This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a system to provide text-to-speech capabilities for a vital and popular scientific device thus providing non-visual operating capacity for such a device, an essential feature for blind/print disabled students. The proposed activity is a collaborative venture between a well established educational company, a large research university, and a company that specializes in increasing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) accessibility for blind/print disabled students. The research addresses advancing state-of-the-art educational technologies and will provide insights into topical issues concerning STEM education and careers.
The proposed project addresses this goal by promoting STEM to students with print disabilities via a technology that will increase hands-on accessibility during science education. Students with print disabilities are under-represented in STEM careers. Insufficient hands-on science learning experiences could underlie this under-representation and will be investigated as a possible factor. Understanding such factors could facilitate development of additional technologies and strategies for increasing STEM representation, thus furthering NSF goals. The project will result in a marketable product, and based on an analysis of competitive and alternative technologies, will be in a positive position in the competitive landscape. Commercial benefits of the project involve the creation of employment opportunities in a STEM based educational company focused on increasing accessibility. In addition, this technology can be used both in the laboratory and in the home use. Potential home applications are temperature tracking of food items, GPS navigation, and pH detection for swimming pools. Finally, the innovation will enable data collection without sight or light. Many experiments require dark or low light conditions and the innovation will be instrumental for developing technologies for these experiments and in enabling future discoveries.
Public Report SBIR Phase I Award number: 0945481 Phase I B: 1038830 Students with disabilities that inhibit accessing printed material such as blindness, low vision, and specific learning disabilities are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Underrepresentation begins in college and continues into professional career choices. For the present project, Independence Science LLC, developed and tested software for increasing hands-on access to collection, analysis, and manipulation of scientific data across multiple fields of study (e.g., elementary science, physical science, earth science, chemistry, and physics). This project was a collaborative venture with the department of educational studies at Purdue University, Garth's KidStuff, National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, and Vernier Software & Technology. The LabQuest is a portable data collection device manufactured by Vernier Software & Technology. Portable data collection devices such as the LabQuest are popular educational tools for providing authentic learning. These devices, however, are not accessible by students who are visually impaired or have other print disabilities because they are accessed and operated through a small visually based text-rich touch-screen. In conjunction with Vernier and programming expertise provided by Garth's KidStuff (a software consulting firm), Independence Science developed text-to-speech software to allow individuals with print disabilities access to the LabQuest through means other than the touch-screen. The LabQuest with the text-to-speech software will be commercially available and marketed as the Talking LabQuest. This tool will provide students with print disabilities direct hands-on access to collection of scientific data during classroom laboratory activities. Insufficient hands-on science experiences are believed to contribute to STEM underrepresentation of individuals with print disabilities. Presumably, insufficient hands-on experiences do not allow students to develop sufficient self-confidence in their capacity to independently function in STEM. Insufficient self-confidence in STEM may contribute to underrepresentation. In collaboration with educational researchers at Purdue University, the Talking LabQuest underwent testing at the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Data was collected at multiple levels. These data demonstrate that the Talking LabQuest can be independently operated by blind and low vision students and that it enhances hands-on science involvement. Survey data suggest that the hands-on experiences may be associated with increased self-confidence in science and consideration of STEM studies during college and career choices. In addition, learning was better with Talking compared to non-Talking LabQuests. In sum, data collected during testing of the Talking LabQuest is consistent with the notion that hands-on science experiences are important not only for improving learning but also for developing self-confidence in STEM and consideration of STEM studies in college and as careers. These findings provide educators with evidence concerning potential factors for improving STEM learning and increasing motivation to study STEM. They also underscore the importance of developing technologies such as the Talking LabQuest for increasing STEM representation by individuals with print disabilities.
