APS

APS Instructors Illuminate Labs Using UDL

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 21:50:43 +0000

APS Instructors Illuminate Labs Using UDL Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/26/2019 - 15:50

Joy Adams

Rachel Bowyer, a second-year PhD student in Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences (APS), has taken on a task that may seem insurmountable. She’s not only updating the entire 200-page Introduction to Astronomy lab manual; she’s making the assignments accessible to students with visual impairments.

As the current Graduate Teacher Program Lead for APS, this endeavor is Rachel’s “legacy project,” a way to leave something lasting in the department. “It’s an interesting challenge,” observed Seth Hornstein, who teaches the Introductory Astronomy lecture and is the department’s TA coordinator. “We’re in a unique situation in that we’re trying to teach astronomy, which is a very visual field. At the same time we're teaching it in a classroom, so we do a lot of hands-on and data-based things, and we want to provide the same experience and the same learning outcomes for students with disabilities.”

In May 2019, Rachel attended a workshop on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), presented by ASSETT Teaching and Learning Consultant Joy Adams. UDL centers on three principles: 1) providing multiple means of representation, 2) offering flexible options for action and expression, and 3) incorporating strategies for promoting student engagement and motivation. Considering the principles holistically supports students with diverse abilities, skills, and interests, while helping to maximize their learning.

Rachel immediately saw the potential benefits of UDL to her project. She scheduled a one-on-one consultation with Joy to work on updates to the spectroscopy lab, which seemed particularly challenging. “The subtitle of the lab is ‘Light and Color,’” she explained. “If we can do this with a lab that is highly visual and has a lot of moving parts, it will make it seem more achievable to re-develop other labs.” Because this lab activity covers “some really cool concepts,” Rachel also saw an opportunity to expose students to more of the science underlying those concepts, in hopes of boosting their engagement with the course.

“The most surprising thing about the consultation was how figures and phrases could be reviewed intentionally to determine what exactly is being asked,” said Rachel. “We ended up with clearer, better questions in the end, even though that wasn’t the major issue with the lab.”

Joy also helped the instructors proactively plan for formal accommodations. Rachel is preparing supplemental instructions that provide strategies for students to support peers with visual impairments by working collaboratively within their lab groups. Additionally, she is updating figures within the lab manual to include numeric values so that students are not required to rely on color perception to participate in the activities.

“Joy helped us see that the answer is to evaluate the students not on ‘What color do you see?’ but their ability to reason through the situation to determine what color should be there,” Rachel observed. “If you design the lab in a way that they should be able to logically figure out what’s going on scientifically, they don’t need to know what the color is. It’s not only a good practice for accessibility but also for different types of learners.”

Rachel was pleasantly surprised that the consultation focused more on adding options than taking them away. “I was initially concerned that we’d be told that we shouldn’t use visuals at all,” she explained, “but the consultation was more about how we can keep these things for the people who can use them as well as make them accessible to meet the needs of others.”

Seth added, “Joy gave us suggestions at low, medium, and high-effort levels. The medium and high levels can be addressed lab-by-lab, but just doing the low-hanging fruit now gets us significant improvement. It’s a low amount of time to invest to get a lot of impact, and that took a lot of the stress out of making the lab accessible.”

Rachel summarized her experience with the consultation, saying: “Overall, the real benefit was to make the curriculum more intentional, to get to the learning goals more directly, with fewer obstacles for students. Having someone who knows about UDL review the assignment makes me feel confident that the curriculum is doing its job rather than being busy work or an obstacle.”

To schedule your own individual consultation, small-group presentation, or workshop on UDL, contact Joy Adams, ASSETT Teaching & Learning Consultant (joy.adams@colorado.edu).

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Using New Visualizations in Teaching at the Fiske Planetarium

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 07:00:00 +0000

Using New Visualizations in Teaching at the Fiske Planetarium Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/03/2015 - 00:00

Photo credit: http://www.colorado.edu/insidecu/editions/2005/9-13/

Professor John Bally, a professor of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, was awarded a Fall 2014 ASSETT Development Award, which he used towards making new visualizations in the Fiske Planetarium to use with undergraduate introductory astrophysics classes. The visualizations were created from data from multiple expeditions and even GIS projections of Mars. Bally used these new visualizations along with trying a new way of teaching ASTR 1200—Stars and Galaxies—by having classes in the Fiske Planetarium part time. Every Thursday the class would meet in the Fiske Planetarium and utilize the new visualizations that were developed using the money from the Development Award.

The class consisted of 15 dome lectures, while the rest of the lectures all took part in a traditional classroom setting. When asked about the experience, Bally said that while the planetarium provides a unique an immersive experience, the risks of teaching in such an environment cannot be ignored. Because of the comfy chairs, the dark area, and the overall relaxing atmosphere, students can sometimes drift off and even end up falling asleep. To combat this, Bally interspersed lectures in the planetarium with clicker questions, discussion questions, and even sometimes with loud noises and bright flashes of light—like those that come from simulating a supernova.

Bally’s biggest message from this is that the planetarium is a great learning supplement, and is great with visualizations and putting things in perspective: like why Pluto is no longer considered a planet. There’s other features such as the ability to move around with a joystick and look at far off stars, or even the Mars landscape, that makes using the planetarium interactive and provides experiences that can’t be achieved in a classroom with a computer.

“With some sparing things, you can provide some absolutely unique experiences for the students… I think the message is you’ve got to use it sparingly… I’m glad we did it. We learned some things. We put together some stunning materials that people can use and will use; we also learned not to do it full time.”

Bally also mentioned that while all of the new visualizations and learning modules used for this class are partially documented and are available for other teachers and professors to use, at the time, it’d be a bit of a challenge because of the lack of a user manual.

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Rockin' Out in Science Class: Students Nominate Astrophysics Professor David Brain for ASSETT Teaching with Technology Award

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 06:00:00 +0000

Rockin' Out in Science Class: Students Nominate Astrophysics Professor David Brain for ASSETT Teaching with Technology Award Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/22/2014 - 00:00

Imagine that as you walk into your freshman year introductory science lecture hall, you hear your professor playing music. Dr. David Brain of the Astrophysics Department at CU �鶹ӰԺ says that before each Astronomy 1000 The Solar System class session, he plays, "Snippets of three songs." Brain says that the snippets must have, "Some indirect relationship with the material." He says that he might use Blondie's, "The Tide is High," during a class about the tides on Mars, or play "Toxic" by Britney Spears before a lecture investigating various elements in the Solar System. When the day's playlist ends, students know that it is time for class to start. Brain doesn't hog the role of DJ, either. He invites students to post suggestions to the D2L discussion board page that Brain dedicates to class music ideas - and they do! In a typical semester, students suggest almost 100 tracks. Additionally, the music provides a token to remember the class. At the end of the semester, students can access the entire semester's playlist on Grooveshark.

But there's more to remember from Brain's Introductory Astronomy course than just the music. First, "... We are all scientists ..." greets students at the top of the class syllabus. Perhaps because of this high standard that Brain holds for his students, complemented with his efforts to relate class material to their personal interests, students nominated Brain for an ASSETT Teaching with Technology Award last year for that class. In their nominations, students expressed appreciation of Brain's use of D2L. Brain and his TAs make sure to keep the course D2L page full of relevant current events and extra information about topics covered in class.

Brain also reserves nights at the CU �鶹ӰԺ Sommers Bausch Observatory for his Introductory Astronomy students to observe the night sky. As an optional replacement for a homework assignment, students may attend and sketch their observations. Additionally, "Professor Brain also uses the newly renovated [Fiske] Planetarium to supplement class lectures and make the class more exciting," a student wrote in Brain's nomination for the ASSETT Teaching with Technology Award. Brain says that he tries to host about five class sessions in the Fiske Planetarium because there, students can, "Look at the night sky ... without being hampered by clouds," or even travel further out of Earth's atmosphere and virtually, "Fly through the canyons on Mars."

Brain also makes use of Clickers in class. He may ask students to answer a question first on their own, without the opportunity to discuss with neighbors. After students have submitted a Clicker answer on their own, Brain gives time to students to further discuss the question with their neighbors, and then answer the Clicker question again once more after having had the opportunity to discuss the question with their peers.

Brain has just finished his third year of teaching at CU �鶹ӰԺ, and he explains how much he collaborates with his colleagues and how they meet regularly to discuss best teaching practices. "Everyone is extremely supportive," says Brain of his department.

For the future, Brain considers presenting PowerPoint lectures with headers, images, and blank spaces instead of bullet points. Then, he would spend class time filling in notes with a stylus pen on a tablet device while he lectures, just as his students write down their own notes while listening to lecture. Further, Brain also explains that he feels that PowerPoint is ultimately too linear in nature when it comes to the human dynamics of a live lecture - what if a student asks a relevant question that answering would throw his lecture out of sequence? Brain says that he would like to be able to explore students' questions in the middle of the lecture without forgetting to cover important topics before he finishes.

Ultimately, Brain says his goal in teaching is: "I want [students] to realize that everyone has scientific capability," and to underscore, "... [Students' abilities] to reason things out for themselves."

When Brain is not teaching, he consults for NASA's ongoing MAVEN mission to Mars.

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