HR: 0800h
AN: ED31A-0092    [Abstracts]
TI: Storms in Space: Bringing NASA Earth-Sun Science Educational Resources to Hearing- Impaired Students.
AU: * Lowry, K
EM: klowry@sunshinecottage.org
AF: Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children, 103 Tuleta, San Antonio, TX 78212, United States
AU: Sindt, M
EM: msindt@sunshinecottage.org
AF: Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children, 103 Tuleta, San Antonio, TX 78212, United States
AU: Jahn, J
EM: jjahn@swri.edu
AF: Southwest Research Institute, Space Science Department 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78238-5166, United States
AB: Using assistive technology, children with hearing loss can actively participate in the hearing world. However, to develop the necessary skills, hearing-impaired students need to be immersed in a language-rich environment which compensates for the lack of "incidental" learning that typifies the language acquisition of their peers with typical hearing. For any subject matter taught in class, this means that the conceptual and language framework of the topic has to be provided in addition to regular class materials. In a collaboration between the Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children and the Southwest Research Institute, we are exploring how NASA-developed educational resources covering Space Science topics can be incorporated successfully in blended classrooms containing children with hearing loss and those with typical hearing in grades 3-5. Utilizing the extensive routine language monitoring performed at Sunshine Cottage, student progress is directly monitored during the year as well as from year to year. This allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of the resources used. Since all instruction at Sunshine Cottage is auditory-oral, our experiences in using those materials can be fed back directly into mainstream classrooms of the same grade levels.
DE: 0805 Elementary and secondary education
DE: 0825 Teaching methods
DE: 0830 Teacher training
DE: 0840 Evaluation and assessment
DE: 0845 Instructional tools
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting