Increasing access to chemistry for high schoolers with blindness: a program to jump start Central Texas

项目摘要：盲生在化学方面面临明显的偏见和系统性的排斥。这个 患有BLV的学生尤其无法进入化学实验室--这是“禁区”。精致的3D 化学的图像也仍然无法访问，因为将教科书中的每个图像可视化需要一个 大型手持式模型。把学生排除在“中心”科学之外--从它的工具、数据和图像中-- 会抑制其他STEM领域的学习。在德克萨斯州，11,000名儿童和年轻人(0- 22)失明或低视力(BLV)。德克萨斯州盲人和视障人士学校(TSBVI) 每年培养约600名K-12学生。这个项目的目标是增加人们接触化学的机会 TSBVI(9-12年级)高中生的实验室、仪器、数据和图像。该项目 小组成员包括：(I)五名博士级别的化学家(三名从童年或出生起就完全失明)，(Ii) 1名贝勒大学的特殊教育工作者，(3)5名TSBVI教师和无障碍专家，以及(4) 贝勒大学实验室安全项目经理。特殊研究体验(SRE) 贝勒大学计划每年招收30名TSBVI高中生。这两天 体验将伴随着实验前和实验后的触觉课程、安全培训和角色 盲目的博士化学家的建模。在目标1中，正在为可持续发展教育编制无障碍课程 通过3D打印、触觉打印、盲文打印和录音。在目标1中，毫米级“微米 还在设计和开发3D图像的“模型”(作为传统大型 触觉模型)。TSBVI学生通过口头和手工可视化这些微观模型的能力 在SRE的过程中进行了立体认知测试。在目标2中，贝勒的实验室空间正在进行改造，以便于进入 对于TSBVI学生，进行目标3中描述的四个SRE。配备实验室涉及使用 技术“解决方案(例如，称重、分配和混合固体和液体的机器人)和”低技术实验室黑客“。在……里面 目标3，将为15名TSBVI新生提供四种不同的特殊研究体验 学期(学生每年分配不同的SRE)。两个SRE涉及工业上的合成 重要的分子，使用贝勒大学的机器人反应堆，它被安全地封闭在一个密闭的， 防爆手套箱。另外两个SRE允许学生使用电子和原子力显微镜和 触觉打印以可视化纳米级分子组件(例如，蛋白质纤维和碳水化合物鳞片 蝴蝶翅膀)。这四种经验将为学生提供显微镜知识； 光谱；简单的有机反应；蛋白质聚集。学生们将会学到他们可以想象 通过触觉图形从显微镜获得最高分辨率的图像。学生们将了解到他们可以安全地 使用手套箱内的机器人进行化学合成。这一假设在随机对照中进行了检验 试验表明，SRE将提高TSBVI学生对STEM的兴趣、信心和归属感。

Project Summary: Students with blindness face explicit bias and systemic exclusion in chemistry. The chemistry laboratory remains especially inaccessible—“off limits”—to students with BLV. The exquisite 3D imagery of chemistry also remains inaccessible, as visualizing each image in a textbook would require a large hand-held model. Excluding students from the “central” science—from its tools, data, and imagery— can inhibit learning in other STEM fields. In the state of Texas, 11,000 children and young adults (age 0- 22) have blindness or low vision (BLV). The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) educates ~ 600 K-12 students per year. The objectives of this project are to increase access to chemistry labs, instrumentation, data, and imagery for high school students at TSBVI (grades 9-12). The project team involves: (i) five PhD-level chemists (three have been completely blind from childhood or birth), (ii) one special educator at Baylor University, (iii) five TSBVI teachers and accessibility specialists, and (iv) the Laboratory Safety Program Manager at Baylor University. Special Research Experiences (SRE’s) have been planned at Baylor University for 30 new TSBVI high school students per year. These two-day experiences will be accompanied by pre-lab and post-lab tactile curriculum, safety training, and role modeling from PhD chemists with blindness. In Aim 1, accessible curriculum is being developed for SRE’s via 3D printing, tactile printing, Braille printing, and audio recording. In Aim 1, millimeter-scale “micro models” of 3D images are also being designed and developed (as an alternative to conventional large tactile models). The ability of TSBVI students to visualize these micro models by oral and manual stereognosis is tested during SRE’s. In Aim 2, lab spaces at Baylor are being modified to be accessible to TSBVI students, to conduct the four SRE’s described in Aim 3. Outfitting the lab involves use of “high tech” solutions (e.g., robots that weigh, dispense and mix solids and liquids) and “low tech lab hacks”. In Aim 3, four different Special Research Experiences will be provided to 15 new TSBVI students per semester (students assigned a different SRE each year). Two SRE’s involve the synthesis of industrially important molecules, using a robotic reactor at Baylor University that is safely enclosed inside an air-tight, blast-proof glove box. Two other SRE’s allow students to use electron and atomic force microscopy and tactile printing to visualize nanoscale molecular assemblies (e.g., protein fibrils and carbohydrate scales of butterfly wings). The four experiences will provide students with knowledge of microscopy; mass spectrometry; simple organic reactions; and protein aggregation. Students will learn that they can visualize the highest resolution imagery from microscopy via tactile graphics. Students will learn that they can safely do chemical synthesis using robots inside glove boxes. The hypothesis, tested in a randomized control trial, is that SRE’s will increase TSBVI student interest, confidence, and sense of belonging in STEM.