WHEN YOU DON’T SEE IT COMING: SOME LAST MINUTE STRATEGIES FOR ACCOMMODATING A VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENT

Introductory Geology Labs are difficult enough to engage students taking the class simply for degree requirements. How exactly do you adjust when on the first day of class, a visually impaired student arrives to your classroom? Suddenly, all of your preparation, teaching methods and exercises are inadequate. This presentation is an effort to share my experiences of trial and error when dealing with just such a situation during the Fall 2001 and Spring 2004 semesters at Temple University. I present this as an instructor not trained in working with disabled students, but as one who learned by trial and error how to foster a more complete understanding of geological principles and processes. Some methods worked well whereas others did not. Those that worked well were labs that could be transformed from two-dimensional, visual concepts in the text into three-dimensional, tactile representations, such as sedimentary rock identification, topographic maps, structural geology and volcanism. Labs which were not as successful tended to be based on models or concepts without a clearly defined tactile counterpart, such as the application of flow charts based on analysis and interpretation of visual data. My goal is to use this experience to compile a lab manual that will serve as a beginning resource for other instructors who find themselves in a similar situation, thereby alleviating some of the stress and uncertainty of teaching a visually impaired student such a visually demanding subject.