BCSER: IID: Experiences of Students with Visual Impairments with Tactile Graphics in STEM Courses: Critical Interpretative Synthesis

The importance of removing barriers to accessing STEM instructional materials is paramount to broadening the representation of students with visual impairments in STEM careers. Tactile graphics are important STEM instructional aids, but they are often difficult to understand or have limited content compared to the original. This project aims to conduct a synthesis of the existing body of knowledge of student experiences with tactile graphics to develop a set of best practices and establish baselines for future research in this field.

The project will build capacity for conducting education research through trainings in systematic review of published literature and STEM pedagogy involving students with visual impairments.

This project will establish a base of evidence incorporating empirical data on experiences of students with visual impairments with tactile graphics in STEM courses to inform practice and further research. Using critical interpretive synthesis, the scope of this project is to conduct a systematic review of literature published since 2000 that focuses on students with visual impairments at any education level, discipline, and classroom setting.

The dissemination plan aims to include peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations, reports for practitioners, and a project website. The project is supported through the EHR Core Research: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) competition that is designed to build individuals’ capacity to carry out high quality fundamental STEM education research in STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.