In this paper we compare pre-COVID-19 and post-2021 Tactile Mental Cutting Test assessment data from blind or low-vision participants including scores and test duration between 2019 and 2022. Results show a statistically significant difference in how long it took participants to complete the TMCT between the two timeframes.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David SearleDaniel KaneNatalie ShaheenWade Goodridge
This paper presents a continued reliability analysis of the parallel TMCT subtests A & B with the BLV population. Data was collected from BLV participants attending National Federation of the Blind (NFB) conventions, learning centers for the blind, and STEM-oriented NFB summer camps for high school students.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Candice HamiltonEmily StratmanDaniel KaneJenny Lee BlonquistNatalie ShaheenWade Goodridge
resourceresearchMuseum and Science Center Exhibits
This paper explores data collected from BLV participants who completed a TMCT test at National Federation of the Blind (NFB) sponsored summer programs for BLV youth, blindness training centers, and state and national NFB conventions. Raw scores from each TMCT participant were analyzed and ranked into high, medium, and low performing groups to help identify main characteristics of each group.
The purpose of this research paper is to explore advantages and disadvantages of conducting an engineering experience for blind and low vision (BLV) participants in a virtual/online environment. This experience was designed to expose BLV high school students to engineering content and enhance their spatial ability. Spatial ability is an intelligence generally defined as the ability to generate, retain, retrieve, and transform well-structured visual images and is particularly important to fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). A variety of spatial ability constructs have
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Gary TimkoNatalie ShaheenWade GoodridgeTheresa GreenDaniel Kane
resourceresearchMuseum and Science Center Exhibits
The impetus behind this effort was to create a platform for initial support to TEE professionals who may have a blind and low-vision (BLV) student in their courses. Specific examples, instructions, and applications for many of the commonly-used tools and techniques are included here as part of this overall effort to teach TEE concepts through socially relevant contexts by adapting older methods to facilitate new opportunities in our school systems for BLV youth.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Scott Bartholomew Wade GoodridgeNatalie ShaheenAnne Cunningham
The purpose of this project is to establish and foster a new partnership between the University of Alabama and Arts 'n Autism, a community organization that provides supervised after-school care and outreach to children and youth with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Informal STEM learning experiences (ISLEs), such as participating in science, computing, and engineering clubs and camps, have been associated with the development of youth’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics interests and career aspirations. However, research on ISLEs predominantly focuses on institutional settings such as museums and science centers, which are often discursively inaccessible to youth who identify with minoritized demographic groups. Using latent class analysis, we identify five general profiles (i.e., classes) of childhood participation in ISLEs from data
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Remy DouHeidi CianZahra HazariPhilip SadlerGerhard Sonnert
"Making and Tinkering" links science, technology, engineering and mathematics learning (STEM) to the do-it-yourself "maker" movement, where people of all ages "create and share things in both the digital and physical world" (Resnick & Rosenbaum, 2013). This paper examines designing what Resnick and Rosenbaum (2013) call "contexts for tinkerability" within the social design experiment of El Pueblo Mágico (EPM) -- a design approach organized around a cultural historical view of learning and development. We argue that this theoretical perspective reorganizes normative approaches to STEM education
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Lisa SchwartzDaniela DigiacomoKris Gutierrez
This paper examines the differences and challenges encountered when trying to create informal blended (virtual and hands-on) engineering design STEM activities. It contrasts the creation of STEM activities for formal and informal learning environments, stressing that the differences extend far beyond the length of the activity or depth of any learning goals. The discussion begins with an examination of differences between the two learning environments that need to be taken into consideration. These differences include the physical environments, organizational structures, and the goals or
This paper discusses findings from the use of the Wise Guys and Gals (WGG) Observation of WGG Youth Protocol in a blended learning environment. The protocol was used to assess youth engagement when completing blended engineering design challenges at two Boys and Girls Clubs. WGG is a project funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation and which brings blended learning design challenges to middle school aged learners in informal STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) settings. This paper explores the feasibility of using the observation protocol to collect data
Background. STEM identity has emerged as an important research topic and a predictor of how youth engage with STEM inside and outside of school. Although there is a growing body of literature in this area, less work has been done specific to engineering, especially in out-of-school learning contexts.
Methods. To address this need, we conducted a qualitative investigation of five adolescent youth participating in a four-month afterschool engineering program. The study focused on how participants negotiated engineering-related identities through ongoing interactions with activities, peers