Current research underscores that there are only a few evidence-based programs that teach STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) as part of their curriculum, especially for autistic students. Even fewer programs focus on engineering and design learning. Hence, we developed an informal afterschool maker program to develop autistic and non-autistic students’ interests in engineering to understand their experiences learning STEM concepts and values while applying the engineering mindset to develop projects. This qualitative study aimed to explore and understand students’ experiences participating in STEM activities in the maker club. We interviewed twenty-six students (seventeen autistic and nine non-autistic), nine teachers, and thirteen parents representing diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds across three public middle schools in a large urban metropolitan city between 2018 and 2019. Our thematic analysis yielded four themes: (1) active participation in STEM; (2) curiosity about STEM topics, concepts, and practices, (3) capacity-building to engage in STEM learning; and 4) understanding of the importance of STEM education in daily life. The results of this study enabled us to understand that students were deeply engaged with the content and curriculum of our program, expanded their knowledge base about scientific concepts, used engineering-specific scientific terminologies, and engaged with the engineering design process to conceptualize, test, improvise, and problem-solve. Furthermore, this afterschool engineering education program created a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment for students to build engineering readiness skills.

目前的研究强调，只有少数循证项目将 STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）作为课程的一部分，特别是针对自闭症学生。专注于工程和设计学习的课程更少。因此，我们开发了一个非正式的课外创客计划，以培养自闭症和非自闭症学生对工程的兴趣，了解他们学习 STEM 概念和价值观的经验，同时运用工程思维开发项目。这项定性研究旨在探索和了解学生参与创客俱乐部 STEM 活动的经历。 2018 年至 2019 年间，我们采访了一座大城市三所公立中学的 26 名学生（17 名自闭症患者和 9 名非自闭症患者）、9 名教师和 13 名家长，他们代表了不同的文化和社会经济背景。我们的主题分析得出了四大主题：（1）积极参与STEM； (2) 对 STEM 主题、概念和实践的好奇心，(3) 参与 STEM 学习的能力建设； 4）了解STEM教育在日常生活中的重要性。这项研究的结果使我们了解到学生深入参与了我们项目的内容和课程，扩展了他们关于科学概念的知识库，使用了工程特定的科学术语，并参与了工程设计过程来概念化、测试、即兴发挥，解决问题。此外，这个课外工程教育计划为学生培养工程准备技能创造了一个安全、培育和激励的环境。