simultaneous sign interpretation or voice overlay; increase or decrease text size, loudness, and contrast; and play and replay all or parts of a story. They can also read a transcript of the story. Image 2 shows how options to use these features are incorporat- ed into the story interface.
They suggested integrating them into core curriculum top- ics based on their alignment with the NGSS, using them as a component of a job awareness class, or incorporating them into career research projects. For example, integration into the cur- riculum might include the story from the naturalist being used when teaching ecology or to augment study of the decline of bee populations. The pharmacist’s story could be used in a biol- ogy class when discussing modern medicine. The stories could also be used in a job awareness class or to help students with a career research project. They could be incorporated into an in- troduction to a relevant topic, used as a follow-up to an activity, or illustrate how professionals use a particular concept or skill. Power Point slides could be incorporated to provide additional information to elaborate on an aspect of a story after viewing. Results for Question 2 (What kinds of outcomes are made possible with use of the stories in terms of interest and engage- ment in STEM and pursuing a STEM career?) are provided in Fig- ure 2 . Information from students about what they learned from the stories follows. School A Well, I noticed that deaf or hard of hearing persons have changed the world a lot because they (have been able) to stand up for themselves. This is good news and (gives) deaf or hard of hearing persons more opportunities. I saw deaf or hard of hearing persons have experienced frustration throughout life. I appreciated hearing about the scientist’s frustration even in high school. It made me want to seek more help now and in the future. School B I'm sure (pursuing a STEM career) was full of challenges to face and (the scientist) didn’t let doubt get in the way, and I'm really impressed with that. They're very hard workers, even though (some) learn sign lan- guage late they just keep it up and are very patient with their process of learning. That deaf can do it even if the career is involved with hearing. We can use devices for that. It can be a struggle with real world things such as communi- cating with hearing people for jobs, transportation, becoming a doctor and more. Deaf can support each other. Deaf people can succeed and accomplish cool things. We can help inform and advise others. CONCLUSIONS With respect to implementation, it should be flexible and is largely dependent on the situation. With respect to what stu- dents learned, most agreed that the stories resulted in having found out something new about STEM and more about STEM
An Example of the Story Interface
WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED TO DATE The research team conducted a proof-of-concept test with students in two schools for the deaf. One school was in Arizona. The other was in Boston. The test incorporated a mixed-meth- ods design (Cresswell & Plano Clark 2007; Johnson, Onwuegbuz- ie, & Turner 2007) that integrated qualitative and quantitative methods. Data collection involved use of separate online post- use surveys—one for teachers and another for students. The surveys incorporated fixed and open-response items that were designed to support an analysis that was intended to answer several research questions, two of which are relevant to this arti- cle: 1) How do teachers make use of the stories? 2) What kinds of outcomes are made possible with use of the stories in terms of interest and engagement in STEM and pursuing a STEM career? Results and findings for each question are highlighted below. Testing included 33 students who were Deaf or hard of hear- ing and their teachers. Image 1 provides a snapshot of their de- mographics. Results for Question 1 (How do teachers make use of the sto- ries) are provided in Figure 1 . Comments from teachers about suggested implementation strategies follow.
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