Project Grant 90BISA0059

KASI: COMBINING SOUND BASED AR & TACTILE PIECES FOR ACCESSIBLE VISUAL BASED STEM COMMUNICATION - THIS PHASE I PROJECT EXPANDS THE KASI LEARNING SYSTEM, WHICH USES AUDIO-BASED AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) OF PHYSICAL MANIPULATIVES, FOR INDEPENDENT EXPLORATION OF CHEMICAL DIAGRAMS WITH THREE-DIMENSIONAL FEATURES. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO SUPPORT BLIND/VISUALLY IMPAIRED (BVI) STUDENTS IN SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES FROM K-12, THROUGH COLLEGE, AND INTO EMPLOYMENT. THE OBJECTIVES ARE TO 1) DEVELOP THE KASI SYSTEM FOR USE IN COLLEGE-LEVEL CHEMISTRY COURSES BY CREATING A DIGITAL TOOL FOR DRAWING THREE-DIMENSIONAL CHEMICAL REPRESENTATIONS, DESIGNING NEW TACTILE PHYSICAL MANIPULATIVES, AND IMPLEMENTING CORRESPONDING COMPUTER VISION ALGORITHMS TO ASSESS AND GUIDE STUDENT LEARNING AND 2) VALIDATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THE KASI SYSTEM WITH BVI COLLEGE SCIENCE STUDENTS USING A MIXED METHODS STUDY. PROJECT OUTCOMES INCLUDE 1) AN INDEPENDENT METHOD FOR BVI STUDENTS TO EXPLORE AND CONSTRUCT CHEMICAL DIAGRAMS, 2) INCREASED COMMUNICATION BETWEEN BVI STUDENTS AND THEIR INSTRUCTORS AND THEIR STUDENT PEERS, 3) MORE BVI STUDENTS PARTICIPATING AND SUCCEEDING IN SCIENCE COURSES THAT ARE THE PRE-REQUISITE TO EMPLOYMENT IN STEM AND MEDICAL FIELDS, 4) PUBLISH FINDINGS OF SUCCESSFUL PRACTICES THAT SUPPORT STEM CAREER ADVANCEMENT FOR BVI STUDENTS. THE PRODUCT OF THIS PROJECT IS AN AUDIO-BASED AUGMENTED REALITY SYSTEM THAT USES INEXPENSIVE PHYSICAL MANIPULATIVES WITH WEB-BASED SOFTWARE AND NON-PROPRIETARY HARDWARE (CAMERA, MAGNETIC WHITEBOARD) FOR A SCALABLE METHOD OF ACCESSIBLE AND INCLUSIVE LEARNING TO HELP ALL STUDENTS TO SUCCEED IN STEM CAREERS.