making astronomy accessible for all

Making Astronomy Accessible for All

Amelia Ortiz Lina Canas Thilina Heenatigala

UNAWE 2015, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Some numbers (WHO, 2010)

• Over a billion people are estimated to live with some form of disability. This corresponds to about 15% of the world's population. Between 110 million and 190 million people 15 years and older have significant difficulties in functioning.

• About 100 million need a wheelchair.• 360 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss

(5.3% of the world’s population)• People with cognitive impairment 1% of the total

population in high income countries and 2% in low and middle income (LAMI) countries

A couple about deafness:

Are we ready for a diverse audience?

Proposed strategy: UDL

What is UDL?

Framework for integrating flexible, usable, and accessible teaching and learning technologies with inquiry – and standards-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricula

We no longer consider persons with special needs but disabling environments

UDL Principles

The key concept is MULTIPLICITY: provide multiple means of representation, provide multiple means of action and expression and provide multiple means of engagement

Provide multiple means of representation

Learners differ in the ways that they perceive and comprehend information that is presented to them. For example, those with sensory disabilities (e.g., blindness or deafness); learning disabilities (e.g., dyslexia); language or cultural differences, and so forth may all require different ways of approaching content.

Provide multiple means of action and expression

Learners differ in the ways that they can navigate a learning environment and express what they know. For example, some may be able to express themselves well in written text but not speech, and vice versa. Therefore the materials should be accessible for all and there should be different options for expression.

Provide multiple means of engagement

To care is crucial for the final success in the learning process. Learners can have very different interests or reasons to be interested in learning. The lecturer needs to know which are his/her public's interests or which they might be, and use different ways to motivate the audience.

Strategies to develop educational materials and activities in the frame of UDL

InclusivenessPhysical AccessDelivery MethodsInformation ResourcesInteractionFeedbackAssessmentAccommodation


Inclusiveness

UDL should use methods that make learning easy and accessible for everyone.


Physical Access

Ensure that activities, materials, and equipment are physically accessible to and usable by all students.


Delivery MethodsUse multiple accessible instructional methods addressing the four basic styles of learning

tactile

visual

kinesthetic

auditory


Information Resources

Ensure that course materials, notes, and other information resources are flexible and accessible to all students.


Interaction

Encourage effective interactions between students and the instructor. Ensure that communication methods are accessible to all participants.

Work in groups where each one supports the other with his/her particular strengths


Feedback

Provide specific feedback to the students/ audience on a regular basis.


Assessment

Regularly assess student progress using many accessible methods and tools, then adjust instruction accordingly


Accommodation

Plan for accommodations for students for whom the instructional design does not meet their needs.

A general protocol

Teach to the four styles of learning: communication is more effectivie in this way

tactile

visual

kinesthetic

auditory

A general protocol

Teach to strengths: Take advantage of the audience's strengths and natural talents to engage them in the activity. Emphasize what they can do rather than what they cannot. This improves their self-steem and gives them more chances to learn.

A general protocol

Use many different ways to obtain feedback from the public to check if they are grasping the main ideas and contents.

Intellectual disabilities

Be direct and specific in the communication

Ask to be sure the student is understanding

Give him enoughtime to answer

Blindness

Refer to the person using his name and introduce yourself with your name too

Be very explicit when giving instructions and avoid using pronouns

Let the blind person know when you are leaving the room

Use different methods to access texts (Braille transcription, audible file)

Deafness

Ask which is his preferred method of communication

Get his attention before you start speaking

To shout or exaggerate does not improve the communication

Rephrasing instead of repeating is more effective to make sure the message has been correctly understood

Some resources:

Space Science is for Everyone (NASA)

http://www.washington.edu/doit/programs/accessstem/overview

Examples

Meet Our neighbours

A Touch of the Universe

Astronomy is a very visual science.

What resources available?

THE SKY IN YOUR HANDS – PLANETARIUM SHOW

Takes the audience on a journey through different constellations:

- Visual projection;- Special soundtrack;- Tactile support.

TACTILE EXIHIBITIONS

An Exhibition was designed with more than 20 tactile pictures about astronomy dealing with the most diverse and fascinating objects that we find in the night sky.

TACTILE MOON MODEL & TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS

The exhibition also included a model of the Moon with features in high relief of craters and maria that dazzled the audiences.

We have since then expanded this activities into observations through telescope of our natural satellite and exploring the main

features of the telescope through touch.

A PLANETARIUM IN YOUR CLASSROOM!

Give visually impaired children a sense of what we experience in terms of shape when we’re at a planetarium and showing the constellations as well.

A PLANETARIUM IN YOUR CLASSROOM!

WHERE ARE YOU? - DISTANCES IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Using low cost materials we build a tactile models so that the students can learn about the distances within the solar system.

REAL TIME TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS

Moimenta da Beira hosted the 4th Telescope Gathering, the largest gathering of telescopes in Portugal. The event had a record of nearly sixty telescopes from around the country, taking advantage of the uniqueness of the night sky.

Three telescopes dedicated to a pioneering experience in Portugal: to have real time telescope observations for visually impaired audiences.

REAL TIME TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS

Faulkes Telescope offers a database of astronomy images as well as the opportunity for students to remotely operate the telescope and to take their own pictures of the cosmos.

Since Astronomy is a very visual science most often visually impaired sudents are cast aside from these activities, so the question is: how can we engage visually impaired students in such activities while promoting collaborative work with their peers?

A Touch of the Universe kit

A TOUCH OF THE UNIVERSE KIT

The kit contains:

-Planetarium program “The Sky in Your Hands”

-Tactile Moon

-A set of 3 3D constellation models

-Activity book

-“From the Earth to the Universe (FETTU)”

-“The Little Moon Phase Book”, by Noreen Grice

-Guides about the planetarium show, the tactile Moon and the FETTU prints.


Non-profit project to build and send 30 kits of tactile astronomy materials to be distributed among educators and teachers in underdeveloped countries in the Americas, Asia and Africa


Amelia Ortiz-Gil (coordinator) (Observatorio Astronomico - Universidad de Valencia) Kimberly Arcand (NASA-CXO) Caterina Boccato (Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova / INAF) Lina Canas (Nuclio / AWB / Galileo Mobile) Rosa Doran (Nuclio / Galileo Teachers Training Program) Héctor Espinós (IPL - Universidad de Valencia)Thilina Heenatigala (AWB/UNAWE) Mariana Lanzara (Observatorio Astronomico - Universidad de Valencia) Maria Jesus Moya (Observatorio Astronomico - Universidad de Valencia)Javier Navarro (IPL - Universidad de Valencia)Pedro Russo (UNAWE) Stefano Sandrelli (Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera / INAF)


IAU’s Office of Astronomy for Development Project


India, Chile, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, República Dominicana, Nepal, Tanzania, Colombia, Costa Rica, Zambia, Iran, Ethiopia, Cuba (almost) and Bolivia (Galileo Mobile)


Nepal


India


Colombia


Bolivia - Galileo Mobile


What is in the kit? The Sky in Your Hands Planetarium show

The tactile Moon

Activity book

Chandra’s “From Earth to the Universe” tactile prints

Noreen Grice’s “The Little Moon Phase Book”

Models of constellations in 3D

DVD with planetarium soundtrack (English, Spanish, Portuguese)

Moon guide, Planetarium guide and feedback form


The Sky in Your Hands Planetarium show


The tactile Moon

3D model of the Moon specially designed to convey the visual information in a tactile way


Models of constellations in 3D

Tactile models of constellations showing the real physical distance relation between the stars in the constellation


Activity book

Activities that can be carried out with the half-sphere, the Moon and the constellations.

Regular print and Braille.


Chandra’s “From Earth to the Universe” tactile prints


Noreen Grice’s “The Little Moon Phase Book”


DVD with planetarium soundtrack (English, Spanish, Portuguese)


Moon guide, Planetarium guide and feedback form


http://astrokit.uv.es

http://astrokit.uv.es/

Meet Our Neighbours

MEET OUR NEIGHBOURS!

13 tactile schematic images of the main objects of the Solar System;

Built with low cost materials through hands-on activities;

For visually impaired children and their non-visually impaired peers;

Promote interactive activities between all groups of children.

Visually impaired children and their sighted peers are encouraged to explore the tactile images and do some research on our celestial neighbours.


The children choose from the tactile images explored their favorite object and then build them with the help of the educators.

They try to understand which textures they’ll need to build them.


The children then choose from the different materials available to build their favorite celestial object.


The children explain the main features of the celestial object, guiding their friends through the different tactile features.


Every day materials easily available at a low cost.



All textures and materials were sent to educators and tactile materials experts in various countries so that they could provide feedback and suggestions regarding all resources produced to increase the overall quality of the schematic tactile images.

MEET OUR NEIGHBOURS! Image Credit: NUCLIO, Portugal; Albhashy Lejkabre, Dominican Republic; Katarzyna Kowalska , Poland

CONHEÇA NOSSOS VIZINHOS CELESTES!

CONHEÇA NOSSOS VIZINHOS CELESTES!

SUSTAINABILITY & INCLUSION >> Use recycled materials and/or other low cost textures, native to each community,>> To support educators, materials such as "The scientist explains" are available online, >> A tutorial with content on how the objects are built.

All materials are available for free at:http://nuclio.org/astroneighbours/

http://nuclio.org/astroneighbours/

It’s a collaboration!

SHARE IDEAS & COLABORATE!!

• We find that are people doing and imagining amazing things! • The world becomes a much more awesome place.• Make many good friends along the way.

making astronomy accessible for all

Education