[NABS-L] Fwd: Your Experiences With Taking Chemistry Courses?

[Alfred D'Agostino]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Alfred D'Agostino <alfred.t.dagostinophd at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Apr 6, 2024 at 8:45 PM
Subject: Your Experiences With Taking Chemistry Courses?
To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>


I am collecting information from students who are blind or have low vision
about barriers and experiences they have encountered in studying chemistry.
(At the end of this e-mail, I have provided information about myself.(
Would you please strongly and thoughtfully consider providing responses to
the below questions? After I review initial responses, I will issue a
survey to help categorize responses and collect more information



You may respond to me directly and / or to the whole NFB NABS listserve.
You may use the following e-mail: adagostino at ndm.edu

Thank you.

Alfred T. D’Agostino, PhD.

Emeritus Professor of Chemistry

(FYI, I am blind and non-visually conduct my work and professional
activities. I am interested in promoting changes in how chemistry is taught
to students who are blind or have low vision, and in promoting advances in
adaptive/ assistive technologies in chemistry instruction)



1( Would you please describe your First-hand account of the barriers you
have encountered in your study of chemistry at the college / university
level. That is, in the in-person and online / virtual environments, and
especially in the laboratory.



2( In considering your experience in taking chemistry courses and
laboratory in any setting), what method, tool, innovation, would have
helped you learn chemistry more effectively?





Alfred T. D’Agostino, Ph.D. - Professional Biography



Outreach in Non-Visual Accessibility

Dr. Alfred D’Agostino’s personal and professional activities overlap his
interest in promoting accessibility in science lab instruction for blind/
low-vision (BLV) students. Dr. D’Agostino non-visually conducts his
professional activities; he completed the C.O.R.E. Program at Blind
Industries and Services of Maryland (and is currently a member of the Board
of Trustees). He is a reviewer for Journal of Blindness Innovation and
Research. He is a member of the Digital Accessibility Advisory Board at his
institution. Dr. D’Agostino has given many professional talks on the topic
of accessibility for the blind; including Communicating in equations and
formulas: Symbolic representations and challenges in the online environment
to the Maryland Distance Learning Association, and a plenary presentation
to the CLEAR International Symposium on Practical Approach to Accessible
Chemistry Instruction for Blind and  Low-Vision Students.  In 2021, he
published Accessible Teaching and Learning in the Undergraduate Chemistry
Course and Laboratory for Blind/ Low-Vision Student in the Journal of
Chemical Education. He has facilitated ‘hands-on’ chemistry experiments for
college students and adults at   National Federation of the Blind’s
Louisiana Center for the Blind and at the Colorado Center for the blind
using ‘speech-enabled’ probe ware. He has supervised undergraduates in his
general education courses  in service-learning projects on hands-on
chemistry experiments with blind school-age children. In 2016, Professor
D’Agostino held a Symposium at the Biennial Conference on Chemical
Education titled “accessible instruction and participation in the
undergraduate science course for students with vision impairment or loss”
and he presented “Making General Chemistry laboratory accessible to
blind/low-vision students” at the 2018 conference during the Symposium on
Addressing Underrepresented Groups in STEM. He hosted “Including the Blind
in Chemistry: Making Instruction Accessible” symposium at BCCE 2022. At
conferences where he presents to faculty colleagues, he highlights the
access technologies (including tactile graphics) that can assist BLV
students in doing independent work in the least restrictive learning
environment.



Impact in Higher Education

Alfred T. D’Agostino, Ph.D. served as a full-time faculty member for
23-years at Notre Dame of Maryland University. In June 2017, he was awarded
the rank of Emeritus Professor of Chemistry upon retirement. he was
Chemistry Department chairperson (15 years), and Biology Department
Chairperson (2 years) and he has served multiple times on all major
academic and governance committees over a 40-year career in academia at
several universities including University of South Florida (two PH.D.
students), University of Maine and Rutgers University. Professor D’Agostino
has taught chemistry to non-science majors, students in radiological
science and pharmacy programs, nurses, and to majors and graduate students;
his specialty areas are in physical and analytical chemistry, including
research in surface science and interface analysis. As a teacher, he uses
active teaching and facilitated learning practices and methods. He has used
POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) in his courses including
the physical chemistry classroom and laboratory; he has used
service-learning in his general education chemistry course and has directed
undergraduate research as an ACS REU co-PI. His scholarship is in the areas
of pedagogy and learning assessment - his investigations have involved the
relationship among instructional methods, assessment instruments, rubrics,
learning mode and outcomes in chemistry courses. Professor D’Agostino is
continuing his teaching and study interventions at Community College of
Baltimore County – projects include how online student interaction can be
used to improve problem-solving skills and how student metacognition
feedback may be used to assist students in improving study habits. He is
also engaged in the Teaching Squares program and in the Student Success
Center. Some of his recent and upcoming presentations have been at
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons, Biennial Conference on
Chemical Education Maryland Distance Learning Association, AFACCT, MCSC and
MAALACT. Presentations have included Communicating With Formulas and
Equations: Symbolic Representations in the Online Environment.   He has
given roundtables and workshops on improving science writing using group
interaction and peer review, outcomes assessments and collaborative
learning. Professor D’Agostino participated in workshops on reflective
teaching and on the use of education cards to inform teaching at
International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
conferences.



Experimental Research

Dr. D’Agostino’s  research has been in the areas of surface science and
interface analysis. He held a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Lawrence Berkeley
Laboratory. He has been an AFOSR Faculty Research Fellow at Wright
Laboratory. As a NASA Faculty Research Fellow, he performed research at the
John Glenn Research Center and at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr.
D’Agostino has been a Visiting Research Professor in chemistry at Johns
Hopkins University where his research was supported by an NSF ROA and
published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry. His current research
involves learning pedagogies.