This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to addresses the need for improved science literacy and knowledge of young deaf children by producing an e-book series on STEM topics with American Sign Language (ASL) translations. Each e-book will focus on a specific topic and include three original related sub-topic stories. Each story will be accompanied by: 3 interactive learning games (9 in total) that foster developmentally appropriate critical thinking skills with scientific applications; study questions accessible on each screen that provoke further thought and investigation, and recommended experiments to do at home or in the classroom. The topic area chosen for the Phase I e-book is Weather, and the stories will focus on Wind, Temperature, and Rain/Clouds/Rainbows. These e-books will contain options to view the story content in ASL (video), as well as English text and audio. All science terminology will be viewable individually as a sign video clip. All instructions within the e-books will include ASL video translations with voice-over. A Dictionary, accessible through any of the screens, will enable users to read, play ASL video of, and print graphics of the signs and concepts related to all of the scientific vocabulary used in the e-book.
The broader impact of the ASL-translated STEM e-book series is increased knowledge and reading achievement scores of deaf children through the use of these assistive materials. Reading achievement scores of deaf children usually fall far short of those of hearing children with comparable abilities because English is a second language for deaf children (ASL being their primary language). While many deaf students may not understand a sentence in print, they may understand it perfectly if it is presented in ASL. Incorporation of ASL into science content positively impacts on reading achievement and information retention. A major reason deaf people frequently have limited knowledge of science and are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is that much formal scientific information is not in accessible formats. In fact, nearly all scientific information currently available is audio and text-based and without interpretation into sign language. By starting with young children, we can stimulate early interest in STEM fields. This product will be tremendously useful to teachers, parents, speech/language pathologists, etc. who have a need to support understanding of early science instructional materials, and particularly STEM terminology and symbols, with ASL signs for purposes of literacy improvement and curriculum enhancement.
The goal of this Phase I project was to take direction from research in best practices in deaf education for communicating STEM information and nurturing behaviors that foster life-long STEM learning and infuse them into a multimedia science series for young deaf children. This science series, which we have commercialized under the title, Signing Science for Kids, was designed to align with the Common Core State Standards Initiative. Considerable time was spent in researching Common Core State expectations in terms of content, skills, and objectives. These guided direction when gathering background information for the curricular content. Content was carefully written so as to keep the reading at an early elementary level, but to challenge the students with new vocabulary, concepts, and skills. Many strategies recommended for enhancing learning in deaf students and those that we have found through years of building software to be effective with this population were employed, including: Picture menus, icons, and buttons; Directions/instructions in ASL (video) with English voiceover; Opportunities to view screens of content before signing commences; Opportunities to control when ASL video interpretations of text or auditory content are played; A Dictionary of science terminology that is accessible from every screen to assist with vocabulary development. This Dictionary includes the English word and definition, a sign graphic, a concept picture, and ASL video translations of the words and definitions; Study questions for each learning module to provoke thought and further inquiry; Interactive learning games that foster developmentally appropriate critical thinking skills with scientific applications, creativity, and engagement; and Recommendations of experiments to do at home or in the classroom that support concepts learned and reveal practical applications. The work done in Phase I resulted in a fully-developed and commercially-ready online product written in JavaScript. This software works on all major browsers, and on desktops, laptops, and many tablets. This product has been deployed to our production server (http://idrt.com/signingForKids/) and integrated within our suite of online ASL-enhanced assistive technology tools – myASL Tech, some of which have been developed with SBIR funding support. The software that resulted from Phase I includes: Login capabilities tethered to each lab (topic) menu; Content for three topic areas: (1) clouds, (2) temperature, and (3) wind; Content for ten learning modules: (1) cloud facts, (2) weather, (3) cloud types, (4) temperature measurement, (5) wind chill index, (6) heat index, (7) wind movement, (8) wind geography, (9) wind speed, (10) wind direction; Sixteen interactive learning games; Cookies to monitor child achievement on games and questions; Completed graphics for all content screens, menus, buttons, and games; Ten printable experiments; A printable dictionary of approximately 200 terms, accessible from any screen, represented by (1) English word, (2) sign video, (3) sign/concept/word graphic, (4) sign only graphic, (5) concept only graphic, (6) sign video, (7) English definition, and (8) sign definition video; Signed and narrated videos for all of the content and instructions; Integration of the dictionary into the Mongo DB that controls myASL Dictionary in myASL Tech, thereby enhancing by 200 the number of STEM words it offers. There are very few pieces of software on the market that actually interpret academic content into sign language. The few that do mainly focus on signing well-know children’s stories (e.g., Goldilocks and the Three Bears). Overwhelmingly, software available shows signs for single words and occasionally concept pictures. There is little whole language. There are no other online software products that are ASL-accessible, other than dictionaries, which convey scientific content to young deaf children. Though dictionaries with signed interpretations are extremely helpful to deaf children, their parents and teachers, they can only be used as adjuncts to instruction that is typically available only in English text and audio. Consequently, children’s engagement in content is still stymied by overall communication barriers. Signing Science for Kids represents a very unique approach to pulling deaf students into the mainstream of scientific learning because its instructional approach is holistic. There is not one part of the software with which deaf children have to seek outside assistance from a hearing person to access information. Everything is signed, as well as written/spoken and/or pictorial. As more deaf students are integrated into the mainstream, there is an increasing need for science materials that students who rely on ASL can use independently. In this way, they can participate in their classes more effectively, show greater achievement, and develop lifelong interests and competence.
