Listening to or looking at models: Learning about dynamic complex systems in science among learners who are blind and learners who are sighted.

Background: Students who are blind are integrated into public schools in many countries, yet are often excluded from full participation in science since most learning materials are visual. To create a compensatory route, an existing model‐based inquiry‐learning environment was adapted by means of so...

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Published in:Journal of Computer Assisted Learning Vol. 40; no. 2; pp. 452 - 465
Main Authors: Peleg, Ran, Lahav, Orly, Hagab, Noha, Talis, Vadim, Levy, Sharona T.
Format: clinical trial pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Apr2024
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Apr2024
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      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
      place: Malden, Massachusetts
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        10.1111/jcal.12886
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        atl: Listening to or looking at models: Learning about dynamic complex systems in science among learners who are blind and learners who are sighted.
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          Peleg, Ran
          Lahav, Orly
          Hagab, Noha
          Talis, Vadim
          Levy, Sharona T.
        affil: Southampton Education School, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
      sug:
        subj:
          Blindness
          Students with Disabilities Education
          Science Education
          Learning Methods
          Listening
          Learning Environment
          Student Knowledge
          Human
          Pretest-Posttest Design
          Questionnaires
          Disease Progression
          Comparative Studies
          Assistive Technology
          Adult
          Male
          Female
          Descriptive Statistics
          Computer-Aided Design
          Curriculum
          Academic Performance
          Reliability and Validity
          Adolescence
          Funding Source
          Clinical Trials
          Quasi-Experimental Studies
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Background: Students who are blind are integrated into public schools in many countries, yet are often excluded from full participation in science since most learning materials are visual. To create a compensatory route, an existing model‐based inquiry‐learning environment was adapted by means of sonification (addition of non‐speech sounds that represent dynamic information). The learning environment uses agent‐based models and a complex systems approach to teach the Kinetic Molecular Theory (KMT) and Gas Laws. The models are accompanied by a workbook consisting of text (printed or auditory) and images (printed or tactile). Objectives: The current research examined whether such perceptual compensation creates a comparable learning environment for learners who are blind compared with learners who are sighted using the original learning environment. The aim of the study is to expand knowledge about how the auditory channel may compensate the visual channel among individuals who are blind. Methods: Conceptual learning in science and reasoning about complex systems were assessed using pre‐ and post‐questionnaires. To explore learners' learning progression throughout the unit, four progression analysis 'windows' were selected. These were groups of adjacent or nearly adjacent items in the workbook that permitted a glimpse of learners' progression. Results: The sonified environment not only supported the learning of learners who are blind compared with the learning of learners who are sighted using visual material, but even furthered their learning with respect to diffusion, one of the more challenging concepts in KMT. It seems the types of sonified representations used in this study increased listeners' sensitivity to the micro‐level interactions in a way less accessible in visual representations. Takeaways: Sonified environments can be provide learners who are blind with equitable participation by compensating and complementing the visual channel. Sonification can have implications for students who are blind as well as students who are sighted. Lay Description: What is already known: Sonification is the use of non‐speech sounds to represent dynamic information. Sonification can potentialy be used to allow equitable participation for students who are blind. What this paper adds: To test this, the study compared the outcomes of learners who are blind who used a sonified learning environment (L2C) to that of learners who are sighted who used a visual environment. Implications for practice: Learners who are blind showed equal or better learning outcomes using the sonified models compared with the learners who are sighted using the visual models. There are major implications for integrating students who are blind in public school classrooms.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        clinical trial
        pictorial
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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