students. His professional goals include developing innovative pedagogical materials and methods to support neurodivergent and disabled students and the non-normative ways they do physics. Outside of academia, Liam enjoys doing embroidery, tidepooling, and hanging out with his partner and two cats.

Intended Audience:
All are Welcome!

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