Broadening Participation

Project Accelerate: Bringing AP® Physics 1 to Underserved Students

Economically disadvantaged and underrepresented high school students in many urban, rural, and small suburban communities don’t have access to Advanced Placement® (AP®) courses either because of a lack of trained teachers, limited or no AP program, or a school history of low participation. Physics is often a “gate keeper” course to entry into physical science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers and academic programs.

Author/Presenter

Mark D. Greenman

Andrew Duffy

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2018
Short Description

Project Accelerate is a partnership program between Boston University (BU) and the nation’s high schools combining the supportive infrastructures from the students’ traditional school with a highly interactive private edX online instructional tool to bring a College Board accredited AP Physics 1 course to schools not offering this opportunity. During the 2015-16 academic year, Boston University piloted this model with four Boston Public School (BPS) high schools and three small suburban high schools. During the first year of the pilot, students enrolled in Project Accelerate outperformed their peer groups enrolled in traditional AP Physics 1 classrooms.

A Handbook and Tool for Uncovering Children’s Conceptions of Fractions

Understand students’ fraction concepts through interview tasks.  Includes tasks and guide to record student thinking.

Author/Presenter

Jessica Hunt

Year
2015
Short Description

Understand students’ fraction concepts through interview tasks. Includes tasks and guide to record student thinking.

Principles for Designing Large-Format Refreshable Haptic Graphics Using Touchscreen Devices: An Evaluation of Nonvisual Panning Methods

Touchscreen devices, such as smartphones and tablets, represent a modern solution for providing graphical access to people with blindness and visual impairment (BVI). However, a significant problem with these solutions is their limited screen real estate, which necessitates panning or zooming operations for accessing large-format graphical materials such as maps.

Author/Presenter

Hari Prasath Palani

Nicholas A. Giudice

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2017
Short Description

This article describes the development of four novel non-visual panning methods designed from the onset with consideration of these perceptual and cognitive constraints.

Touchscreen-Based Haptic Information Access for Assisting Blind and Visually-Impaired Users: Perceptual Parameters and Design Guidelines

Touchscreen-based smart devices, such as smartphones and tablets, offer great promise for providing blind and visually-impaired (BVI) users with a means for accessing graphics non-visually. However, they also offer novel challenges as they were primarily developed for use as a visual interface. This paper studies key usability parameters governing accurate rendering of haptically-perceivable graphical materials.

Author/Presenter

Hari Prasath Palani

Jennifer L. Tennison

G. Bernard Giudice

Nicholas A. Giudice

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2018
Short Description

This paper studies key usability parameters governing accurate rendering of haptically-perceivable graphical materials

Touchscreen-Based Haptic Information Access for Assisting Blind and Visually-Impaired Users: Perceptual Parameters and Design Guidelines

Touchscreen-based smart devices, such as smartphones and tablets, offer great promise for providing blind and visually-impaired (BVI) users with a means for accessing graphics non-visually. However, they also offer novel challenges as they were primarily developed for use as a visual interface. This paper studies key usability parameters governing accurate rendering of haptically-perceivable graphical materials.

Author/Presenter

Hari Prasath Palani

Jennifer L. Tennison

G. Bernard Giudice

Nicholas A. Giudice

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2018
Short Description

This paper studies key usability parameters governing accurate rendering of haptically-perceivable graphical materials

Comparing Haptic Pattern Matching on Tablets and Phones: Large Screens Are Not Necessarily Better

Significance: Touchscreen-based, multimodal graphics represent an area of increasing research in digital access for individuals with blindness or visual impairments; yet, little empirical research on the effects of screen size on graphical exploration exists. This work probes if and whenmore screen area is necessary in supporting a patternmatching task.

Author/Presenter

Jennifer L. Tennison

Zachary S. Carril

Nicholas A. Giudice

Jenna L. Gorlewicz

Year
2018
Short Description

The current study investigates two questions: (1) Do screen size and grid density impact a user's accuracy on pattern-matching tasks? (2) Do screen size and grid density impact a user's time on task?

Comparing Haptic Pattern Matching on Tablets and Phones: Large Screens Are Not Necessarily Better

Significance: Touchscreen-based, multimodal graphics represent an area of increasing research in digital access for individuals with blindness or visual impairments; yet, little empirical research on the effects of screen size on graphical exploration exists. This work probes if and whenmore screen area is necessary in supporting a patternmatching task.

Author/Presenter

Jennifer L. Tennison

Zachary S. Carril

Nicholas A. Giudice

Jenna L. Gorlewicz

Year
2018
Short Description

The current study investigates two questions: (1) Do screen size and grid density impact a user's accuracy on pattern-matching tasks? (2) Do screen size and grid density impact a user's time on task?

Initial Understandings of Fraction Concepts Evidenced by Students With Mathematics Learning Disabilities and Difficulties

Documenting how students with learning disabilities (LD) initially conceive of fractional quantities, and how their understandings may align with or differ from students with mathematics difficulties, is necessary to guide development of assessments and interventions that attach to unique ways of thinking or inherent difficulties these students may face understanding fraction concepts. One way to characterize such conceptions is through the creation of a framework that depicts key understandings evidenced as students work with problematic situations.

Author/Presenter

Jessica H. Hunt

Jasmine J. Welch-Ptak

Juanita M. Silva

Year
2016
Short Description

This study extends current literature by presenting key understandings of fractions, documented through problem-solving activity, language, representations, and operations, evidenced by students with LD and mathematics difficulties as they engaged with equal sharing problems.

Productive Struggle for All: Differentiated Instruction

Lynch, S., Hunt, J.H., & Lewis, K. (2018). Productive struggle for all: Differentiated instruction. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 24(4), 194-201.

Author/Presenter

Sararose D. Lynch

Jessica H. Hunt

Katherine E. Lewis

Year
2018
Short Description

This article looks at strategies that create access while maintaining the cognitive demand of a mathematics task.