Education Commons^™

Let All Voices Be Heard: Creating An Engaging And Inclusive Asynchronous Qr Classroom, Ruby A. Daniels, Kathryn Appenzeller Knowles

Numeracy

With the shift to remote teaching, many instructors used Zoom for synchronous work. However, this presented issues (fatigue, turning cameras off, inequitable technical hurdles) that motivated quantitative reasoning (QR) instructors to look for asynchronous alternatives. A common technique has been text-based online discussions, which can be difficult for students to find engaging. This mixed method study (N = 41) describes an inclusive video alternative, specifically for teaching QR and quantitative fluency skills, which was piloted in two asynchronous sections and one hybrid section of the same course. Students posted their video responses, watched their classmates’ videos, and wrote short …

Accessibility Of Mental Health Resources In Schools, Zitlaly Lizeth Cruz-Roman, Vianney Consepcion Sandoval

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study aimed to examine parents’ and staff’s perception of the accessibility and awareness of mental health resources in school. Mental health resources are made available in school settings; however, not all families and students are aware of the resources being provided. To address the accessibility of mental health resources, research needs to take place to understand why these resources are not being utilized. Individuals’ mental health will improve by creating awareness of the resources since they will be aware of the resources and use them based on their needs. The research project utilized quantitative research methods and descriptive research …

Accessibility And Usage Of School Library Materials And Facilities By Social Studies Teachers In Sapele Metropolis, Sunday Obro

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study examined the accessibility and usage of school library materials and facilities by Social Studies teachers in Sapele metropolis. One hundred and four (104) social studies teachers were the selected study sample using the purposive sampling method. Two (2) instruments were employed for the gathering of data. They are an observation checklist and a questionnaire. The data gathered were analysed using mean. The study revealed that most library materials and facilities were not accessible. In addition, it was discovered that non-print media were lacking. However, textbooks and print assets and materials were accessible. Also, the study exposed that poor …

Approaches To Implementing Virtual Reality For All, Amy Sugar, Kathleen Bastedo

FDLA Journal

This article discusses practical approaches and strategies to help educators determine how they can start implementing virtual reality (VR) in their courses while addressing the needs of diverse learners and engaging all students in meaningful VR learning experiences. The practical approaches and strategies shared in this paper center around three main areas of access: accessibility considerations, access to available technology, and access to VR experiences.

Accessibility Of Virtual Instruction In Higher Education: Challenges Caused By The Covid-19 Pandemic, Carlie L. Cooper

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed. It prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Institutions of higher education are included under Title III of the ADA, and as such are required to provide the same access to services and education to qualified individuals with disabilities as individuals without. A review of the literature of accessibility of online programs and courses in higher education shows that compliance to the ADA is sporadic due to several challenges. In Spring 2020, all institutions of higher education transitioned to some form of online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This created …

Studenting And Teaching With Chronic Pain: Accessibility At The Intersection Of Contingency And Disability, Beth Greene

Academic Labor: Research and Artistry

While much attention is given to undergraduate students with disabilities, far less is devoted to graduate students, particularly those who also act as faculty: Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs). This article discusses issues of accessibility encountered by these contingent faculty members, specifically GTAs who have invisible disabilities, and how approaching discussions of contingency and disability with an ethos of transparent vulnerability—a level of transparency that necessarily leads to vulnerability—can help combat the stigma that continues to surround contingency and disability in higher education.

Accommodating Students With Disabilities, Laura James

TFSC Publications and Presentations

The Center for Educational Access (CEA) staff is your campus partner when working with students with disabilities, and will be sharing details about the accommodation process, procedures, as well as quick tips that will be helpful as you navigate this semester.

Tactviz: A Vmd Plugin For Tactile Visualization Of Protein Structures, Olivia R. Shaw, Jodi A. Hadden-Perilla

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Scientific disciplines spanning biology, biochemistry, and biophysics involve the study of proteins and their functions. Visualization of protein structures represents a barrier to education and research in these disciplines for students who are blind or visually impaired. Here, we present a software plugin for readily producing variable-height tactile graphics of proteins using the free biomolecular visualization software Visual Molecular Dynamics (VMD) and protein structure data that is publicly available through the Protein Data Bank. Our method also supports interactive tactile visualization of proteins with VMD on electronic refreshable tactile display devices. Employing our method in an academic laboratory has enabled …

Visualization Without Vision – How Blind And Visually Impaired Students And Researchers Engage With Molecular Structures, Croix J. Laconsay, Henry B. Wedler, Dean J. Tantillo

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This article examines the tools and techniques currently available that enable blind and visually impaired (BVI) individuals to visualize three-dimensional objects used in learning chemistry concepts. How BVI individuals engage with and visualize molecular structure is discussed and recent tactile (or haptic) and auditory methods for visualization of various chemistry concepts are summarized. Remaining challenges for chemistry education researchers are described with the aim of highlighting the potential value of educational research in further enabling BVI students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Success Plan For The Online Learning Experience: Student Engagement, Teacher Accessibility, & Relationships, Ruchelle Combs

Middle Grades Review

Online teaching in the time of COVID-19 is a new and sometimes scary experience for even the most seasoned educator. It is certainly apparent that many students are struggling to make this instantaneous adjustment. Teachers have a duty to mitigate this stress as they continue to provide relevant instruction. Based on my experience, this can be achieved by fostering student engagement, staying highly accessible, and maintaining the relationships that were formed face-to-face in the conventional classroom.

Building Faculty Community Via Oer, Jorg Waltje, Amanda Zerangue

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

This presentation will delineate ways for chairs and college administrators to encourage faculty to explore better and less costly ways to deliver instructional content to their students. It will highlight how to reward and recognize these efforts, while at the same time creating excellent opportunities for faculty collaborations and community building.

See3d: 3d Printing For People Who Are Blind, Caroline Frances Karbowski

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Abstract

Objects such as snowflakes, castles, and butterflies have become more than just words when explored as a 3D print. The founder’s passion for braille led to the creation of the program See3D, which organizes the printing and distribution of 3D printed models for people who are blind. 3D prints such as DNA, cells, animals, constellations, telescopes, historic landmarks, logos, and maps were created to fulfill requests by people who are blind for tactile learning tools. Recipients shared their feedback on how to improve the models, and the printing and distribution service. See3D seeks to spread awareness about accessibility by …

Tools Enabling A Student Who Is Blind In A Liberal Arts Chemistry Laboratory Course, Jessica Michael, H. David Wohlers

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Chemistry laboratories ordinarily involve a number of visual observations and require qualitative and quantitative explanations of these observations. A student with blindness at Truman State University successfully completed the laboratory portion of the nonmajors liberal arts chemistry course with the assistance of a senior undergraduate chemistry education major, the guidance of a chemistry professor with blindness, and a variety of alternative laboratory methods. Volumes were measured using a notched syringe or the graduated cylinder pipet technique. Changes in color were measured by a Color Analysis Laboratory Sensor (CALS) and a Submersible Audio Light Sensor (SALS). Balance and Vernier probe measurements …

Students With Visual Impairments' Access And Participation In The Science Curriculum: Views Of Teachers Of Students With Visual Impairments, Karen E. Koehler, Tiffany A. Wild

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Science is a core curricular area of instruction for all students and the federal mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) and No Child Left Behind (2001) require that students with disabilities are educated in the least restrictive environment and have access to general education science content, based upon rigorous standards. While, most students with visual impairments are educated in the general science classroom, few studies have been done to determine whether appropriate accommodations and modifications are being made in those classrooms to meet the specialized needs of these students. A 35 question survey instrument was disseminated to …

From Outside To Online: Unanticipated Directions For Utah Master Naturalist, Mark Larese-Casanova, Jennifer Perkins

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Utah Master Naturalist is an award-winning Utah State University Extension program that promotes stewardship of Utah’s natural world through place-based, experiential field courses across the state. Although successful in eliciting positive short- and long-term impacts, Utah Master Naturalist’s traditional five-day field courses were unavailable to many students and instructors due to constraints of time and location. This case study examines Utah Master Naturalist’s first hybrid course, Desert Explorations, and describes the positive results from our pilot study, how a hybrid course solves availability issues, and how field-based learning theories can be adapted to online education through careful design.

A Study Of Kentucky School District Websites: They’Re Colorful And Informative….But Are They Ada Compliant?, John A. Huss, Shannon Eastep

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

An often-overlooked component of a school district website is the necessity for that website to be accessible to those with disabilities, while following the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 of the Workforce Rehabilitation Act. This study investigated the accessibility of school district websites in Kentucky by selecting a random sample of 50 school districts and analyzing their home pages using WAVE (Web Accessibility Versatile Evaluator), which reports accessibility violations by annotating a copy of the page that was evaluated and presenting embedded icons and indicators to disclose breaches with ADA. Out of 50 districts, …

Designing For Universal Success, Nicole Martin, Trey Conatser

Greater Faculties: A Review of Teaching and Learning

Dr. Deb Castiglione is the Universal Design and Instructional Technology Specialist at CELT. She has worked to get a campus-wide license at the University of Kentucky for the software Read&Write Gold, which follows principles of universal design for learning. We asked Dr. Castiglione about what the software can do for learners, and why we should think more about inclusive practices such as universal design in our teaching.

Honoring Diversity In An Online Classroom: Approaches Used By Instructors Engaging Through An Lms, Jacob Petersen

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This is an inquiry into how online instructors embrace the diversity of their student body while facing the inherent differences between a traditional face-to-face class and one that is taught online. Current research suggests that diversity in a traditional classroom is an asset if the instructor is sensitive to students’ backgrounds. This paper examines if such philosophies in traditional classrooms translate well into a distance education environment, where the student body may be even more diverse than a face-to-face class, but possibly unrecognizable because of the lack of physical cues. Research on the topic of multiculturalism in an online classroom …

Towards An Understanding Of The Use Of Digital Media To Facilitate The Inclusion Of Children With Learning Disabilities In Mainstream Primary School Classrooms, Róisín Garvey

Masters

Inclusion, or the integration into mainstream classrooms of students with learning difficulties, should strive to make the students’ education sufficiently challenging while also making considerations for their particular capabilities and needs. A key aspect of inclusion is the requirement for appropriate support services and additional aids for both students and teachers. Digital media can be effective in helping to facilitate learning and can provide opportunities for engagement, peer learning, curriculum support and assessment. It can also promote collaborative and cooperative learning when the educational content is tailored to the capabilities of individual students. Finding teaching strategies that are suitable for …

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Accessibility Awareness Among Faculty In Online Learning Environments, Rachael Sessler Trinkowsky

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Although all organizations and institutions should consider accessibility when developing online content, inaccessibility is a recurring issue in recent literature pertaining to online learning environments (OLEs) and faculty accessibility awareness. The goal was to describe how online faculty gain knowledge regarding accessibility, to explore the lived experiences of online faculty who have worked with students who have disabilities, and to gain a better understanding of how faculty experience the process of accessibility implementation. The following research questions guided this study: How do faculty in OLEs experience encounters regarding accessibility for students who have print related disabilities? How do faculty in …

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Growing Ideas - Increase Access: Universal Design In Early Care & Education, University Of Maine Center For Community Inclusion And Disability Studies

Early Childhood Resources

According to Ron Mace of the Center for Universal Design, universal design is the philosophy of designing and creating products and environments to be accessible to the greatest extent possible, to the people who use them, without the need for adaptation (http://www.cast.org). The principles of Universal Design have been broadened beyond the creation of physical space and materials, to include the design of curriculum, teaching strategies, and assessment. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is based on the understanding that children learn in different ways. This framework focuses on planning from the start for the widest diversity of learners.

Learning Ideas - Universal Design In Pre-K And Early Elementary Classrooms, University Of Maine Center For Community Inclusion And Disability Studies

Family Resources

Universal design is an approach to designing environments and products so that the greatest number of people can use them. When applied to curriculum, teachers consider the potential barriers inherent in materials and activities, and plan many avenues to learning. This way, the greatest number of children can participate in the content and activities without adaptation.

A Paradigm Of Power And Possibility, Linda Dauksas

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

At the base of the Principal’s leadership and professional responsibilities is the ultimate power to create a model of ability and respect for every student. No matter the size of the school, age of the students, tenure of staff or status of the community, every principal can create a potent paradigm promoting ability over disability, and opportunities over impediments. The power of this paradigm can impact students, staff, and the entire community, far beyond the school campus.

Educator Perceptions Toward The Iep Meeting, Wade Fish

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The individualized education program (IEP) was the primary component of Part B of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. Through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004), the IEP has continued to direct the educational needs, goals and objectives, placement, evaluation criteria, present levels of educational performance, and duration of programming modifications for students receiving special education services (Drasgow, Yell, & Robinson, 2001; 20 U.S.C. § 1400). The IEP functions as the blueprint for services to be provided for students, as IEP regulations identify meeting dates, parental and student consent and accountability, as well as …

Equal Access: A National Comparison Of Federal Grants-In-Aid Awarded At Public And Private Four-Year Degree Granting Institutions, Lee Waller, Sandra Weeks, Steven Westbrook, Karl Payton

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

More than twelve million undergraduate students in the United States benefit from some form of financial aid. Statistics from the U.S. Department of Education (as cited in The American Council of Education 2008) indicate that 76% of undergraduates at public four-year degree-granting institutions during the 2003-2004 academic year received financial aid, while 89% of undergraduate students at private four-year not-for-profit degree-granting institutions were aid recipients.