[nabs-l] Fwd: FW: comprehensive math survey

Tue May 31 23:44:23 UTC 2011

Hello all,
Attached and also pasted below is an important survey about math
accessibility being conducted by Al Maneki in conjunction with the NFB
Jernigan Institute. Please note that although the official deadline
has passed, we are still looking for survey responses, so we'd
appreciate your help with this. Thanks!
Arielle

HANDLING MATH IN BRAILLE? A SURVEY

By Al Maneki

>From the Editor: At the 2010 NFB convention in Dallas, Al Maneki
moderated a lively panel on access to mathematics classes by blind
students. The response to the panel was enthusiastic, but it raised a
number of unanswered questions. Al realized how little is actually
known about how blind people handle the many challenges of math. With
the help of Judith Chwallow and Mark Riccobono of the Jernigan
Institute, he has compiled a series of survey questions to help us
learn more.

How do blind and visually impaired people read and do mathematics? I
address this question to any blind person who has studied math at any
level, or who uses math regularly in his or her work.

Technology makes Braille materials more available than ever before.
However, it is unclear whether the greater availability of Braille
extends to the field of mathematics. Even if mathematical materials
are available in Braille, the question remains of how blind and
visually impaired people actually perform mathematical tasks--solve
problems; prove theorems; take tests; and write papers, dissertations,
and books. How do blind and visually impaired people communicate
mathematically with others?

As a blind person, I have studied and worked as a mathematician for my
entire adult life. I have answered the above questions for my own
situation. Yet it is clear to me that mine are not the only answers.
We know that a number of blind and visually impaired people have done
and are currently doing mathematics, but we have no systematic
information about the methods they find most useful. To help the blind
community, we need to gather answers from a number of people with a
variety of experiences. We plan to organize and summarize these
answers and publish the results in a form that will be helpful to
teachers, parents, students, and blind adults.

With the help of Judy Chwallow, Director of Research at the NFB
Jernigan Institute, I have compiled a set of questions that I would
like to circulate as widely as possible. If you wish to furnish
answers to some or all of these questions, please send your responses
to me. While this is an informal survey, I believe that the responses
we receive will prove valuable to many people.

Who Should Complete This Survey?

We would like to hear from any blind or visually impaired person who
has taken or is taking at least one math or math-based science course
at the secondary or postsecondary school level. We would also like to
hear from any parent or teacher who has advised or assisted a blind or
visually impaired child with at least one math or math-based science
course. Furthermore, we are interested in students' experiences
learning geometry or elementary school arithmetic.

There is no restriction on when or how long ago you or your child took
a math course. We want to learn about the methods of handling math
that worked best for you. We are equally interested in methods that
were not particularly successful or useful.

If you or your child are considering taking math courses at any level,
you should read these survey questions. They may help you get the
information you need to complete your courses successfully.

Instructions

In your responses, please provide me with contact information (name,
address, email, phone) so that I may reach you for possible
clarifications and follow-up interviews. Please also include your age
(closest to 5-year multiples, i.e.  20-25, 25-30 etc); the highest
level of education you have completed; your primary reading medium;
your current employment status and job title.

You need not answer all of the questions, since some of them may not
be relevant to your experience. You do not have to answer questions
separately. You may provide a narrative summary for your response to
this survey.

If you require additional information about these questions, please
get in touch with me. You may contact me by email, phone, or snail
mail. My contact information appears at the end of the survey.

You may submit your responses by email or snail mail (Braille or print
please, no audio) to the addresses shown below. Please complete this
survey by April 15, 2011. Persons taking courses after this date may
respond later, as I anticipate a continuation of this survey.

Your answers will not be used to judge your mathematical strengths or
weaknesses. Any personal information you may reveal in your responses
will remain confidential. Names, mailing addresses, email addresses,
and phone numbers will not be distributed.

Survey Questions

Here are the questions to consider:

1.  What math or math-based science courses have you taken
(elementary, secondary, community college/university, graduate
school)? Specify the level of each course, and describe the subject
matter that was included.

2.  Were classroom lectures useful to you? Since mathematics is
generally communicated visually, tell us as specifically as you can
what you actually learned from these lectures. If lectures were not
helpful, tell us what you did to compensate for the missing
information.

3.  Were you able to take classroom notes? If so, tell us what method
you used: large print, hardcopy Braille, electronic or live
notetakers, audio recordings, etc.

4.  How did you handle reading assignments? Tell us about your use of
Braille textbooks, recorded textbooks, large print textbooks, or the
use of live readers or tutors.

5.  How did you do homework assignments and take tests? Describe your
use of large print, notetakers, hardcopy Braille, mental arithmetic,
or dictation to a live reader. If you used Braille, describe your
method of translating Braille into a medium accessible to instructors
who do not know Braille. If you used Braille/print reverse translation
software of any kind, describe how this worked. In your answer to this
question, tell us about any additional devices and technologies you
have used, i.e., older devices such as the Taylor Slate, Cube-a-Rithm
Slate, Circular Slide Rule, and Cranmer Abacus; and newer devices such
as talking calculators or specialized learning software.

6.  Have you written papers containing mathematical content in an
academic or professional setting? Describe how you did this,
especially the use of human support.

7.  How did you work with line drawings, graphs, or charts? Explain
how these were described to you or produced in accessible formats. If
you had to construct these items, tell us how you accomplished this
task.

8.  How familiar are you with the Nemeth Braille code? Describe the
extent to which you use it for reading or writing.

9.  Are there any tools/devices/aids that you wish you had had that
would have enhanced your mathematical experiences?

10.  How satisfied are you with your mathematical experiences? Are
there other comments you would like to make about how blind and
visually impaired people may read and do mathematics?

Conclusion

This is an informal survey. I am conducting it with the intention of
using the results to help others who will be taking math and
math-based science courses in the future. The results of this survey,
after they have been compiled, may also prove useful to people who are
accustomed to doing math in their own ways. These folks may find new
ways of working more productively. It could further turn out that
these responses will suggest altogether different ways of doing math,
either by refining methods already in use or by suggesting the
development of new techniques and technologies. I fervently hope that
over time this survey will make it possible for blind and visually
impaired people to learn and do mathematics more efficiently and with
greater ease.

I plan to compile the first set of responses (received by April 15,
2011) into an article, ideally for publication in the newly
established Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research. It is also
my hope that this survey will be a continuing investigation.
Additional articles pertaining to this survey will be published if
they are warranted.

In preparing this article and survey, I received valuable help from
Deborah Kent Stein, Editor of Future Reflections, and from Mark
Riccobono and Judith Chwalow of the NFB Jernigan Institute. Although
they have left their marks on this article and survey, I assume
responsibility for all shortcomings, errors, and omissions.

I thank you in advance for helping me with this survey. I look forward
to hearing from you.

Al Maneki

Email:  apmaneki at earthlink.net

(443) 745-9274  CELL

9013 Nelson Way, Columbia, MD 21045
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