Independent Laboratory Access for the Blind (ILAB)

CHED 1575

Cary A. Supalo, cas380@psu.edu, Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, 104 Chemistry Research Building Box 280, University Park, PA 16802, Thomas E. Mallouk, tom@chem.psu.edu, Department of Chemistry and Center for Nanoscale Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, David Wohlers, Division of Science, Truman State University, Kirksville, MO 63501, Andrew E. Greenberg, greenberg@chem.wisc.edu, Department of Chemistry and Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1101 University Ave, Madison, WI 53706, Alan Roth, Indiana School for the Blind, 7725 North College Av, Indianappolis, IN 46240, and Dr. Lillian A. Rankel, lrankel@hvrsd.k12.nj.us, Hopewell Valley High School, 259 Pennington-Titusville Road, Pennington, NJ 08534.
The Independent Laboratory Access for the Blind project (ILAB) seeks to develop talking and audible tools to allow blind and visually impaired students the opportunity to take a more proactive role in their laboratory experiences. This project has a focus on chemistry laboratory classes at the secondary level and is expanding into post-secondary chemistry and to other fields in the sciences. This study is investigating the effect of the ILAB tools and how they affect students' performance and their attitude towards the study of science. Our hope is that with use of the ILAB tools and procedures, students with visual impairments - both in the residential school for the blind setting, and in mainstream classrooms - will have more positive experiences in studying science.
 

Teaching Chemistry to the Visually Impaired
8:30 AM-12:15 PM, Tuesday, March 27, 2007 McCormick Place North -- Room N227A, Level 2, Oral

Division of Chemical Education

The 233rd ACS National Meeting, Chicago, IL, March 25-29, 2007