DOCSLIB.ORG

The Pennsylvania State University

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Eberly College of Science TEACHING CHEMISTRY AND OTHER SCIENCES TO BLIND AND LOW-VISION STUDENTS THROUGH HANDS-ON LEARNING EXPERIENCES IN HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE LABORATORIES A Dissertation in Chemistry by Cary Alan Supalo 2010 Cary Alan Supalo Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2010 ii The dissertation of Cary Alan Supalo was reviewed and approved* by the following: Thomas Mallouk DuPont Professor of Materials Chemistry and Physics Dissertation Adviser Chair of Committee Karl T. Mueller Professor of Chemistry Mark Maroncelli Professor of Chemistry William Carlsen Professor of Education Department of Curriculum and Instruction George Bodner Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Purdue University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Education, Purdue University Special Member Barbara J. Garrison Shapiro Professor of Chemistry Head of the Department of Chemistry * Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. iii ABSTRACT Students with blindness and low vision (BLV) have traditionally been underrepresented in the sciences as a result of technological and attitudinal barriers to equal access in science laboratory classrooms. The Independent Laboratory Access for the Blind (ILAB) project developed and evaluated a suite of talking and audible hardware/software tools to empower students with BLV to have multisensory, hands-on laboratory learning experiences. This dissertation focuses on the first year of ILAB tool testing in mainstream science laboratory classrooms, and comprises a detailed multi-case study of four students with BLV who were enrolled in high school science classes during 2007-08 alongside sighted students. Participants attended different schools; curricula included chemistry, AP chemistry, and AP physics. The ILAB tools were designed to provide multisensory means for students with BLV to make observations and collect data during standard laboratory lessons on an equivalent basis with their sighted peers. Various qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments were used to determine whether the hands-on experiences facilitated by the ILAB tools had led to increased involvement in laboratory-goal-directed actions, greater peer acceptance in the students’ lab groups, improved attitudes toward science, and increased interest in science. Premier among the ILAB tools was the JAWS/Logger Pro software interface, which made audible all information gathered through standard Vernier laboratory probes and visually displayed through Logger Pro. ILAB tools also included a talking balance, a iv submersible audible light sensor, a scientific talking stopwatch, and a variety of other high-tech and low-tech devices and techniques. While results were mixed, all four participating BLV students seemed to have experienced at least some benefit, with the effect being stronger for some than for others. Not all of the data collection instruments were found to reveal improvements for all of the participating students, but each of the types of data sets provided evidence of benefit for varying subgroups of participants. It is the expectation of the ILAB team that continuing to implement adaptive/assistive technologies for BLV students in science laboratory classrooms will foster enhanced opportunities in science classes and professions. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... x LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ xii ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................... xv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... xvii Chapter 1 Introduction to the Problem .................................................................. 1 Background ....................................................................................................... 2 Introduction to ILAB ........................................................................................ 5 Inclusion in Scientific Communities of Practice ............................................. 11 Overcoming the Barriers .................................................................................. 12 Potential Benefits of ILAB .............................................................................. 14 Chapter 2 Review of the Literature on Teaching Science to Blind and Low-Vision Students ........................................................................... 15 Teaching the Sciences to BLV Students .......................................................... 16 Teaching Chemistry to BLV Students ................................................. 32 Teaching Biology to BLV Students ..................................................... 51 Teaching Physics to BLV Students ...................................................... 57 Summary .......................................................................................................... 64 Chapter 3 Factors in Fostering Students’ Interest in STEM Education: Hands-On Science, Acceptance, Achievement .................................... 66 Hands-On Approaches to Learning ................................................................. 67 Summarizing the Hands-On Literature ................................................ 84 Student Learning: Group Dynamics and Peer Acceptance/Rejection ............. 84 Summarizing the Peer Acceptance/Rejection Literature ..................... 97 Tying the Factors Together .............................................................................. 97 Chapter 4 Methodology ........................................................................................ 99 What Is Qualitative Research? ......................................................................... 99 What Is a Case Study? .................................................................................... 102 Design of Experiment ..................................................................................... 103 Internal Controls ................................................................................. 104 Participant Selection ........................................................................... 105 Data Collection Instruments ........................................................................... 106 Pre- and Post-School-Year Interviews ................................................ 106 Scientific Attitude Inventory II (SAI II) ............................................. 111 Audiovisual Recordings ...................................................................... 114 vi Video Task Analysis ............................................................... 116 Graphic Analysis of Video Data ............................................. 116 Rubric Analysis of Video Data ............................................... 118 Qualitative and Quantitative Case Study Analysis ......................................... 125 Potential Confounding Factors ....................................................................... 129 Chapter 5 ILAB Tools: Development and Utility ............................................... 130 Computer Interfaces in the Science Laboratory Classroom ........................... 130 Evolution of the ILAB Tools .......................................................................... 133 Commercially Available High-Tech Tools ......................................... 135 JAWS/Logger Pro Software Interface ................................................ 137 High-Tech Hardware Developed by ILAB ......................................... 140 Submersible Audible Light Sensor (SALS) ............................ 140 Color Analysis Laboratory Sensor (CALS) ............................ 144 Talking Voltmeter and Scientific Talking Stopwatch (STS) ... 145 Low-Tech Laboratory Tools ............................................................... 146 Summary ......................................................................................................... 148 Chapter 6 Badger High School Case Study ......................................................... 150 Demographics of School ................................................................................. 150 Background of Student ................................................................................... 150 Background of Teacher ................................................................................... 151 Classroom Resources ...................................................................................... 152 Relationship between Investigator, Teacher, BLV Student, and Parents ....... 153 Interview Data ................................................................................................. 154 Excerpts, Summaries, Commentary: Pre-School-Year Student Interview ................................................................................ 154 Excerpts, Summaries, Commentary: Post-School-Year Student Interview ................................................................................ 155 Excerpts, Summaries, Commentary: Post-School-Year Teacher Interview ............................................................................... 157 SAI II Survey Data Pre/Post School Year ...................................................... 158 Overview of the Five
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Fleming Vs. Florey: It All Comes Down to the Mold Kristin Hess La Salle University
    The Histories Volume 2 | Issue 1 Article 3 Fleming vs. Florey: It All Comes Down to the Mold Kristin Hess La Salle University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/the_histories Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Hess, Kristin () "Fleming vs. Florey: It All Comes Down to the Mold," The Histories: Vol. 2 : Iss. 1 , Article 3. Available at: https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/the_histories/vol2/iss1/3 This Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Scholarship at La Salle University Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in The iH stories by an authorized editor of La Salle University Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Histories, Vol 2, No. 1 Page 3 Fleming vs. Florey: It All Comes Down to the Mold Kristen Hess Without penicillin, the world as it is known today would not exist. Simple infections, earaches, menial operations, and diseases, like syphilis and pneumonia, would possibly all end fatally, shortening the life expectancy of the population, affecting everything from family-size and marriage to retirement plans and insurance policies. So how did this “wonder drug” come into existence and who is behind the development of penicillin? The majority of the population has heard the “Eureka!” story of Alexander Fleming and his famous petri dish with the unusual mold growth, Penicillium notatum. Very few realize that there are not only different variations of the Fleming discovery but that there are also other people who were vitally important to the development of penicillin as an effective drug.
    [Show full text]
  • Cave Archaeology and the NSS: 1941–2006
    George Crothers, P. Willey, and Patty Jo Watson – Cave archaeology and the NSS: 1941–2006. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, v. 69, no. 1, p. 27–34. CAVE ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE NSS: 1941–2006 GEORGE CROTHERS1,P.WILLEY2, AND PATTY JO WATSON3 Abstract: Like most other branches of speleology, cave archaeology in the U.S. grew and developed significantly during the mid to late twentieth century. Originally viewed as marginal to mainstream Americanist archaeology, pursuit of prehistoric and historic archaeology underground is now widely accepted as making valuable contributions to knowledge of human past. The National Speleological Society played a central role in that development and continues to do so. We outline the establishment and growth of cave archaeology in North America, with special emphasis on relations between the NSS and archaeology performed in dark zone, deep cave interiors. INTRODUCTION 1920s and 1930s by ‘‘the Caveman,’’ as Neville was often called. The NSS has directly participated in cave archaeology Despite interest in cave archaeology within the NSS through cooperation, education, and conservation. Mem- governance and some portion of the membership during bers of the Society have made notable contributions to the the first few decades after the organization was formed, science by reporting the location of archaeological sites, systematic, long-term archaeological research by pro- participating in their investigation, and by equipping fessional archaeologists in the dark zones of big caves in scientists with the techniques and technology needed to the Americas did not get underway until the 1960s. There work safely in the cave environment (Damon, 1991, p.
    [Show full text]
  • July 1953 3 the SWISS ELECTRIC RAZOR with a PROVEN POPULARITY
    CIATION OF ALUMNI ORGE WILLIAMS COLLEGE Gaiety . charm ... hospitality in the fin est French-Canadian tradition ... make the Hotel de LaSalle th :,~,w•ir~~you,::~::~;:~ in Mon- ~ .- . \~ . .. tasteful dance music. , ':7 cg 5 1k,.~R.eottt, ~~ delightful French-Canadian decor . superbly ~ prepared meals . dancing nightly . ~ e~o~,tfor J~fontreal's literary, musical and theatrical folk . .. made for gay informality . All restaurants are air-canditianed. - 200 modern rooms . .. every convenience for the traveller, presented with Old \Vor:ld courtesy that enables the Hotel de LaSalle to retain its happy combination of modern comfort and picturesque atmosphere. ~ Hotel de LaSalle Drummond at St. Catherine St., Montreal, Que. Published quarterly by The Association of Alumni, Sir George Williams College, 1441 Drummond Street, Montreal 25, Quebec, Canada. Advertising offi ce, 1063 Beaver Hall H ill, Montreal 1. T el. UN. 6-4628. Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa. Printed for the publishers by R apid Press Ltd., Montreal. Editor: BoB HAYES, B.A. Associate Editor: ALEC S. FINEBERG, B. CoM. VOLUME 9, NUMBER 2 VACATIO N ISSUE J U LY 1953 CONTENTS College Counselling Service Claimed Canada's Clearest 3 The Principal 's Page 7 The President's Page 9 Process of Degeneration Sometimes Begins in College 11 Valedictory Address Stresses New Duties and New Burdens 20 One of the most Resourceful Leaders in the Jewish Community . 30 Postgrad Patter 33 A College is what its Students Make it 35 Lost Alumni . 37 A Proud and Happy Occasion 39 Convocation Prizes and Special Awards 41 Service Professions Need Graduates 44 '53 G raduates 45 ~ working with Canadians in every walk of life since 1817 ••• Greenshields & Co Inc Underwriter.
    [Show full text]
  • An Atomic History Chapter 2
    An Atomic History 0-3 8/11/02 7:31 AM Page 18 Chapter Two 19 THE FERMI-SZILARD PILE AND URANIUM RESEARCH The first government funding for nuclear research was allocated to purchase graphite and uranium oxide for the chain reaction experiments being organized by Fermi and World War II and the Manhattan Project Szilard at Columbia University in February 1940.2 This work, which began in New York 2 City, soon spread to Princeton, the University of Chicago, and research institutions in California.3 Even at this stage, the scientists knew that a chain reaction would need three major components in the right combination: fuel, moderator, and coolant. The fuel would contain the fissile material needed to support the fission process. The neutrons generated by the fission process had to be slowed by the moderator so that they could initiate addi- tional fission reactions. The heat that resulted from this process had to be removed by the coolant. Fermi’s initial research explored the possibility of a chain reaction with natural urani- The 1930s were a time of rapid progress in the development of nuclear physics. um. It was quickly determined that high-purity graphite served as the best neutron moder- Research accelerated in the early years of the Second World War, when new developments ator out of the materials then available.4 After extensive tests throughout 1940 and early were conceived and implemented in the midst of increasing wartime urgency. American 1941, Fermi and Szilard set up the first blocks of graphite at Columbia University in government interest in these developments was limited at first, but increased as the war September 1941.
    [Show full text]
  • Uranium Enrichment Processes Directed Self-Study Course! This Is the Fifth of Seven Modules Available in This Self-Study Course
    MODULE 5.0: ELECTROMAGNETIC SEPARATION (CALUTRON) AND THERMAL DIFFUSION Introduction Welcome to Module 5.0 of the Uranium Enrichment Processes Directed Self-Study Course! This is the fifth of seven modules available in this self-study course. The purpose of this module is to assist the trainee in describing the general principles of the electromagnetic separation (calutron) and thermal diffusion technologies and general facility and component layouts, identifying the uses of the calutron and thermal diffusion processes in industry and the production amounts of enriched uranium, and identifying the hazards and safety concerns for each process, including major incidents. This self-study module is designed to assist you in accomplishing the learning objectives listed at the beginning of the module. There are eight sections in this module. The module has self-check questions to help you assess your understanding of the concepts presented in the module. Before you Begin It is recommended that you have access to the following materials: 9 Trainee Guide Complete the following prerequisite: 9 Module 1.0 Introduction to Uranium Enrichment 1. Review the learning objectives. 2. Read each section within the module in sequential order. How to Complete 3. Complete the self-check questions and activities within this This Module module. 4. Check off the tracking form as you complete the self-check questions and/or activity within the module. 5. Contact your administrator as prompted for a progress review meeting. 6. Contact your administrator as prompted for any additional materials and/or specific assignments. 7. Complete all assignments related to this module. If no other materials or assignments are given to you by your administrator, you have completed this module.
    [Show full text]
  • Preparative Scale Mass Spectrometry: a Brief History of the Calutron
    ACCOUNT AND PERSPECTIVE Preparative Scale Mass Spectrometry: A Brief History of the Calutron Alfred L. Yergey National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland, USA A. Karl Yergey Department of History, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA Calutrons were developed in the laboratory of E. O. Lawrence at the University of California at Berkeley. They were a modification of the cyclotrons he had invented and used in his Noble Prize winning investigations of the atomic nucleus. At the time their construction was undertaken, calutrons represented the only certain means of preparing enriched uranium isotopes for the construction of a fission bomb. The effort was successful enough that every atom of the 42 kg of 235U used in the first uranium bomb had passed through at least one stage of calutron separation. At peak production, the first stage separators, a tanks, yielded an aggregate 258-g/d 235U enriched to about 10 at. % from its natural abundance level of 0.72 at. %. The second stage separators, b tanks, used the 10 at. % material as feedstock and produced a total 204-g/d 235U enriched to at least 80 at. %. The latter, weapons grade, material was used in fission bombs. Under typical operating conditions, each a tank operated at a uranium beam intensity at the collectors of approximately 20 mA and each b tank at a beam intensity of approximately 215 mA at the collectors. Bulk separation of isotopes for bomb production ceased in 1945. Since that time calutrons have been used to separate stable isotopes, but on a more limited scale than wartime weapons production.
    [Show full text]
  • Segr㨠(Emilio)
    http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8639vx8 No online items Finding Aid to the Emilio Segrè papers BANC MSS 78/72 cp Marjorie Bryer The Bancroft Library 2017 The Bancroft Library University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-6000 [email protected] URL: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/libraries/bancroft-library Finding Aid to the Emilio Segrè BANC MSS 78/72 cp 1 papers BANC MSS 78/72 cp Language of Material: English Contributing Institution: The Bancroft Library Title: Segrè (Emilio) papers Creator: Segre, Emilio Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 78/72 cp Physical Description: 60 Linear Feet(40 cartons, 2 card file boxes, 1 oversize box, 3 oversize folders, 1 tube) Date (inclusive): 1870-1998, bulk 1939-1989 Date (bulk): 1939-1989 Abstract: This collection documents the personal and professional life of Nobel Prize-winning physicist and University of California, Berkeley professor Emilio Segrè and offers insights into the history of physics and physicists in the 20th Century. Segrè's papers include personal and professional correspondence; family papers and personalia; materials related to Segrè’s mentor and colleague, Enrico Fermi; articles, drafts, manuscripts, talks, and publications; journals and notebooks; book projects; records from the Lawrence Berkeley Radiation Lab and Los Alamos National laboratory; materials related to Segrè’s Nobel Prize; administrative records from the University of California Berkeley; course materials; and works by other physicists. Language of Material: Collection materials are in English, Italian, German and Russian. Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
    [Show full text]
  • Descendants of Addison and Elinor Butt of Virginia and Kentucky
    DESCENDANTS OF ADDISON AND ELINOR BUTT OF VIRGINIA AND KENTUCKY Thomas King Butt Richmond, California March 1, 2004 The Descendants of Addison Butt and Elinor Glenn Page 2 03/01/04 7:36 AM Table of Contents Introduction......................................................................................................................... 2 Butts and Glenns in Botetourt County, Virginia................................................................. 2 Settlement of Botetourt County ...................................................................................... 2 Marriage – Addison and Elinor....................................................................................... 2 Children Born in Virginia ............................................................................................... 2 Sara ............................................................................................................................. 2 William ....................................................................................................................... 2 Relocation to Kentucky....................................................................................................... 2 Children Born in Kentucky............................................................................................. 2 Thomas........................................................................................................................ 2 Nancy .........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Fact Sheet: the Challenge of Mass Production
    Fact Sheet: The Challenge of Mass Production Discovery Sir Alexander Fleming discovered the bacteria-killing properties of penicillin while conducting research at St. Mary’s Hospital in London in 1928. Upon returning to his disorganized lab from a weekend vacation, Fleming noticed that one of the Petri dishes was uncovered and a blue-green mold was growing inside. Rather than tossing the contaminated dish into the trash, he looked carefully and observed that the mold had killed bacteria growing nearby. Quite by accident Fleming had discovered penicillin, the antibiotic released by the mold of the genus Penicillium. Alexander Fleming’s original photograph of the contaminated dish. Alexander Fleming was well acquainted with the treatment of bacterial infections after spending World War I as a captain in the British Medical Corps. He witnessed firsthand the lack of medicine to treat infections, with disease causing approximately one third of military deaths during the Great War. Despite its historical significance, Fleming’s discovery of penicillin in 1928 brought little attention. The technology and funding needed to isolate and produce the antibiotic was lacking at the time. Fleming, however, continued to grow the Penicillium notatum strain in his lab for twelve years, distributing it to scientists and saving the specimen for someone willing and able to transform the “mold juice” into a medicine suitable for human use. Purification and Trials Meanwhile, Australian scientist Howard Florey hired Ernst Chain to help with his microbiology research at Oxford University. Florey and Chain were interested in Alexander Fleming’s work and in 1938, began studying the antibacterial properties of mold.
    [Show full text]
  • Manhattan Project
    MANHATTAN PROJECT Alex Wellerstein – Stevens Institute of Technology Suggested Citation: Alex Wellerstein, “Manhattan Project,” Encyclopedia of the History of Science (October 2019) doi: 10.34758/9aaa-ne35 The Manhattan Project was the Anglo-American effort to build nuclear weapons during World War II. It is commonly regarded as one of the most successful, if controversial, mega-projects of the 20th century, bringing together scientific expertise, industrial production, and military coordination to create an entirely new industry, and new form of weaponry, in an unusually compressed timescale. Within the literature of the history of science and technology, the Manhattan Project has been examined from a number of different vantage points, often centering on the role of the thousands of academic scientists in hundreds of centers who participated in the weaponization of a new scientific discovery to facilitate the mass slaughter of civilians, but also portraying the project as a prototype of future military-industrial-academic collaborations. HISTORIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND The Manhattan Project per se specifically refers to the overarching weapons-production program begun in late 1942, and not to earlier research and pilot programs. It is related to but not exactly the same as the Manhattan Engineer District, the division of the US Army Corps of Engineers that was in charge of implementing the development of the atomic bomb, and which maintained control over the technology until January 1947, when the civilian US Atomic Energy Commission took over all production operations. This definitional issue is not an insubstantial one. If one assigns the moniker of the Manhattan Project to the earliest investigations into nuclear fission, it results in a significantly different narrative about the purpose and origins of the weapons project, and obscures the distinct change of direction that took place in late 1942.
    [Show full text]
  • ANTHROPOLOGY Unearthing the Human Experience
    CHAPTER 7 ANTHROPOLOGY Unearthing the Human Experience Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh, Anthropology Begins, 1900–1935 Stephen E. Nash, When the Museum opened its doors to the public in 1908, anthropology had Steven R. Holen, and scarcely established itself as a distinct discipline; it was represented by formal Marc N. Levine departments in only a handful of American museums and universities. Thus it should come as little surprise that anthropology and archaeology played minor roles in the Colorado Museum of Natural History’s formative years. At the outset, the Museum’s greatest efforts were directed toward building geological and zoological collections and displays to attract visitors. Although there was no anthropology or archaeology department at the Museum until 1936, objects representing past and living cultures were always within the Museum’s walls. Much of this material was housed in the Museum’s Art Gallery (Fig. 7.1), largely supported by the Museum’s first board president, art collector John F. Campion. William S. Ward, who enjoyed the unlikely title of curator of mineralogy and art, oversaw the Art Gallery until 1914. Ward had attended Princeton, fought in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War (and was taken prisoner twice), worked as a chemist, studied metal- lurgy at Oxford, and served as the field director of the Department of Mines and Metallurgy for the 1904 World’s Fair in Saint Louis. All of these diverse experiences led to Ward’s role as one of the founding curators at the Museum. The Art Gallery featured an eclectic collection of artistic pieces from the United States and beyond, including traditional crafts (Japanese embroidery, Navajo blankets, and Indian baskets), and antiquities from Asia (Chinese and Japanese porcelains, lacquer- ware, and bronzes) and Europe (Greek sculpture, oil Figure 7.1.
    [Show full text]
  • 10 Jahre MZWTG Inhalt
    10 Jahre Münchner Zentrum für Wissenschafts- und Technikgeschichte Berichtsband Verantwortlich: Der Geschäftsführende Vorstand des MZWTG Prof. Dr. Stephan H. Lindner 10 Jahre MZWTG Inhalt INHALT Institut für Geschichte der Medizin und medizinische Soziologie der TU München 51 Graduiertenkolleg »Wechselbeziehungen zwischen VORWORT 1 Naturwissenschaften und Technik« 51 Stipendiaten und Gäste des Münchner Zentrums für Zehn Jahre Forschung am Münchner Zentrum für Wissenschafts- und Technikgeschichte 52 Wissenschafts- und Technikgeschichte 1 Veröffentlichungen 53 BERICHTSJAHR 1998 3 Vortragsreihen der Forschungsinstitute 57 Forschungsinstitut für Technik- und Wissenschaftliche Auszeichnungen, Preise 58 Wissenschaftsgeschichte 4 BERICHTSJAHR 2001 59 Institut für Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität 9 Forschungsinstitut für Technik- und Zentralinstitut für Geschichte der Technik der Wissenschaftsgeschichte 60 Technischen Universität München 11 Institut für Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften der Graduiertenkolleg „Wechselbeziehungen zwischen Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität 67 Naturwissenschaft und Technik” 12 Zentralinstitut für Geschichte der Technik der Assoziierte Mitglieder 13 Technischen Universität München 69 Institut für Wissenschafts- und Bildungsgeschichte Historisches Seminar der LMU, Abteilung für der LMU 13 Wissenschaftsgeschichte und Universitätsgeschichte 70 Universität der Bundeswehr München, Fachbereich Universität der Bundeswehr München, Fachbereich Sozialwissenschaften, Wissenschaftsgeschichte
    [Show full text]