SFAA Lecture Series: Exploring Astronomy Through Touch Using 3D Printing

The possibility of a future in astronomy, or any STEM field, seems daunting for students with blindness/visual impairments (B/VI). Three-dimensional (3-D) printing, however, holds promise for students with blindness/visual impairments (B/VI) in addressing astronomy content, concept development, and providing access to information normally displayed visually. To help bolster astronomy and STEM opportunities for students with B/VI, we developed the STEM Career Exploration Lab (CEL), which employs tactile astronomy instruction via 3-D printing and specially designed 3-D-printed astronomy models. To date we have held nearly 20 week-long STEM CEL astronomy/3-D printing summer camps in twelve states, serving over 120 high school students with B/VI. We collaborated with Teachers of the Visually Impaired and general education STEM teachers to develop our astronomy lessons and 3-D models. We gathered pre- and post-intervention data via surveys, astronomy assessments, and student interviews, resulting in likely the largest research study on astronomy instruction for students with B/VI. In this talk I will present our STEM CEL approach, a brief description of our lessons, and initial project results. Several 3-D printed astronomy models will also be available for the audience to explore. We find that with appropriate context and guidance, 3-D printing is effective in increasing scientific understanding and showcasing scientific data (largely from the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes) for appreciation of astronomy. This work is supported by an Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) grant from the National Science Foundation (Award 1949458).

Host or Publisher San Francisco Amateur Astronomers