Engaging Blind, Visually Impaired, and Sighted Students in STEM with Storytelling through Podcasts

该项目将通过播客技术的参与，扩大盲人和视障（BVI）以及有视力的高年级学生对STEM的参与。BVI个人在STEM劳动力中的代表性显着不足。研究表明，英属维尔京群岛学生在追求STEM领域的教育途径时面临许多障碍，从早期教育开始。这些障碍包括学生和教师对英属维尔京群岛人从事STEM职业的能力持消极态度，以及课堂上缺乏英属维尔京群岛可获得的STEM资源。该项目建立在儿童科学播客Tumble的成功基础上，让BVI学生参与播客的使用和开发，以促进STEM学习和职业意识。此外，该项目还探讨了如何使用播客来吸引BVI学生在课堂上的参与，并对所有学生使用数字媒体产生更广泛的影响。它为教育工作者将播客和播客技术融入课堂奠定了基础，BVI学生可以使用。Tumble将制作各种以英属维尔京群岛和残疾科学家为特色的播客。教师将指导学生使用这些片段作为制作自己的科学播客的基础-发展想法，采访科学家，编写脚本和编辑音频。12个英属维尔京群岛和综合教室将参与设计测试这一课程。最后的材料将在一个门户网站上免费提供，全世界的学生和教师都可以查阅，Tumble的英属维尔京群岛节目也将免费提供，估计全世界有20万听众。此外，这些剧集还将被改编成西班牙语，并在Tumble的西班牙语播客上发布。虽然许多教师已经开始在课堂上使用播客，但很少有关于播客作为一种向K-12学生传播信息的技术或播客如何作为课堂教学/学习工具的研究，特别是为了满足BVI学生的需求。该项目在探索小学高年级学生（3-5年级）使用播客技术进行科学学习的成果方面具有创新性，特别侧重于支持英属维尔京群岛学生的访问。项目目标解决以下问题：1）如何收听和制作播客技术提高BVI和视力正常的学生对STEM职业的认识和兴趣？2)介绍英属维尔京群岛科学家及其工作如何使残疾人参与科学和科学研究正常化？3)这在多大程度上导致了所有学生的同情心，以及英属维尔京群岛学生在科学方面的“可能自我”感？该项目是一个数据收集和设计测试的迭代过程。它从第1年和第2年的前端研究开始，评估文献，从播客专业人士，BVI科学家和倡导者那里获得见解，聘请教师设计小组，并对教师进行全国调查。播客专业人士，BVI科学家和教师的访谈和焦点小组将使用归纳开放编码进行分析。将分析全国教师调查（n=500）的频率和中心趋势，以及推断统计（例如，组间比较、按感兴趣的变量进行比较）将用于探索解释变量。在第二年，将对英属维尔京群岛和视力正常的学生的小学高年级教室的资源进行设计测试。它将依赖于一个12人的设计测试小组，并将涉及问卷调查和焦点小组，网站分析数据，以及至少六个课堂观察。一项效能研究将在2 - 3年级进行，结合教师使用资源的自然主义研究和准实验研究，以了解英属维尔京群岛和视力正常的学生的结果。自然主义的研究将集中在12个教室和联合收割机结合定期书面反馈与访谈，网络分析和课堂观察系统。准实验研究在12个教室，240名学生（在嵌套设计）包括教师访谈，观察和学生回顾性后调查。该项目由学生和教师创新技术体验（ITEST）计划资助，该计划支持建立对实践，计划元素，背景和过程的理解的项目，有助于增加学生对科学，技术，工程，信息和通信技术（ICT）该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will broaden participation in STEM for blind and visually impaired (BVI) and sighted upper elementary students through engagement with podcast technology. BVI individuals are significantly underrepresented in the STEM workforce. Research has shown that BVI students face many obstacles in pursuing education pathways to STEM fields, beginning in early education. These obstacles include negative attitudes of both students and teachers regarding the ability for BVI persons to engage in STEM careers, and the lack of BVI-accessible STEM resources in classrooms. This project builds on the success of the children’s science podcast, Tumble, to engage BVI students in the use and development of podcasts to promote STEM learning and career awareness. In addition, this project explores how podcasts can be used to engage BVI students in the classroom, with broader implications for digital media use for all students. It lays the foundation for educators to integrate podcasts and podcast technology into the classroom, in a way that is accessible for BVI students. Tumble will produce a variety of podcasts featuring BVI and disabled scientists. Teachers will guide students in using these episodes as the basis for producing their own science podcasts - developing ideas, interviewing scientists, writing scripts, and editing audio. Twelve BVI and integrated classrooms will be involved in design-testing this curriculum. The final materials will be made freely available in a web portal, where students and teachers around the world can access it. Tumble’s BVI episodes will also be freely available and will reach its estimated 200,000 listeners worldwide. Additionally, the episodes will be adapted into Spanish, and released on Tumble’s Spanish-language podcast feed.While many teachers have begun using podcasts in the classroom, there is little research around podcasts as a technology to disseminate information to K-12 students or how podcasts can be used as a teaching/learning tool in classrooms, especially to meet the needs of BVI students. This project is innovative in its approach to exploring outcomes of engaging upper elementary students (grades 3-5) with podcast technology for science learning, with a particular focus on supporting access for BVI students. Project goals address the following questions: 1) How can listening to and producing podcast technology increase awareness and interest in STEM careers for BVI and sighted students? 2) How does featuring BVI scientists and their work normalize participation of persons with disabilities in science and scientific research? 3) To what degree does this lead to empathy in all students, and to a sense of “possible selves” in science for BVI students? The project is an iterative process of data collection and design testing. It begins with a front-end research study in Years 1 and 2, to evaluate the literature, gain insight from podcast professionals, BVI scientists and advocates, engage a teacher design group, and conduct a national survey of teachers. Interviews and focus groups with podcast professionals, BVI scientists and teachers will be analyzed using inductive open coding. The national survey of teachers (n=500) will be analyzed for frequencies and central tendencies, and inferential statistics (e.g., comparisons between groups, comparisons by variables of interest) will be used for exploring explanatory variables. In year-2, design testing of the resources in upper elementary classrooms with BVI and sighted students will take place. It will rely on a 12-person design tester group and will involve questionnaires and focus groups, website analytic data, and at least six classroom observations. An efficacy study will be conducted in Years 2 & 3, combining a naturalistic study of the use of the resources by teachers with a quasi-experimental study to understand outcomes for BVI and sighted students. The naturalistic study will focus on 12 classrooms and combine a system of regular written feedback with interviews, web analytics and classroom observations. The quasi-experimental study in 12 classrooms with 240 students (in a nested design) involves teacher interviews, observations and a student retrospective post-survey. This project is funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.