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Inclusive science
New 3D chemistry model for visually-impaired students
By Emilie Lauer
A
chemistry professor has created a new 3D-printed model to enable visually-impaired students to understand their university courses better .
Associate Professor Aaron Oakley from the University of Wollongong says he first came up with the idea after he discovered two of his second-year students had vision impairment .
“ Chemistry is a very visual science and there are some molecules that can be quite difficult to learn in two dimensions which is an additional challenge for visually-impaired students ,” Oakley told Campus Review .
For the first time in his career , Oakley had visually-impaired students in his class and did not want them to experience issues understanding his course .
He said he instantly knew that using a 3D model to help his students better visualise his course content would be a potential solution .
But he soon realised the current 3D model sets available would not work as most used colour coding , which the professor didn ’ t find suitable .
“ The idea just came to me straight away . I thought , ‘ Oh , this is obvious . We need to make models that are tactile encoded , so to speak , to make the chemistry more accessible to them .’”
Oakley then created a new model using ‘ tactile features ’, which relate to a person ’ s sense of touch , to help his students understand what different molecules looked like .
“ In a nutshell , molecules have atoms that are joined together with bonds . Atom types are coded by texture . Carbon is smooth , oxygen is spiky , nitrogen has ridges , and the smallest ones are hydrogen .
“ All the information that would be present in an image , that would help the student to understand the structure of a molecule , is included in the 3D-printed models ,” Oakley said .
While he said that the idea is not completely original , it is the first time that he has heard of a lecturer systematically creating physical models to help students .
“ When I thought of the idea , I actually thought , ‘ somebody must have done this already ’, and there are descriptions you can find on the internet of people using similar models , there ’ s bits and pieces out there .
“ However those trails , I guess , ran cold because there was nothing really available to the extent we needed .”
The associate professor now wishes to make his model widely available and has shared it freely on the Harvard Dataverse , a scientific information server .
Oakley also hopes that more visuallyimpaired students will have access to the new model on a global scale .
In 2020 , 1.1 billion people were living with vision loss worldwide , with 43 million being blind and more than 290 million who have moderate to severe vision impairment .
In Australia , over 13 million people are estimated to live with one or more chronic eye conditions , with with more than 131,000 affected by blindness , according to the ABS .
Oakley now hopes to introduce his model into high schools across Australia to encourage younger students living with vision impairment to engage in STEM .
“ High school students are at the stage where they ’ re thinking about their careers , and might decide STEM subjects are not for them because they have a visual impairment , but if they have access to 3D molecules , that might change their mind .
“ In general , the blind and visually impaired tend to be put off careers in STEM because of this lack of resources appropriate to their conditions . If we can make this sort of learning more accessible to students in high school , it could potentially impact their careers ,” Oakley said .
Karlee Symonds a visually-impaired student in Oakley ’ s class , believes the 3D model has helped her have a better understanding of the subject and made it easier for her to learn the course material .
“ As chemistry is such a visual subject , and I have no functional eyesight , it was definitely a challenge at times . Especially when we were in lockdown [ in 2021 ] and studying online ,” Karlee said .
“ I rely extensively on tactile and audible feedback , so the creation of the 3D models helped me immensely to create an image in my head and visualise the structures .” ■
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