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

增加失明高中生接触化学的机会：一项启动德克萨斯州中部的计划

• 批准号: 10449818
• 负责人: Bryan F. Shaw
• 金额: $ 26.91万
• 依托单位: BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-04-01 至 2027-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10449818
• 关键词: 3-Dimensional; 3D Print; Acetates; Affect; Age; Air; Amyloid Proteins; Atomic Force Microscopy; Banana; Birth; Blindness; Butterflies; Candy; Carbohydrates; Chemicals; Chemistry; Child; Childhood; Code; Collaborations; Computer Interface; Dangerousness; Data; Doctor of Philosophy; Dose; Drops; Educational Curriculum; Electron Microscopy; Electrons; Evaluation; Exclusion; Face; Faculty; Feedback; Fingers; Funding; Hand; High School Student; Image; Imagery; Industrialization; Institutional Review Boards; K-12 student; Knowledge; Label; Laboratories; Learning; Letters; Liquid substance; Manuals; Mass Spectrum Analysis; Methods; Microscopy; Modeling; Oral; Oral cavity; Outcome; Paper; Parafilm; Pliability; Printing; Proteins; Protocols documentation; Randomized; Randomized Controlled Trials; Reaction; Research; Research Design; Research Personnel; Resolution; Robot; Robotics; STEM field; STEM student; Safety; Schools; Science; Services; Silicon Dioxide; Skin; Solid; Special Education; Specialist; Stereognosis; Structure; Students; Surveys; Tactile; Technology; Testing; Texas; Textbooks; Thin Layer Chromatography; Three-Dimensional Image; Tongue; Training; Underrepresented Populations; Universities; Vision; Visual; Visual impairment; Visualization; Visually Impaired Students; Wing; blind; braille; chemical property; chemical synthesis; college; cost; design; developmental prosopagnosia; early experience; experience; explicit bias; high school; implicit bias; instrumentation; interest; laboratory curriculum; machine vision; millimeter; molecular assembly/self assembly; nanoscale; pedagogy; programs; protein aggregation; protein folding; robotic device; role model; teacher; three-dimensional modeling; tool; touchscreen; vanillin; young adult

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.

项目摘要：失明学生在化学方面面临明显的偏见和系统性的排斥。这 对于患有 BLV 的学生来说，化学实验室仍然特别难以进入——“禁区”。精致的3D 化学图像也仍然无法访问，因为可视化教科书中的每个图像都需要 大型手持模型。将学生排除在“核心”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 名儿童和青少年（0 岁至 22) 失明或视力低下 (BLV)。德克萨斯州盲人和视力障碍学校 (TSBVI) 每年教育约 600 名 K-12 学生。该项目的目标是增加化学的获取 为 TSBVI 高中生（9-12 年级）提供实验室、仪器、数据和图像。项目 团队成员包括：（i）五名博士级化学家（其中三人从童年或出生起就完全失明），（ii） 贝勒大学的一名特殊教育工作者，(iii) 五名 TSBVI 教师和无障碍专家，以及 (iv) 贝勒大学实验室安全项目经理。特殊研究经历（SRE） 贝勒大学计划每年招收 30 名 TSBVI 高中新生。这两天 体验将伴随着实验前和实验后的触觉课程、安全培训和角色培训 来自失明的化学博士的建模。在目标 1 中，正在为 SRE 开发无障碍课程 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 3D 图像的“模型”也正在设计和开发中（作为传统大型图像的替代品） 触觉模型）。 TSBVI 学生通过口头和手动方式可视化这些微观模型的能力 立体认知在 SRE 期间进行测试。在目标 2 中，贝勒大学的实验室空间正在改造为无障碍环境 向 TSBVI 学生提供目标 3 中描述的四项 SRE。实验室的装备涉及使用“高 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”。 目标 3，将向每名 15 名新 TSBVI 学生提供四种不同的特殊研究经历 学期（学生每年分配不同的 SRE）。两个 SRE 涉及工业合成 重要的分子，使用贝勒大学的机器人反应器，该反应器安全地封闭在气密的内部， 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 触觉印刷使纳米级分子组装体（例如蛋白质原纤维和碳水化合物尺度）可视化 蝴蝶翅膀）。这四次体验将为学生提供显微镜知识；大量的 光谱测定；简单的有机反应；和蛋白质聚集。学生将了解到他们可以想象 通过触觉图形从显微镜中获得最高分辨率的图像。学生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。该假设在随机对照中得到检验 试验的重点是 SRE 将提高 TSBVI 学生对 STEM 的兴趣、信心和归属感。