RDE-FRI: Supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing Undergraduate Students in STEM Field Settings with Remote Speech-to-Text Services

RDE-FRI项目：通过远程语音到文本服务支持STEM领域的聋人和重听本科生，是一个为期24个月，价值299,995美元的项目，由残疾教育研究（RDE）项目的重点研究计划（FRI）资助。该项目旨在解决失聪和重听（D/HH）学生在各种室外和室内环境中无线接入实时语音转文本服务（RT-STS）的未满足需求。该项目的主要目标是开发辅助技术，使D/HH本科生能够使用手持设备（如手机或个人数字助理）在远程现场科学设置中查看RT-STS。第二个项目目标是评估远程语音转文本服务在远程科学领域环境下帮助学生交流和学习的程度。这个高素质和经验丰富的团队，由一名聋人研究员领导，正在进行的工作建立在该团队目前在罗切斯特理工学院（RIT）的nsf资助项目（0633928）和两个(2)美国教育部项目（H327A050064-06; H327A070085）的基础上。项目团队正在与来自RIT国家聋人技术研究所的38名D/HH本科生合作，对RT-STS进行开发、现场测试和修改；其中16名学生视力也很差，所以我们正在评估这个设备对视力和听力有障碍的学生的易用性。现场测试的最大部分是在博士/硕士本科生参加环境科学课程的实地考察时进行的。除了在实地考察期间和之后从教师和学生用户那里收集数据外，该团队还就新的RT-STS设备的可行性和可用性进行了焦点小组讨论。RT-STS对学生学习影响的定量和定性评估侧重于使用新技术后学生STEM内容知识的变化。该项目实现了FRI轨道目标中的第(3)项：鼓励研究和开发具体而实用的辅助技术，以帮助残疾人士从事STEM职业；为残疾学生建立可迅速发展及有效应用于教育环境的工具；并通过在教育环境中实施技术的使用，为残疾人在STEM方面的教育增加价值。该项目包括一个形成性和总结性的项目评估计划，由一位经验丰富的第三方评估人员，来自鲍灵格林州立大学的Martha Gaustad博士进行评估。项目传播计划包括在美国高等教育与残疾协会、美国教育研究协会和大学科学教师协会的年度会议上发表的预期报告，以及网站材料、在同行评审的专业期刊上发表的计划文章，以及与招收大量目前使用STS进行STEM的D/HH学生的大专院校分享结果。路易斯安那州立大学、迈阿密戴德学院、威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校、杰克逊维尔州立大学和卑尔根社区学院。

The project RDE-FRI: Supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing Undergraduate Students in STEM Field Settings with Remote Speech-to-Text Services, is a 24-month, $299,995 dollar award funded by the Research in Disabilities Education (RDE) program's Focused Research Initiatives (FRI) track. This project is addressing the unmet need for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) students to have wireless access to real-time speech-to-text services (RT-STS) in varied outdoor and indoor settings. The primary goal of this project is to develop assistive technology that allows D/HH undergraduate students to view RT-STS in remote field science settings using a handheld device, such as a cellular phone or personal digital assistant. A secondary project goal is to evaluate the extent that remote speech-to-text services aid students' communication and learning in remote science field settings. This highly qualified and experienced team, which is led by a Deaf researcher, is conducting work that builds on the team's current NSF-funded project (0633928) and two (2) U.S. Education Department projects (H327A050064-06; H327A070085) at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). The project team is working with 38 D/HH undergraduate students from RIT's National Technical Institute for the Deaf to conduct development, field-testing and modifications for the RT-STS; 16 of the students also have low vision so that the accessibility of the device for students who have vision and hearing impairments is being evaluated. The largest portion of field-testing is being conducted when D/HH undergraduate students participate in the field visits for their environmental science courses. In addition to collecting data from instructor and student users during and after real-world field visits, the team is conducting focus groups regarding the feasibility and usability of the new RT-STS devices. A quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the impact of the RT-STS on student learning focuses on the changes in students' STEM content knowledge as a result of using the new technology. The project addresses (3) of the 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 be quickly developed and effectively deployed in the educational environment; and to add value to the education of persons with disabilities in STEM by implementing the use of technologies in educational environments. This project includes a formative and summative project evaluation plan with an experienced third-party evaluator, Dr. Martha Gaustad from Bowling Green State University. The project dissemination plan includes expected presentations at the annual conference of the American Association of Higher Education and Disability, the American Educational Research Association and the Society of College Science Teachers, as well as website materials, planned articles in peer-reviewed professional journals, and sharing results with post-secondary institutions that enroll large numbers of D/HH students currently using STS for STEM: Louisiana State University, Miami-Dade College, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Jacksonville State University and Bergen Community College.