THE BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF INCLUDING STUDENTS WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES IN INTRODUCTORY GEOLOGY COURSES AT TWO-YEAR COLLEGES

Teaching students with physical disabilities in a geoscience course requires special planning to make the class as accessible as possible. It is especially difficult to accomplish this planning at two-year colleges where the student population changes from semester to semester and class registration does not close until the first week of class. Therefore, an instructor may not be aware of the needs of students until class begins, greatly limiting the instructor’s ability to adequately prepare to meet those needs. Over the past several years, students at Lone Star College with blindness, paraplegia, and cerebral palsy have been involved in interactive and enriching laboratory and field experiences in introductory geology courses. Successfully incorporating disabled students into a collaborative classroom environment allows students to support one another in the learning process, which is imperative in visually or physically demanding disciplines like geology. Support is especially important during field exercises where disabled students require assistance with mobility. For example a student with cerebral palsy attended a field trip to Pedernales Falls near Johnston City, TX. The path down to the falls is steep and has irregular terrain. Ordinarily this student would be excluded from such a learning experience. Because of the relationships forged in the classroom through shared experience, she was given physical assistance by several students and examined the site first hand. This interaction also fosters a sense of community as students gain a different perspective and appreciation for the challenges faced by their disabled classmates. Understanding varied perspectives also empowers students to make new observations and discoveries as they examine samples and processes. Additional support is needed for blind students. Illustrative diagrams are integral to geology and a blind student would be deprived of that learning tool without tactile handouts. Interpretive diagrams are made for such students enabling them to feel the key aspects of this highly visual science. Similar accommodations can be made for other types of physical disabilities so long as adequate support is available.