The Signing Science Dictionary Project

项目总结：签约科学词典项目工作总结。在这个RDE-FRI项目中，TERC和Vcom3D将使用SigningAvatar无障碍软件开发一种交互式3D科学术语和定义词典，以支持聋哑人和以手语为第一语言的中小学生获取基于标准的科学内容；评估词典的使用在多大程度上促进了对科学内容的理解、对科学的兴趣和独立学习的能力；并创建一个更强大的手势/面部表情/身体空间库，用于编写词典的后续卷或用于对支持阿凡达的其他科学材料进行签名。在两年结束时，产品将包括：健壮的3D互动标志支持阿凡达的词典，至少1,300个关键科学术语从小学和中学教室使用的教学材料中识别出来；对学生和教师实地测试数据进行定性和定量分析的结果报告，关于词典的有效性；在阿凡达人物的手势/面部表情/身体空间词典中增加了新的技术标志词汇，涉及生活、物理、地球和空间科学以及科学探究。该项目是TERC和Vcom3D之间的第三次合作，利用了两个现有合作的成果。TERC成立于1965年，是一个非营利性的教育研究和发展组织，致力于提高所有学生的科学、数学和技术教学水平。Vcom3D是一家由女性拥有和管理的小型企业，成立于1997年，是SigningAvata无障碍软件的开发商。2001年，合作伙伴首次联合起来，为三个名为EnViSci Network的小学和中学科学课程单元提供SigningAvata-EnviSci网络活动。(SigningAvata软件EnViSci Network的开发和这一第一次合作的部分资金来自NSF。)研究结果显示，所有完成签名单元的学生在测试后的分数明显高于匹配的前测；测试后的分数也与听力学生的分数相似。意识到阿凡达的好处，以及成本和时间使得即使是最广泛使用的教学材料也无法逐一签署，合作伙伴们探索了在更广泛的范围内将Signing阿凡达软件整合到科学材料中的替代方法。出现的情况是需要一种交互式的3D词典，其中包含有符号的科学术语和定义，可以作为一种通用的教学工具，独立于现有的课程或所使用的材料。在美国NEC基金会的资助下，合作伙伴开始了第二次合作，并开发了这样一部词典的300个术语的原型。签署科学词典项目，以及合作伙伴之间的第三次合作，建立在他们收集的知识的基础上。拟议的词典旨在服务于目标人群中的大约50,000名学生，他们需要根据《残疾人教育法》(IDEA)和2001年《不让一个孩子掉队法》提供服务，才能获得与残疾学生相同的内容。这本词典将为这一目标群体的成员提供更多机会，让他们有机会获得与听障学生一样的机会，进行严格的科学研究，这可能会导致职业生涯的发展和终身发展。它还将为教师提供一个公认的标牌图书馆，用于与学生学习科学思想。与现有的词典不同，这款首创的产品将允许用户从一系列具有不同个性和面部表情的字符中进行选择，改变签名速度，并以美国手语(ASL)或签名英语(SE)签署选定的术语及其定义。这个完整的辅助工具以单一光盘的形式提供，用于Windows操作系统，需要的带宽很低，可以在有互联网连接的情况下使用，也可以在没有互联网连接的情况下使用。主要出版商的出版将导致该词典在全国范围内传播。词典中的术语将通过Vcom3D向出版商、开发者和教育工作者提供，以签署其他词典或科学材料。

Project Summary: The Signing Science Dictionary ProjectSummary of Work. With this RDE-FRI project, TERC and Vcom3D will use the SigningAvataraccessibility software to develop an interactive 3D dictionary of science terms and definitions to supportaccess to standards-based science content among elementary and middle-grade students who are deaf orhard of hearing and whose first language is sign; evaluate the extent to which use of the dictionaryfurthers understanding of science content, interest in science, and the ability to study independently; andcreate a more robust sign/facial expression/body space library for use in developing subsequent volumesof the dictionary or in SigningAvatar-enabling other science materials. At the end of two years,products will include: robust 3D interactive SigningAvatar-enabled dictionary of at least 1,300 key science termsidentified from instructional materials used in elementary and middle grade classrooms; report of findings from analysis of qualitative and quantitative student and teacher field-test dataabout the effectiveness of the dictionary; addition of new vocabulary of technical signs to the Avatar characters' sign/facial expression/bodyspace lexicon in the areas of life, physical, earth and space science, and scientific inquiry.Intellectual Merits. The project represents a third collaboration between TERC and Vcom3D andleverages findings from two existing collaborations. Founded in 1965, TERC is a not-for-profit educationresearch and development organization dedicated to the improvement of science, mathematics, andtechnology teaching and learning for all students. Vcom3D is a female owned and managed smallbusiness, founded in 1997, and the developers of the SigningAvatar accessibility software. In 2001,working together, the partners combined forces for the first time to SigningAvatar-enable the webactivities for three of the elementary and middle-grade science curriculum units called EnViSci Network.(Development of the SigningAvatar software, EnViSci Network, and this first collaboration werefunded, in part, by NSF.) Findings show all students who completed the signed units had significantlyhigher post-test scores compared to those on matched pre-tests; post-test scores were also similar to thosefor hearing students. Realizing the benefits of the Avatar and that cost and time preclude one-by-onesigning of even the most widely used instructional materials, the partners explored alternative means forintegrating the SigningAvatar software into science materials on a broader scale. What emerged was theneed for an interactive 3D dictionary of signed science terms and definitions that could be used as auniversal tool for teaching and learning independent of the curriculum in place or materials being used.With funding from NEC Foundation of America, the partners embarked on a second collaboration anddeveloped a 300-term prototype of such a dictionary. The Signing Science Dictionary project, and thirdcollaboration between the partners, builds on their collected knowledge.Broader Impacts. The proposed dictionary is designed to serve the approximately 50,000 students in thetarget population who require services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) andare required by it and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to have access to the same content asstudents with disabilities. The dictionary will offer members of this target population greater access to thesame opportunities as hearing students for rigorous science study that can potentially lead to careers inSTEM and expand over a lifetime. It will also offer teachers a library of recognized signs for studyingscientific ideas with students. Unlike existing dictionaries, this first-of-its kind product will allow users toselect from a range of characters with different personalities and facial expressions, to alter the speed ofsigning, and to sign a selected term and its definition in American Sign Language (ASL) or SignedEnglish (SE). Delivered as a single CD-ROM for use with a Windows operating system, this completeassistive tool will require low bandwidth and can be used with and without an Internet connection.Publication by a major publisher will result in dissemination of the dictionary nationally. Terms in thelexicon will be available through Vcom3D to publishers, developers, and educators to sign otherdictionaries or science materials.