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Explore how technology can help make STEM education more accessible for students with disabilities, addressing barriers and providing support for their engagement in science, technology, engineering, and math.
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Part 3: Using Technology to Make STEM More Accessible Texas Assistive Technology Network Conference June 13, 2017 Alise Crossland, Senior Researcher Jillian Reynolds, Researcher American Institutes for Research
Science Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills: What Students Need to Know • Conduct investigations • Use scientific processes • Inquiry methods • Analyzing information • Making informed decisions • Using tools to collect and record information • Address major concepts and vocabulary
Technology Standards Priorities • Creativity and innovation • Communication and collaboration • Research and information fluency • Critical thinking, problem solving and decision making • Digital citizenship • Technology operations and concepts
Complex World Demands Science Literacy • Not all students will pursue scientific careers, but basic scientific literacy is critical for all students • All students need to understand how to think like a scientist and how to evaluate information • Careers of the future will require the ability to collaborate and solve problems using STEM (and STEAM) skills • Struggling students and SWDs are no exception and need additional supports to be successful
Discussion • Students with disabilities are often underrepresented in STEM, what are some of the biggest barriers you see for your students in participating in STEM?
What Does It Mean to Think Like a Scientist? • Thinking like a chemist, programmer, mathematician, engineer, or archeologist • Might include: • Using virtual environments and simulations • Developing models of scientific phenomena • Using collaborative tools like email, video conferencing and wikis • Designing and developing products and tools using MakerSpaces, FabLabs, coding, etc. • These activities can present new challenges for SWDs but also many new opportunities
More Strategies Online National Science Teachers Association Strategies
Dimensions of Science Learning • "Doing" science like a scientist • Student engagement and identity with science • Science literacy, vocabulary and discourse • Visualizations, representations and modeling • Questions, argumentation and use of evidence
Physically “Doing” Science • Physical tasks are an important part of many science lessons • May present significant barriers for many SWDs • Technology can help address barriers: • Provide students with a substitute for the natural world (simulations) • Allow students to visualize and interact with the natural world in ways that would be difficult/impossible • Virtual experiments and instruments
Technology to Support “Doing” Science • Virtual experiments and activities: can be a viable alternative when disability, cost, time, safety issues, or accessibility barriers prevent students from engaging in certain science activities • Simulations of the natural world: allow students to experience things that may be difficult or impossible; allow students to manipulate variables repeatedly, make observations, collect data and collaborate • Virtual instrumentation/data collection: A wide range of tools and websites allow students to conduct science activities virtually; opportunities to use equipment too expensive or dangerous for the classroom
Interactive Solar System Interactive Solar System
Student Engagement and Identity With STEM • Students who can see themselves as scientists or mathematicians are more likely to take STEM classes beyond middle school • SWDs may especially struggle to see themselves as scientists • Tech resources that can support engagement: • Digital curricula that encourage questioning and inquiry • Scenarios and immersive environments that let students practice being scientists • Distance technology that connects students with scientists
Tech Supports for Student Engagement • Inquiry-based science curricula: Should contain driving questions or project/problem-based design • Scenarios and immersive environments that let students practice being scientists: Provide authentic experiences using and manipulating data, producing scientific documents, and portraying the user as a scientist • Distance Technology: Official websites (e.g. NASA, HHMI, etc.) often offer connection points with scientists in a variety of fields through Twitter, email, video chats
Science Literacy, Vocabulary and Discourse • Students need to master science vocabulary and use it in their science writing – journals, lab reports • This can be challenging for students learning English, or those with cognitive and/or language-based disabilities • Struggling students can benefit from focused attention on background knowledge and vocabulary • Background knowledge and vocabulary become more critical as students move up the grades into content-heavy science classes • Tech tools that can help: • Electronic references • Multimedia to build background knowledge • Scaffolds and prompts for scientific language
Technology to Support Science Vocabulary • Electronic references: Glossaries, electronic dictionaries, thesauruses, translation sites, videos, and other online references • Multimedia to build background knowledge: Interactive websites, encyclopedias, and other free and commercial websites; multimedia can also allow for repeated viewings of a video, animation, or slide show • Scaffolds and Prompts for Science Language: concept mapping software, writing templates (e.g. lab reports), embedded writing prompts (I hypothesized that…, I observed that…, my data shows that…)
Strategies to Improve Science Literacy • Pre-teach vocabulary and ensure that students understand nuanced meanings, which can improve students' comprehension • Use technologies to strengthen students' background knowledge and vocabulary proficiency • Make expectations of science discourse explicit and let students know importance of using language in scientifically appropriate ways • Develop exercises that will help students strengthen their use of scientific discourse, including modeling correct oral and written expressions
Arkive Source
Discussion • How could teachers better support the development of “science talk”? • How could classroom teachers use technology to scaffold this skill for students with disabilities who struggle with this?
Visualization, Representation and Modeling • Science involves abstract representations and models of things we can’t see with the naked eye • Illustrations, diagrams and images provide students with opportunities to see relationships • Students must be able to mentally transform 2D objects into dynamic 3D objects • Students can benefit from creating their own models, using both high and low-tech solutions • Tech tools can help if: • Universally designed • Materials use the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS)
Adaptive Curriculum Adaptive Curriculum
Questions, Argumentation and Use of Evidence • Knowing how to formulate questions and use evidence in arguments is an important part of science learning • Classrooms that facilitate collaboration and discourse help students develop critical thinking and reasoning skills • Struggling students may find this process challenging due to language and cognitive barriers • Tech tools that can help: • Constructivist tools to support question development • Scaffolds for evidence construction • Collaborative science education tools
Technology to Support Questioning • Constructivist tools to support question development: Allow students to make predictions and test their hypotheses • Scaffolds for evidence assembly and argumentation: Provide guidelines on the process: claim, evidence, reasoning – focus on using evidence in a well-reasoned argument even if the answer is incorrect • Collaborative science education tools: Function as a common space or forum for users to share ideas; as the discussions take place, all users can see the progression of ideas
Discussion • If you were going to build an accessible STEM (or STEAM) program in your school or district, what would you do? • What would be on your wish list for an accessible science lab?
Do It Yourself, MakerSpaces and SWDs • Maker Culture is a (mostly) technology-supported offshoot of DIY • The Maker Movement is collaborative, and community-focused with designs, ideas, programs and plans made freely available (open source) • Maker Culture focuses on design, innovation, creative problem-solving, and invention, utilizing MakerSpaces, FabLabs, HackerSpaces and sharing at Maker Fairs • Shifts end user from solely a consumer -- dependent upon the products and tools available to them in a store -- to the inventor, designer, creator, builder and ultimate end user of a product
STEAMworks/Patrick Waters • Houston-based makerspace designed for students with neurological differences • Hands-on tools may be best for students thinking in concrete terms, while technology-driven tools promote abstract thinking • Choose your makerspace's tools and capabilities to promote the appropriate learning objectives • Engineering your room design to take into account students with special needs and neurological differences can be the difference between a welcoming class space and a scary class space
Recommendations from Patrick Waters • Students with neurological differences prefer limited visual distractions. Busy visuals and bulletin boards distract and confuse. Stick to safety posters with both text and visuals. • Visual cues -- such as labels for classroom supplies, stuff storage, etc. -- will help to ground students. • Break zones -- quiet, comfortable spaces -- gives students a place to calm and center themselves until they're ready to re-enter the busy academic world. • Noise and odor pollution can quickly turn a vibrant workshop into an uncomfortable space. Hearing protection must be offered, and fumes from paints, solvents, and plastics should be minimized.
STEAMWorks Source
Discussion • What will you do back in your schools or district to support more accessible STEM/STEAM for your students? • What resources do you have available (in the school, in the community) to support more accessible STEM? • What are the barriers to doing this work?
