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Independent Laboratory Access for the Blind (ILAB): Creating Effective Tools and Techniques for Visually Impaired Students in Chemistry
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A safe, properly designed laboratory bench is an important element for students with low vision. The bench featured was designed by Dr. Lillian Rankel at Hopewell Valley Central High School.

Credit: Thomas Mallouk, Pennsylvania State University University Park
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State: Pennsylvania

The “Techniques and Tools to Enhance Blind and Visually Impaired Students Participation in High School Level and General Chemistry Laboratory Classes” project has developed devices and lab procedures that allow blind and visually impaired students to conduct general chemistry laboratory experiments without the aid of sighted assistants. With the support of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Research in Disabilities Education (RDE) program, Dr. Thomas Mallouk and the research team at Penn State’s Independent Laboratory Access for the Blind project (ILAB) has produced several devices for conducting chemistry experiments including a hand-held, submersible audible light sensor that fits in a test tube and coverts the light intensity to an audible signal. Another device the team created is an inexpensive, portable color recognizer to detect the color of a substance in a beaker or the color of a signal on a computer screen. 

The ILAB team has been working with industry partners, including the Vernier Software and Technology Company, to make commonly used scientific software accessible to blind students who use the speech output software package Job Access With Speech (JAWS), the computer screen reading system most commonly used by blind and visually impaired students. The new ILAB equipment and upgraded computer software are combined with simple instructional lab modifications, such as lining up components and tasks for an experiment along a dowel rod with Braille instructions accompanying each step of an experiment.  These science lab tools have been used by blind and visually impaired students at the Indiana School for the Blind and at the Hopewell Valley Central High School, in Pennington, N.J. This research team is currently investigating whether the use of these devices and instructional lab modifications influence student attitudes toward science education.

Partners: Vernier Software and Technology Company, Indiana School for the Blind, Hopewell Valley Central High School

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This simple hand-held, submersible audible light sensor, also known as SALS, was created by ILAB as a device that can indicate a change in color of a solution, and can also detect the formation of a precipitate in a test tube in real time. The light sensor is converted into an audible pitch so that those who are visually impaired can interpret findings.

Credit: Thomas Mallouk, Pennsylvania State University University Park
Permission Granted
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In the dowel rod and Braille organizers for array experiments, several solid substances are laid out on paper in order to observe effects such as magnetic separation of a mixture of powders.  The set up was first modified by Braille-labeling each square. The second modification was to use tape to secure dowel rods along the rows of labeled squares.  This allows the student to find the substances easily, without accidentally mixing or moving the squares.

Credit: Thomas Mallouk, Pennsylvania State University University Park
Permission Granted
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The Color Analysis Laboratory Sensor (CALS) is an inexpensive color recognizer that was developed in the Chemistry Electronics Shop at Penn State.  CALS consists of a hand-held probe connected to a digital controller box, that reports the color of a solid object or surface (e.g., a powder in the chemistry laboratory, a piece of fabric, or the color in a picture) to the user.  It is not intended for use in solutions because neither the probe nor the controller are submersible. CALS does not reliably report the colors of solutions inside glass containers because of reflection from the surface of the glass.  Before use, the sensor is calibrated by holding the probe up to a piece of white paper.  The probe is then held next to the test object, and the controller box speaks the color.  The user can also choose to have CALS report the color numerically as a series of red, green, blue (RGB) and white color values.

Credit: Thomas Mallouk, Pennsylvania State University University Park
Permission Granted

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