YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Sixth grader Odin Wilson learned about how computers transfer information through a computing program supported by Youngstown State University and the National Science Foundation.
“I made these bracelets that spell out my name,” the Rich Center for Autism student explained, pointing to four wristlets strung with black and purple plastic beads.
It’s a demonstration of binary code.
“Wires carry information to the computer in the form of electricity,” Odin said. “Computers represent information with two options, off and on. These options are called mining.”
For Odin’s bracelets, purple denotes “on,” which represents the number one in binary code, and black indicates “off,” or zero.
Odin was among sixth graders from the Rich Center and Potential Development Elementary/Middle School who participated Thursday in the ISAC-X Grant Project in YSU’s Beeghly College of Education.
Abdu Arslanyilmaz, YSU chairman and professor of computer science, information and engineering technology, said the program started a few years ago with seventh graders from the two schools. It will continue for at least two more years as this year’s sixth graders move on to seventh and eighth grades.
“The ultimate purpose is to create accessible materials to teach computer science and computing concepts,” he said.
Students at the two schools learn those concepts, and data collected from the work will be used to help create materials to teach those same concepts to others with autism.
In the phase of the program showcased Thursday, students learned those concepts using hands-on materials rather than computing devices.
Odin’s project is an example of students using beads to encode their names and asking visitors to decode the names using a key the student included on their poster.
“They learn how to translate alpha numerical characters, letters into binary numbers, and then how to translate that back into regular string characters,” Arslanyilmaz said.
In the other types of projects, students learned about creating algorithms and loops, which are essential parts of computing and automation.
Erika Campolito, a member of the Rich Center’s administrative team, said the program also helps prepare students for potential career paths.
“A lot of students on the autism spectrum wouldn’t get this opportunity, so being included in having Dr. Abdu doing this research to help programming for students in the future that maybe be able to go into coding as a career or some sort of computer job would be excellent for a lot of our students …” said Campolito, who also teaches the coding class at the Rich Center.
Katie Petridis, Potential Development High School coordinator, said students learned binary coding, looping and algorithms without using technology.
Mollie Groboski, an educational assistant at Potential Development, said the students are being introduced to various aspects of coding using real-world examples.
“The first lesson was dealing with perseverance, and it dealt with like building something and putting a weight on it, and if it crumbled, you found the bug, the mistake. You fixed it and you went on,” she said.
Another lesson used dancing to demonstrate how repeating steps relates to loops and coding, Groboski explained.
All of her students have surprised her, she said.
“They all have responded differently, but all have responded well to it,” Groboski added.
Nick Westhead is one of her students. His project dealt with algorithms. The poster he brought to illustrate it featured a checkerboard pattern, and Nick explained that it’s an easy way to show an algorithm.
“You debug and fix the problem if there’s a bug,” he said.
Carrie Jackson, YSU school psychology professor, said the showcase offers an opportunity for the students to demonstrate what they’ve been learning all year. As the project continues, the hope is the students develop more skills to perform coding.
“Students with autism are incredibly adept with technology,” she said. “And there are a lot of jobs now that they could have access to if they have these prerequisite skills, so our hope is … getting them to kind of channel that interest in technology into something that could actually benefit them occupationally later on.”
Pictured at top: Odin Wilson, a Rich Center for autism sixth grader, and Erika Campolito, a member of the Rich Center’s administrative team who teaches coding at the school.
