ENSURING EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE HOW BLIND STUDENTS CONCEPTUALIZE THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

Abstract

This study explored the impact of online explicit-reflective instruction on visually impaired students’ conceptions of the Nature of Science (NOS). Blind and low vision students enrolled in grades K-12 were recruited to participate in a six-week, online, Saturday science program during which they engaged in tactile NOS activities and received explicit-reflective NOS instruction. In order to assess the students’ understandings of various NOS aspects, students completed the Views of Nature of Science (VNOS) questionnaire, pre- and post-NOS instruction. Additional qualitative data were obtained from weekly exit slips, the students’ verbal commentary, semi-structured interviews, and a teaching journal kept by the instructor of the science program. The study participants, as a whole, were shown to hold a majority of inadequate views on the various aspects of NOS prior to receiving any explicit-reflective NOS instruction. However, results showed that after receiving explicit-reflective NOS instruction, the students were able to improve their understandings of the creative, empirical, subjective, and tentative aspects of NOS, as well as being able to distinguish between the scientific processes of observation and inference. Results also indicated that the students found science to be fun and were willing and able to actively engage in adapted NOS activities. Based upon these findings, it is imperative that researchers identify ways to provide blind and low vision students with equitable and inclusive opportunities to comprehend NOS ideas as a means to increase their scientific literacy and to make informed decisions about the world around them.