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- All Subjects: STEM
- Creators: Baluch, Debra P
- Member of: ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
- Resource Type: Text
Description
Blind and visually impaired individuals have historically demonstrated a low participation in the fields of science, engineering, mathematics, and technology (STEM). This low participation is reflected in both their education and career choices. Despite the establishment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), blind and visually impaired (BVI) students continue to academically fall below the level of their sighted peers in the areas of science and math. Although this deficit is created by many factors, this study focuses on the lack of adequate accessible image based materials. Traditional methods for creating accessible image materials for the vision impaired have included detailed verbal descriptions accompanying an image or conversion into a simplified tactile graphic. It is very common that no substitute materials will be provided to students within STEM courses because they are image rich disciplines and often include a large number images, diagrams and charts. Additionally, images that are translated into text or simplified into basic line drawings are frequently inadequate because they rely on the interpretations of resource personnel who do not have expertise in STEM. Within this study, a method to create a new type of tactile 3D image was developed using High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and Computer Numeric Control (CNC) milling. These tactile image boards preserve high levels of detail when compared to the original print image. To determine the discernibility and effectiveness of tactile images, these customizable boards were tested in various
university classrooms as well as in participation studies which included BVI and sighted students. Results from these studies indicate that tactile images are discernable and were found to improve performance in lab exercises as much as 60% for those with visual impairment. Incorporating tactile HDPE 3D images into a classroom setting was shown to increase the interest, participation and performance of BVI students suggesting that this type of 3D tactile image should be incorporated into STEM classes to increase the participation of these students and improve the level of training they receive in science and math.
university classrooms as well as in participation studies which included BVI and sighted students. Results from these studies indicate that tactile images are discernable and were found to improve performance in lab exercises as much as 60% for those with visual impairment. Incorporating tactile HDPE 3D images into a classroom setting was shown to increase the interest, participation and performance of BVI students suggesting that this type of 3D tactile image should be incorporated into STEM classes to increase the participation of these students and improve the level of training they receive in science and math.
ContributorsGonzales, Ashleigh (Author) / Baluch, Debra P (Thesis advisor) / Maienschein, Jane (Committee member) / Ellison, Karin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Academia is not what it used to be. In today’s fast-paced world, requirements
are constantly changing, and adapting to these changes in an academic curriculum
can be challenging. Given a specific aspect of a domain, there can be various levels of
proficiency that can be achieved by the students. Considering the wide array of needs,
diverse groups need customized course curriculum. The need for having an archetype
to design a course focusing on the outcomes paved the way for Outcome-based
Education (OBE). OBE focuses on the outcomes as opposed to the traditional way of
following a process [23]. According to D. Clark, the major reason for the creation of
Bloom’s taxonomy was not only to stimulate and inspire a higher quality of thinking
in academia – incorporating not just the basic fact-learning and application, but also
to evaluate and analyze on the facts and its applications [7]. Instructional Module
Development System (IMODS) is the culmination of both these models – Bloom’s
Taxonomy and OBE. It is an open-source web-based software that has been
developed on the principles of OBE and Bloom’s Taxonomy. It guides an instructor,
step-by-step, through an outcomes-based process as they define the learning
objectives, the content to be covered and develop an instruction and assessment plan.
The tool also provides the user with a repository of techniques based on the choices
made by them regarding the level of learning while defining the objectives. This helps
in maintaining alignment among all the components of the course design. The tool
also generates documentation to support the course design and provide feedback
when the course is lacking in certain aspects.
It is not just enough to come up with a model that theoretically facilitates
effective result-oriented course design. There should be facts, experiments and proof
that any model succeeds in achieving what it aims to achieve. And thus, there are two
research objectives of this thesis: (i) design a feature for course design feedback and
evaluate its effectiveness; (ii) evaluate the usefulness of a tool like IMODS on various
aspects – (a) the effectiveness of the tool in educating instructors on OBE; (b) the
effectiveness of the tool in providing appropriate and efficient pedagogy and
assessment techniques; (c) the effectiveness of the tool in building the learning
objectives; (d) effectiveness of the tool in document generation; (e) Usability of the
tool; (f) the effectiveness of OBE on course design and expected student outcomes.
The thesis presents a detailed algorithm for course design feedback, its pseudocode, a
description and proof of the correctness of the feature, methods used for evaluation
of the tool, experiments for evaluation and analysis of the obtained results.
are constantly changing, and adapting to these changes in an academic curriculum
can be challenging. Given a specific aspect of a domain, there can be various levels of
proficiency that can be achieved by the students. Considering the wide array of needs,
diverse groups need customized course curriculum. The need for having an archetype
to design a course focusing on the outcomes paved the way for Outcome-based
Education (OBE). OBE focuses on the outcomes as opposed to the traditional way of
following a process [23]. According to D. Clark, the major reason for the creation of
Bloom’s taxonomy was not only to stimulate and inspire a higher quality of thinking
in academia – incorporating not just the basic fact-learning and application, but also
to evaluate and analyze on the facts and its applications [7]. Instructional Module
Development System (IMODS) is the culmination of both these models – Bloom’s
Taxonomy and OBE. It is an open-source web-based software that has been
developed on the principles of OBE and Bloom’s Taxonomy. It guides an instructor,
step-by-step, through an outcomes-based process as they define the learning
objectives, the content to be covered and develop an instruction and assessment plan.
The tool also provides the user with a repository of techniques based on the choices
made by them regarding the level of learning while defining the objectives. This helps
in maintaining alignment among all the components of the course design. The tool
also generates documentation to support the course design and provide feedback
when the course is lacking in certain aspects.
It is not just enough to come up with a model that theoretically facilitates
effective result-oriented course design. There should be facts, experiments and proof
that any model succeeds in achieving what it aims to achieve. And thus, there are two
research objectives of this thesis: (i) design a feature for course design feedback and
evaluate its effectiveness; (ii) evaluate the usefulness of a tool like IMODS on various
aspects – (a) the effectiveness of the tool in educating instructors on OBE; (b) the
effectiveness of the tool in providing appropriate and efficient pedagogy and
assessment techniques; (c) the effectiveness of the tool in building the learning
objectives; (d) effectiveness of the tool in document generation; (e) Usability of the
tool; (f) the effectiveness of OBE on course design and expected student outcomes.
The thesis presents a detailed algorithm for course design feedback, its pseudocode, a
description and proof of the correctness of the feature, methods used for evaluation
of the tool, experiments for evaluation and analysis of the obtained results.
ContributorsRaj, Vaishnavi (Author) / Bansal, Srividya (Thesis advisor) / Bansal, Ajay (Committee member) / Mehlhase, Alexandra (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018