Techniques and Tools to Enhance Blind and Visually Impaired Students Participation in High School Level and General Chemistry Laboratory Classes

This project seeks to develop tools and techniques that will allow blind and visually impaired (VI)students to carry out general chemistry laboratory experiments without the aid of sighted assistants. Specific objectives of this work include:(1)adaptation of the Addison Wesley Chemistry high school laboratory curriculum currently used at the Indiana School for the Blind (ISB), by combining JAWS speech software with Vernier laboratory tools,ID mate portable bar code readers,and other tools in use at ISB,(2)testing and refining the tools and techniques at Penn State,Truman State,and ISB,(3)field testing the modified curriculum in years 2 and 3 of the program at ISB,(4)performing a detailed assessment of skills,concept learning,and attitudinal outcomes by comparing study groups with control groups that use sighted assistance,(5)creation of a guided inquiry integrative laboratory exercise for blind and VI students,and (6)dissemination of results through publications and exhibits at conferences. This project team consists of a blind graduate student (Supalo)and a blind chemistry professor (Wohlers)who will have primary responsibility for the development and preliminary testing of new tools and techniques.They will collaborate closely with Roth, a science teacher at ISB,and Greenberg,a chemical education expert at Penn State,in the field testing and assessment phases of the program.