The American Student Placements in Rehabilitation Engineering Program (ASPIRE).

CONCLUSION: The American Student Placements and Internships in Rehabilitation Engineering program has demonstrated efficacy in preparing undergraduate students for future academic work and employment. Implications for Rehabilitation Creative researchers and designers will lead the way in advancing accessibility standards and engineering for people with disabilities. The ASPIRE program increases excitement for and interest in the fields of rehabilitation engineering among undergraduate students to positively influence academic and professional careers. Students enrolled in the ASPIRE program actively participated in a real multidisciplinary project supervised by professor mentors. This led students to take a problem-based approach in their professional development. The ASPIRE program stimulates rehabilitation engineering in students' mindset and promotes inclusive academic environments and communities. Rehabilitation engineering is not a mainstream discipline, but the ASPIRE program indicates that there are benefits to student education, including participatory action engineering, that need to continue gain momentum until rehabilitation engineering is a mainstream discipline or a core component of engineering education. We must move beyond a "survival of the fittest" mentality. A "survival of the fittest" model places a disproportionate burden on groups that are underrepresented in science and engineering, and thereby postpones the day on which the demographics of science and ...
Source: Disability and Rehabilitation - Category: Rehabilitation Authors: Tags: Disabil Rehabil Source Type: research