The Tactile Universe: accessible astrophysics for vision impaired school children

触觉宇宙：为视力障碍学童提供易懂的天体物理学

• 批准号: ST/S000119/1
• 负责人: Jennifer Gupta
• 金额: $ 7.44万
• 依托单位: University of Portsmouth
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2018 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FS000119%2F1
• 关键词: Tactile; Universe; accessible; astrophysics; vision

The Tactile Universe is an award-winning public engagement project at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth. The project aims to make astrophysics research accessible to people with vision impairments (VI), with a particular focus on children aged 9 - 14. The Tactile Universe is different from other VI-accessible astronomy outreach projects in that 1) we are engaging the VI community with current research, rather than the more basic astronomy concepts like constellations, and 2) we are showing that astrophysics can be a possible route of study and future career, not just a hobby. The Project Lead is Dr Nic Bonne, who is a blind astrophysicist himself. Over 16,500 school pupils in the UK are recorded as having a vision impairment as their primary or secondary special education need. Research by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) shows that the attainment levels of these school pupils with VI are consistently lower than that for all pupils. University physics students with VI are almost non-existent. Through this project, we aim to inspire and engage with this underserved audience in physics public engagement, and open up astrophysics to a community that is under-represented in the field.The project uses 3D printers to create tactile 3D models of galaxies, where the image is raised above the base depending on the brightness of each pixel. We have already successfully completed a pilot project, and are now working with local schools during Phase One. This Nucleus Award proposal is for Phase Two of the project, where we will greatly expand the reach of the project, making our resources accessible to any child with VI in the UK, and ensuring that the project becomes self-sustainable beyond the current timeline. We will do this by working with our project partners RNIB, the South East Physics Network (SEPnet), the Ogden Trust, and the Royal Astronomical Society, through four interlinked strands. We will:1. Create files and documentation needed to make and use our resources freely available online under a Creative Commons license, so that anyone with access to a 3D printer can recreate our models and deliver our activities. 2. Make kits containing our 3D models, activity guides, and any other resources required to run our activities. These kits will be distributed to public engagement and education organisations that cannot 3D print their own set of resources. 3. Train other public engagement practitioners and educators across the UK to use our resources, and connect attendees with their local VI-supporting schools and wider community. 4. Tour the Tactile Universe visiting remote communities to deliver sessions in schools that are not within our usual reach or that of the people who attend our training sessions (e.g. remote Wales, Scotland, Cornwall).

触觉宇宙是朴茨茅斯大学宇宙学与引力研究所的一个获奖的公众参与项目。该项目的目的是使有视力障碍的人，特别是9 - 14岁的儿童，能够进行天体物理学研究。触觉宇宙与其他VI可访问的天文学外展项目不同，因为1）我们正在让VI社区参与当前的研究，而不是更基本的天文学概念，如星座，2）我们正在展示天体物理学可以是一种可能的学习和未来职业路线，而不仅仅是一种爱好。项目负责人是尼克·邦恩博士，他本人也是一位盲人天体物理学家。据记录，英国有超过16，500名小学生因视力障碍而需要接受小学或中学特殊教育。皇家国家盲人研究所的研究表明，这些患有视障的学生的成绩一直低于所有学生。大学物理专业的VI学生几乎不存在。通过这个项目，我们的目标是激发和吸引这些在物理学公共参与方面服务不足的观众，并向该领域代表性不足的社区开放天体物理学。该项目使用3D打印机创建星系的触觉3D模型，其中图像根据每个像素的亮度高于底部。我们已成功完成一项试验计划，现正与本地学校合作进行第一阶段的工作。这个核心奖的建议是为第二阶段的项目，我们将大大扩大该项目的影响范围，使我们的资源提供给任何儿童与VI在英国，并确保该项目成为自我可持续超越目前的时间轴。我们将通过与我们的项目合作伙伴RNIB，东南物理网络（SEPnet），奥格登信托基金和皇家天文学会合作，通过四个相互关联的链来实现这一目标。我们将：1.创建制作和使用我们的资源所需的文件和文档，这些资源在知识共享许可下可在网上免费获得，因此任何拥有3D打印机的人都可以重新创建我们的模型并交付我们的活动。2.制作包含我们的3D模型，活动指南和运行我们的活动所需的任何其他资源的工具包。这些工具包将分发给无法3D打印自己的资源集的公众参与和教育组织。3.培训英国各地的其他公共参与从业者和教育工作者使用我们的资源，并将与会者与当地支持VI的学校和更广泛的社区联系起来。4.参观Tactile Universe，访问偏远社区，在我们通常无法到达的学校或参加我们培训课程的人（例如偏远的威尔士，苏格兰，康沃尔）提供课程。