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

Rde-Firi：使用数字笔音频/触觉图形为盲人本科生提供STEM教育的创新是史密斯-凯特尔韦尔眼科研究基金会和范德比尔特大学的一项为期36个月、价值30万美元的合作奖项，由残疾教育研究(RDE)项目的聚焦研究倡议(FRI)项目资助。该项目的主要目标是开发、评估和传播一种低成本、便携、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创建、探索和理解STEM课程中常见的图表和图形。研究团队正在进行一个三(3)阶段的研究项目，以考察部署数字笔式音频/触觉图形(DPATg)方法的好处，其中包括双手触觉探索、超精细选择分辨率、便携性，以及学生和ESP使用Sewell Raise Line Drawing Kit(SRLDK)和SpotDotView盲文压花机轻松创建特殊内容。在课堂上使用STEM图表观察学生的初始阶段之后，第二阶段包括一系列单一受试者设计的研究，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来测量学生的表现：使用dPATg系统，使用传统的音频/触觉系统，以及不使用先进技术。这个项目建立在美国教育部国家残疾和康复研究所(H133E060001；H133A060056；H133S060103)资助的PI目前和之前在盲人和视障人士使用技术方面的工作的先前成功的基础上。这个经验丰富的团队由一名盲人心理学家和一名教育技术专家领导，受益于与加州大学伯克利分校(UCB)和旧金山州立大学(SFSU)的合作伙伴关系，那里正在观察并招募大约40名盲人本科生参与研究。其他科目从旧金山湾区的社区学院和其他加州州立大学招收。该项目还受益于与Livescribe，Inc.的行业合作伙伴关系，Livescribe，Inc.是一家专门从事数字笔技术开发和制造的公司。该项目涉及RDE-Firi Track的三(3)个目标：鼓励研究和开发特定但实用的辅助技术，以帮助残疾人在STEM追求职业生涯；为残疾学生建立可以快速开发并有效部署在教育环境中的工具；以及为STEM中的残疾人探索有效的教学方法和实践。肯塔基大学的外部评估员Donald Stenhoff正在实施一项形成性和总结性的项目评估计划。其他形成项目的意见由一个内部和外部专家顾问团队提供，其中包括旧金山盲人灯塔的Anita Aaron、无障碍技术中心的Dmitri Belser、失明和低视力康复工程研究中心的John Brabyn、旧金山州立大学的吉恩·切尔伯格、UCB的James Gammon和范德比尔特大学的Ted Hassel。还有一个传播计划，其中包括一个网站，用于分发项目信息，在同行评议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，并促进将数字笔技术转移到特殊教育和教育技术领域。

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.