The Signing Science Dictionary Project

项目总结：签约科学词典项目工作总结。在这个RDE-FRI项目中，TERC和Vcom3D将使用SigningAvataraccessibility软件开发一个交互式3D科学术语和定义词典，以支持失聪或听力障碍且母语为手语的中小学生访问基于标准的科学内容；评估使用词典在多大程度上促进了对科学内容的理解、对科学的兴趣和独立学习的能力；并创建一个更强大的手势/面部表情/身体空间库，用于开发词典的后续卷或支持手势化身的其他科学材料。在两年后，产品将包括：强大的3D交互式手语虚拟化身词典，从小学和初中教室使用的教学材料中识别出至少1300个关键科学术语；关于词典有效性的定性和定量学生和教师实地测试数据分析结果报告；在阿凡达角色的符号/面部表情/身体空间词汇中增加了新的技术符号词汇，涉及生命、物理、地球和空间科学以及科学探究等领域。知识的优点。该项目是TERC和Vcom3D之间的第三次合作，并利用了两次合作的成果。TERC成立于1965年，是一家非营利性教育研究和发展组织，致力于为所有学生改善科学、数学和技术的教学。Vcom3D是一家女性拥有和管理的小型企业，成立于1997年，是SigningAvatar无障碍软件的开发商。2001年，合作伙伴共同努力，首次联合力量，为三个名为EnViSci网络的小学和初中科学课程单元提供了网络活动。（SigningAvatar软件的开发、EnViSci网络和这第一次合作的部分资金是由美国国家科学基金会提供的。）研究结果表明，所有完成签名单元的学生的测试后得分明显高于完成匹配的前测试的学生；测试后的分数也与听力正常的学生相似。意识到“阿凡达”的好处，以及即使是最广泛使用的教学材料也不可能逐个签名的成本和时间，合作伙伴探索了将“阿凡达签名”软件更广泛地集成到科学材料中的替代方法。于是出现了一种交互式的3D词典，其中包含有签名的科学术语和定义，可以作为教学和学习的通用工具，独立于现有的课程或使用的材料。在美国NEC基金会的资助下，合作伙伴开始了第二次合作，并开发了一个包含300个词的词典原型。“签名科学词典”项目，以及合作伙伴之间的第三次合作，建立在他们收集的知识基础上。更广泛的影响。根据《残疾人教育法》（IDEA）和2001年《不让一个孩子掉队法》（No Child Left Behind Act）的要求，该词典旨在为目标人群中的大约5万名学生提供服务，这些学生需要获得与残疾学生相同的内容。该词典将为这一目标群体的成员提供更多的机会，让他们像听力正常的学生一样，进行严格的科学研究，这些研究可能会导致他们的职业体系，并在一生中得到扩展。它还将为教师提供一个识别标志库，以便与学生一起学习科学思想。与现有词典不同的是，这款史无前例的产品将允许用户从一系列具有不同个性和面部表情的字符中进行选择，改变签名速度，并在选定的术语及其在美国手语（ASL）或手语英语（SE）中的定义上签名。作为一个单独的CD-ROM提供给Windows操作系统使用，这个完整的辅助工具将需要低带宽，可以在有或没有互联网连接的情况下使用。由一家大出版商出版将导致词典在全国范围内的传播。词典中的术语将通过Vcom3D提供给出版商、开发人员和教育工作者，以签署其他词典或科学材料。

Project Summary: The Signing Science Dictionary ProjectSummary of Work. With this RDE-FRI project, TERC and Vcom3D will use the SigningAvataraccessibility software to develop an interactive 3D dictionary of science terms and definitions to supportaccess to standards-based science content among elementary and middle-grade students who are deaf orhard of hearing and whose first language is sign; evaluate the extent to which use of the dictionaryfurthers understanding of science content, interest in science, and the ability to study independently; andcreate a more robust sign/facial expression/body space library for use in developing subsequent volumesof the dictionary or in SigningAvatar-enabling other science materials. At the end of two years,products will include: robust 3D interactive SigningAvatar-enabled dictionary of at least 1,300 key science termsidentified from instructional materials used in elementary and middle grade classrooms; report of findings from analysis of qualitative and quantitative student and teacher field-test dataabout the effectiveness of the dictionary; addition of new vocabulary of technical signs to the Avatar characters' sign/facial expression/bodyspace lexicon in the areas of life, physical, earth and space science, and scientific inquiry.Intellectual Merits. The project represents a third collaboration between TERC and Vcom3D andleverages findings from two existing collaborations. Founded in 1965, TERC is a not-for-profit educationresearch and development organization dedicated to the improvement of science, mathematics, andtechnology teaching and learning for all students. Vcom3D is a female owned and managed smallbusiness, founded in 1997, and the developers of the SigningAvatar accessibility software. In 2001,working together, the partners combined forces for the first time to SigningAvatar-enable the webactivities for three of the elementary and middle-grade science curriculum units called EnViSci Network.(Development of the SigningAvatar software, EnViSci Network, and this first collaboration werefunded, in part, by NSF.) Findings show all students who completed the signed units had significantlyhigher post-test scores compared to those on matched pre-tests; post-test scores were also similar to thosefor hearing students. Realizing the benefits of the Avatar and that cost and time preclude one-by-onesigning of even the most widely used instructional materials, the partners explored alternative means forintegrating the SigningAvatar software into science materials on a broader scale. What emerged was theneed for an interactive 3D dictionary of signed science terms and definitions that could be used as auniversal tool for teaching and learning independent of the curriculum in place or materials being used.With funding from NEC Foundation of America, the partners embarked on a second collaboration anddeveloped a 300-term prototype of such a dictionary. The Signing Science Dictionary project, and thirdcollaboration between the partners, builds on their collected knowledge.Broader Impacts. The proposed dictionary is designed to serve the approximately 50,000 students in thetarget population who require services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) andare required by it and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to have access to the same content asstudents with disabilities. The dictionary will offer members of this target population greater access to thesame opportunities as hearing students for rigorous science study that can potentially lead to careers inSTEM and expand over a lifetime. It will also offer teachers a library of recognized signs for studyingscientific ideas with students. Unlike existing dictionaries, this first-of-its kind product will allow users toselect from a range of characters with different personalities and facial expressions, to alter the speed ofsigning, and to sign a selected term and its definition in American Sign Language (ASL) or SignedEnglish (SE). Delivered as a single CD-ROM for use with a Windows operating system, this completeassistive tool will require low bandwidth and can be used with and without an Internet connection.Publication by a major publisher will result in dissemination of the dictionary nationally. Terms in thelexicon will be available through Vcom3D to publishers, developers, and educators to sign otherdictionaries or science materials.