RDE-FRI: Innovations in STEM Education for Blind Undergraduates Using Digital Pen-Based Audio/Tactile Graphics

RDE-FRI：使用基于数字笔的音频/触觉图形的盲人本科生STEM教育创新是Smith-Kettlewell眼科研究基金会和范德比尔特大学的一个为期36个月，价值30万美元的合作奖项，由残疾教育研究（RDE）项目的重点研究计划（FRI）资助。该项目的主要目标是开发、评估和推广一种低成本、便携式、易于使用的数字笔技术，使盲人本科生和教育支持人员（ESP）能够使用触摸和声音来创建、探索和理解STEM课程中常见的图表和数字。研究团队正在进行一个三阶段的研究项目，以检验部署数字笔音频/触觉图形（dPATg）方法的好处，包括双手触觉探索、超精细的选择分辨率、便携性，以及学生和ESP使用Sewell凸线绘图套件（SRLDK）和SpotDotView盲文压纹器创建特别内容的便利性。在观察学生在课堂上使用STEM图表和数字的初始阶段之后，第二阶段包括一系列单主题设计的研究，以调查dPATg方法。第三阶段采用准实验设计，根据三种治疗条件中的一种(1)来衡量学生的表现：使用dPATg系统，使用传统的音频/触觉系统，不使用先进技术。该项目建立在PI目前和以前在美国教育部国家残疾和康复研究所（H133E060001; H133A060056; H133S060103）资助的盲人和视障人士使用技术方面取得的成功的基础上。这个经验丰富的团队，由一位盲人心理学家和一位教学技术专家领导，受益于与加州大学伯克利分校（UCB）和旧金山州立大学（SFSU）的合作，其中大约40名盲人本科生被观察并招募参与研究。其他科目是从旧金山湾地区的社区学院和其他加州州立大学招募的。该项目还受益于与LiveScribe公司的行业合作伙伴关系，该公司在数字笔技术的开发和制造方面具有专业知识。该项目解决了RDE-FRI轨道目标中的三(3)个：鼓励研究和开发具体但实用的辅助技术，帮助残疾人在STEM领域从事职业；为残疾学生建立可迅速开发和有效应用于教育环境的工具；并调查针对STEM领域残疾人士的有效教学方法和实践。有一个形成性和总结性的项目评估计划，由肯塔基大学的外部评估人员Donald Stenhoff执行。额外的形成性项目投入由内部和外部专家顾问团队提供，其中包括来自旧金山盲人灯塔的Anita Aaron；无障碍技术中心的Dmitri Belser；来自失明和低视力康复工程研究中心的约翰·布拉宾；旧金山州立大学的Gene Chelberg；UCB的James Gammon；以及范德比尔特大学的泰德·哈塞尔布林。此外，还有一项传播计划，其中包括一个网站，用于分发项目信息、在同行评审的专业期刊上发表研究结果、在教育技术会议上介绍项目材料和成果，以及促进数字笔技术在特殊教育和教育技术领域的应用。

RDE-FRI: Innovations in STEM Education for Blind Undergraduates Using Digital Pen-Based Audio/Tactile Graphics is a 36-month, $300,000 dollar collaborative award to the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Foundation and Vanderbilt University that is funded by the Research in Disabilities Education (RDE) program's Focused Research Initiatives (FRI) track. The primary goal of the project is to develop, evaluate, and disseminate a low-cost, portable, easy-to-use digital pen technology that enables blind undergraduate students and educational support personnel (ESP) to create, explore, and understand the diagrams and figures common to the STEM curriculum using touch and sound. The research team is conducting a three (3) phase research project to examine the benefits of deploying a digital Pen Audio/Tactile graphics (dPATg) approach which includes two-handed tactile exploration, ultrafine selection resolution, portability, and the ease of creating ad hoc content by students and ESP using the Sewell raised line drawing kit (SRLDK) and the SpotDotView Braille Embosser. Following an initial phase of observing students using STEM diagrams and figures in the classroom, the second phase includes a series of single-subject designed studies to investigate the dPATg approach. The third phase employs a quasi-experimental design where student performance is measured as a result of one (1) of three (3) treatment conditions: Use of dPATg systems, use of conventional audio/tactile systems, and no advanced technology use. This project builds on the prior success of the PI's current and previous work on the use of technology for the blind and visually impaired that was funded by the US Education Department's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (H133E060001; H133A060056; H133S060103).This highly experienced team, which is lead by a research psychologist who is blind and by an expert in instructional technology, benefits from partnerships with the University of California at Berkeley (UCB) and San Francisco State University (SFSU) where approximately 40 blind undergraduate students are being observed and recruited for study participation. Additional subjects are recruited from community colleges in the San Francisco Bay region and from other California State Universities. The project also benefits from an industry partnership with LiveScribe, Inc., a company with expertise in the development and manufacturing of digital pen technology.This project addresses three (3) of the RDE-FRI track goals: To encourage research and development of specific but utilitarian assistive technologies that will help persons with disabilities pursue careers in STEM; to build tools for students with disabilities that can quickly be developed and effectively deployed in the educational environment; and to investigate effective instructional methods and practices for people with disabilities in STEM. There is a formative and summative project evaluation plan being conducted by an external evaluator, Donald Stenhoff, from the University of Kentucky. Additional formative project input is provided by a team of expert internal and external advisors that includes Anita Aaron from the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind; Dmitri Belser from the Center for Accessible Technology; John Brabyn from the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Blindness and Low Vision; Gene Chelberg from SFSU; James Gammon from UCB; and Ted Hasselbring from Vanderbilt University. There is also a dissemination plan which includes a website for distributing project information, publishing findings in peer-reviewed professional journals, presenting project materials and results at educational technology conferences, and facilitating the transfer of digital pen technology to special education and educational technology fields.