Online Solutions for Deaf and Hard of Hearing STEM Learners Austin U. Gehret, Ph.D. Lisa B. Elliot, Ph.D. Rochester Institute of Technology, National Technical Institute for the deaf Ohio PKAL 2018, Alliance OH May 19, 2018 For your Consideration Do you have students who are: Underprepared for STEM coursework? Underrepresented and isolated (STEM-wise)? Overview Who we are Rationale for the project Describe the onine community infrastructure Tutoring activities Q&A Who We Are Deaf STEM Community Alliance: Only Alliance specifically for D/HH students Supported by the National Science Foundation, HRD #1127955 Ongoing project (started September 2011), now in our seventh year NSF Logo Campus Partners RIT is the lead institution for this project, with Camden County College and Cornell University as partners. RIT Logo Cornell Univeristy Logo Camden County College Logo The Narrow STEM Pipeline for Students with Disaiblities Barriers to Success in STEM Prioer to Postsecondary education Lower Enrollment in STEM Majors: 28% Bachelor's Degree/ 20% Associate's Degree Lower Retention- Within 6 Years: 48% leave Bachelor's/ 69% leave Associate's Lower Graduation Rates at All Degree Levels: 13.4% Bahcelor's Degrees/ 13.8% Associate's Degrees Fewer STEM Professionals Chen & Soldner, 2013 Goal and Objectives Goal: Create a model virtual academic community (VAC) to increase the graduation rates of postsecondary D/HH STEM majors in the long term; Iterative and incremental (Cockburn, 2008): Empirically determining what works and what doesn't; Model construction is occurring in stages instead of all at once Objectvies: Document and disseminate this process for replication; Increase the GPAs and retention rates of D/HH students in STEM majors DHHVAC Model Barriers and Strategies Student Preparation: Remote Tutoring; Remote Mentoring; Using Google+ Hangouts or Zoom Socialization: Remote Mentoring; Peer-to-Peer Interaction; Using Google+ Private Community & Facebook Secret Groups Accessible Media: Accessible STEM Information using Website, YouTube, Google+ Private Community, Facebook Secret Group, & Google+ Public Page Online Synchronous Tutoring Defined: The tutor and the student are simultaneously present during session. Platforms used: Google Hangouts or Zoom Sessions-to-date: Greater than 160 Students Involved: 43 Tutors Involved: 16 Average session length: 60 minutes Average GPA achieved: 2.60 Image of student sitting at a desk with laptop participating in online tutoring. Online Synchronous Tutoring: Themes Qualitative analysis of synchronous tutoring sessions: Session length range (greater than 160 sessions): 15 minutes to 3 hours (average 63 minutes) Sessions analyzed: 12 videos Content of sessions analyzed: Physics, Mathematics, Biochemistry Conversation focus: Providing content, expresssing understanding Communication used: Students: ASL; Tutors: simultaneous communication and spoken language Materials used: Hardcopy homework documents; text-based chat Technology issues: Video feed freezes Asynchronous Tutoring Defined: The tutor records instructional lessons that are made available to students through private YouTube channel Tutor: A; Course: Trigonometry; Videos recorded: 45; Average length: 3:45; Platform/Dissemination: NTID Spring Relay Lab, Editing: Camtasia or Adobe PremierePro; Dissemination: Private YouTube Channel managed by DHHVAC Tutor: A; Course: Foundations of Algebra; Videos recorded: 142; Average length: 2:57; Platform/Dissemination: NTID Spring Relay Lab, Editing: Camtasia or Adobe PremierePro; Dissemination: Private YouTube Channel managed by DHHVAC Tutor: A; Course: Explorations of Algebra; Videos recorded: 81; Average length: 2:13; Platform/Dissemination: NTID Spring Relay Lab, Editing: Camtasia or Adobe PremierePro; Dissemination: Private YouTube Channel managed by DHHVAC Tutor: A; Course: Integrated Algebra and Applications of Algebra; Videos recorded: 193; Average length: 2:35; Platform/Dissemination: NTID Spring Relay Lab, Editing: Camtasia or Adobe PremierePro; Dissemination: Private YouTube Channel managed by DHHVAC Tutor: B; Course: General & Analytical Chemistry; Videos recorded: 13; Average length: 13:00; Platform/Dissemination: Zoom, Editing: Camtasia or Adobe PremierePro; Dissemination: Private YouTube Channel managed by DHHVAC Red box around tutor B's videos Asynchronous Tutoring Image of example of asynchronous tutoring session Asynchronous Tutoring Defined: The tutor records instructional lessons that are made available to students through private YouTube channel Tutor: A; Course: Trigonometry; Videos recorded: 45; Average length: 3:45; Platform/Dissemination: NTID Spring Relay Lab, Editing: Camtasia or Adobe PremierePro; Dissemination: Private YouTube Channel managed by DHHVAC Tutor: A; Course: Foundations of Algebra; Videos recorded: 142; Average length: 2:57; Platform/Dissemination: NTID Spring Relay Lab, Editing: Camtasia or Adobe PremierePro; Dissemination: Private YouTube Channel managed by DHHVAC Tutor: A; Course: Explorations of Algebra; Videos recorded: 81; Average length: 2:13; Platform/Dissemination: NTID Spring Relay Lab, Editing: Camtasia or Adobe PremierePro; Dissemination: Private YouTube Channel managed by DHHVAC Tutor: A; Course: Integrated Algebra and Applications of Algebra; Videos recorded: 193; Average length: 2:35; Platform/Dissemination: NTID Spring Relay Lab, Editing: Camtasia or Adobe PremierePro; Dissemination: Private YouTube Channel managed by DHHVAC Tutor: B; Course: General & Analytical Chemistry; Videos recorded: 13; Average length: 13:00; Platform/Dissemination: Zoom, Editing: Camtasia or Adobe PremierePro; Dissemination: Private YouTube Channel managed by DHHVAC Red box around tutor A's videos Asynchronous Tutoring Image of example of asynchronous tutoring session Asynchronous Tutoring: Usage Tutor: A; Course: Trigonometry; Videos recorded: 45; Views: 55; Average Length: 3:45 Tutor: A; Course: Foundations of Algebra; Videos recorded: 142; Views: 1609; Average Length: 2:57 Tutor: A; Course: Explorations of Algebra; Videos recorded: 81; Views: 528; Average Length: 2:13 Tutor: A; Course: Integrated Algebra and Applications of Algebra; Videos recorded: 193; Views: 5901; Average Length: 2:35 Tutor: B; Course: General & Analytical Chemistry; Videos recorded: 13; Views: 137; Average Length: 13:00 Asynchronous Tutoring: Themes Independent Learning: "A way to go back and learn something on my time"; "I can rewind to figure out rather than ask again and again." Test Preparation: "Built my confidence for the final test" Scheduling: "It is nice to have video because we are always busy and also I live off campus. It is good benefits (sic) for me to use video instead of drive all the way to campus. If I do not understand after I watched video, I will ask the teach to clarify." Understanding: "Better understanding, more knowledge, much better grades if I watched the video a lot before tests of quizzes."; "The whiteboard shown plenty of information (sic)... Helps a lot for me since I am visual learner." Tutoring Benefits and Challenges Tutoring model: Synchronous; Benefits: More accommodating for student schedules; Challenges: Student commitment (DHH sutdents have in-person tutoring regularly available) Tutoring model: Synchronous; Benefits: Easy to share documents; Challenges: Tutor recruitment (time needed to develop technical skills while still managing tutoring workload) Tutoring model: Synchronous; Benefits: Good for classes with signficant online component; Challenges: Robust internet connection Tutoring model: Asynchronous; Benefits: Most flexible option for student schedules; Challenges: Tutor recruitment (time needed to develop technical skills while still managing tutoring workload) Tutoring model: Asynchronous; Benefits: Obvious potential to impact much greater numbers of DHH students; Challenges: Tutor recruitment (time needed to develop technical skills while still managing tutoring workload) Tutoring model: Asynchronous; Benefits: Resources remain available for future student access; Challenges: Tutor recruitment (time needed to develop technical skills while still managing tutoring workload) Student Successes 69 students enrolled in project-to-date (Associates, bachelors, masters, doctoral) 37 graduate-to-date (Associates: 10; Bachelors: 24; Masters: 3) Remainder still purusing various STEM degrees 7 left college prior to graduation Hearing students at public colleges: 29% graduation rate at 2-year schools with AS degree; 59% graduation rate at 4-year schools with BS degree http://www.ntid.rit.edu/media/annual-report Image of staff with student at graduation in regalia Conclusions The DHHVAC tutoring model attempts to implement a solution to address: Personal objectives (student access to content, tutor professional development); Institutional objectives (student success, effective management of workload) Intergenerational cooperation and support (student and tutor buy-in) are essential "Nothing is too difficult to learn, especially for people who make their careers out of educating others. The best way to learn how to teach with synchronous tool is to learn with one." J. Finkelstein, Learning in REal Time: Synchronous Teaching and Learning Online, pp. 138-139. Image of someone signing thank you Contact Information Deaf STEM Community Alliance http://www.dhhvac.org or lisa.elliot@rit.edu augnts@rit.edu Select References Chen,X. & Soldner, M. (2013). STEM attrition: College Students; paths into and out of STEM fields (NCES 2014-001). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC. Cockburn, A. (2008). Using both incremental and iterative development. Crosstalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering, (May 2008), 27 - 30. Finkelstein, J. (2006). Learning in REal TIme: Synchronous Teaching and Learning Online. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. NTID (2017). National Technical Institute for the Deaf: Annual report. Rochester, NY: Rochester Institute of Technology