Active Learning for Deaf Students: Teaching
Tips for Enhancing Instruction
in Science and Mathematics
Harry G. Lang
Rachel C. Lewis
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology
Objectives
Upon completion of this unit, the teacher will be able to:
• Apply “best practices” related to active learning in
instruction of deaf learners based on educational
research (elementary & secondary).
• Summarize what research says about active learning
and deaf students in science and mathematics.
Introductory Activity
• On a piece of paper, please draw the figure
below, with the O and X four to five centimeters
apart.
O
X
Introductory Activity
• Close your left eye as you look at the O with your
right eye.
• Move the paper toward your face.
• What happens to the X? Discuss this with your
group.
Introductory Activity
Explanation:
You have discovered the “blind spot” where the
optic nerve connects to the retina and there are
no cones or rods to pick up an image.
Discovery Learning
• Compare discovering this concept through active
learning with a teacher just describing it through
a lecture.
• Discuss the difference with your group.
Discovery Learning
• Discovery learning is "an approach to instruction
through which students interact with their environmentby exploring and manipulating objects, wrestling with
questions and controversies, or performing
experiments" (Ormrod, 1995, p. 442).
• Students are more likely to remember concepts when
they discover them on their own.
Ormrod, J. (1995). Educational psychology: Principles and applications. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall.
Discovery Learning
• In this activity, all students have their “minds on”
during the activity.
• Minds-on learning (cognitive engagement) is
much more important than “hands-on” activity.
Defining “Active Learning”
• All learning is “active.”
• The level of engagement by the student during
the instructional process determines how “active”
a learning experience may be.
Defining “Active Learning”
Student-Centered Learning
• Film clip A1 illustrates how a teacher is actively
involving the students in creating a concept map
in which they compare and contrast the
characteristics of humans and computers.
• Film clip A1
Defining “Active Learning”
There is probably no better way to summarize the
importance of active learning than the old
proverb:
Tell me, and I will forget.
Show me, and I will remember.
Involve me, and I will understand.
Defining “Active Learning”
Tell me, and I will forget.
Show me, and I will remember.
Involve me, and I will understand.
Involving the deaf student in student-centered
activities (as compared to teacher-centered lectures)
has been repeatedly found in research studies to be
a critical emphasis or “best practice.”
Instructional Strategies to
Promote Active Learning
Inquiry-based Learning
Inquiry learning is a general term for learning modeled on the
scientific inquiry process. It is described in various ways,
but generally involves the following steps:
• formulating testable hypotheses (or predictions or
questions)
• planning for the systematic gathering of data
• acquiring the data and information
• data analysis
• inferring conclusions
• reporting the findings
Inquiry-Based Learning
An example from mathematics:
• On a piece of paper, please draw a triangle with
a ruler.
• It can be any shape or size.
Inquiry-Based Learning
An example from mathematics:
Focus questions
• How can we find the measure of each angle of a
triangle?
• How can we find the sum of the measures of the angles
of a triangle?
Inquiry-Based Learning
An example from mathematics:
• Discuss how you would measure the angles and
find the sum.
• Design a short experiment to predict the sum of the
angles in your individual triangles, measure these
angles and record them in a data sheet.
Inquiry-Based Learning
An example from mathematics:
• Next, in your drawing of a triangle, please label
each angle, A, B, and C.
Inquiry-Based Learning
An example from mathematics:
• Cut (or tear) each angle from the triangle and
place them together with their sides touching.
• What do you notice about the sum of the three
angles?
Inquiry-Based Learning
An example from mathematics:
• What do you notice about the sum of the three angles?
Inquiry-Based Learning
An example from mathematics:
Using such a technique, the students will discover
that no matter what the size or shape of the
triangle, the three angles will always add up to
180 degrees (or a straight line).
Inquiry-Based Learning
Research Findings:
Elefant (1980): Twenty-seven deaf students aged
10-13 participated in an Inquiry Development
Program in five instructional groups ranging from 3
to 7 students each. The program lasted 8 weeks
with two sessions per week. The focus was on
whether such an inquiry approach can be used with
deaf learners.
Inquiry-Based Learning
Research Findings:
Elefant concludes from her study that the actual number of
inquiry behaviors and time spent doing experiments
exhibited per lesson tended to increase over time and that
the the spent doing "non-involved tasks" either remained
constant or decreased over time for each student. All of the
students involved in the study were able to acquire inquiry
skills. However, academic content learning was not
evaluated in this study.
Elefant, E.F. (1980). Deaf children in an inquiry training program. The Volta Review, 82, 271-279.
Inquiry-Based Learning
Research Findings:
Boyd and George (1973), used an inquiry learning
approach to study the manipulation of objects and
classification abilities of deaf 10-13 year-old students using
Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) and
Science: A Process Approach (SAPA) materials.
They observed increased scores for deaf students in the
experimental group who used the hands-on materials.
Boyd, E., & George, K. (1973). The effect of science inquiry on the abstract categorization behavior of deaf
children. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 10, 91-99.
Inquiry-Based Learning
Research Findings:
Grossman (1987) investigated how the "antecedent cognitive skills"
of 30 deaf junior high science students relate to inquiry tasks. He first
assessed such cognitive skills as pattern/unit relations, symmetry,
balance, and complementarity. Then he examined performance on
observational science inquiry tasks, finding that antecedent process
performance was significantly related to observational science inquiry
skills. The antecedent cognitive skills were also significantly related
to science and reading SAT scores.
Grossman, E. (1987). Antecedent cognitive skills related to science inquiry: an assessment with deaf
children. Doctoral dissertation, Columbia University Teachers College.
Inquiry-Based Learning
Research Findings:
In summary, several studies with deaf learners
have shown benefits of using inquiry learning
approaches.
Active Learning
In addition to the short-term discovery/inquiry
approaches recently described, there are many
other forms of active learning.
Another type of active learning is called
Experiential Learning
Experiential Learning
• “Experiential learning” often refers to a
structured learning sequence which is guided by
a cyclical model.
• Experiential learning may also include
unintentional learning, but we usually call this
“learning through experience.”
Experiential Learning
• Experiential Learning is defined in a variety of ways.
• There are several components which are common to all
models.
• Experiential education usually includes:
• Some form of action
• Some form of reflection
• Some form of application
Experiential Learning
• Film Clip A2 illustrates the “Action” stage of
experiential learning. In this lesson, a deaf girl
pretends she is purchasing an automobile from a
saleswoman.
• Film Clip A2
Experiential Learning
• “Processing” is the reflection component.
• Learners consider what is important about the
activity which was recently experienced.
Experiential Learning
• Film clip A3 illustrates one part of a longer
discussion of the recent experience (purchasing
a car). The rest of the class is involved in the
discussion.
• Film clip A3
Experiential Learning
• Reflection ought to include communication of
experience.
• Communication itself is action, or “active learning.”
• The reflective communication may be signed, written, or
spoken (to oneself, to another, to a group).
Experiential Learning
• Critical emphasis - something must be done with the
reflection.
• As far as possible, design the processing activity to
include cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and
affective (feelings) dimensions.
• Encourage the learners to reflect, describe, analyze,
and communicate.
Experiential Learning
Research Findings:
In a study by Quinsland (1986), Deaf students’
learning was enhanced by an experiential activity
where they acted out the different parts of the
human heart (white blood cells, red blood cells,
valves, chambers, etc).
The factual learning by the students was
significantly better than that of a control group
which learned the same material through a
traditional lecture.
Quinsland, L.K. (1986). Experiential learning vs. lecture learning with postsecondary hearing-impaired
learners: a study of the potential need for change to occur in instructional methodology. Ph.D. Dissertation,
Walden University.
Experiential Learning
An example from biology:
Sense of Hearing
Individuals in your group should “become” one of the following:
• Sound wave (use a slinky spring if available)
• Outer ear
• Tympanic membrane
• Parts of the middle ear (hammer, anvil, stirrup)
• Cochlea with hair-like cilia
• Auditory nerve
• Brain
Experiential Learning
An example from biology:
Sense of Hearing
• Using note cards or sticky labels, each individual should
have the name of the part he/she represents clearly
identified.
• Next, the movement and functions of each part of the
hearing process should be discussed individually.
Experiential Learning
An example from biology:
Sense of Hearing
• Finally, the individuals, all standing up, should imagine
themselves as the various components of the hearing
system and act out the process.
• For example, some students will be the stereocilia, imitating
the motion of the hair cells. Their raised arms should move
in synchronization as if carrying the sound energy through
the cochlea.
Experiential Learning
An example from biology:
Sense of Hearing
PROCESSING
Discussion - each student should describe what
she/he experienced as one part of the human ear.
Experiential Learning
An example from biology:
Sense of Hearing
PROCESSING
A “Writing to Learn” activity, for example, may be used to
process this experience
Write a short creative essay several paragraphs long titled,
“I am a Cilium in the Cochlea”
Describe yourself as a cilium.
Experiential Learning
Cooperative Learning Activity: In your group, take 15
minutes to modify the “Sense of Hearing” activity based on
the situation presented on the next slide.
• Choose a leader for the discussion.
• Come up with some basic rules for communication.
• Determine the specific part of the hearing system that needs to be
modified.
• Train the individuals on how to modify their behaviors to demonstrate
the hearing system failure.
• Demonstrate it through experiential learning.
Experiential Learning
APPLICATION
Mary had spinal meningitis at the age of 11.
Discuss and then demonstrate through this
experiential learning model what happened to her
hearing.
Lesson Planning:
Embedding Multiple Activities
Often, a series of short-term activities of
the “hands-on/minds-on” type can be
embedded in a single lesson.
Short-Term Activities
To illustrate how short-term activities can be embedded
in classroom discussions, we provide a series of
QuickTime movies for a lesson on “Properties of Air”:
• Air has weight
• Air occupies space
• Air can exert pressure
Short-Term Activities
Example 1: Air has Weight
• Have the students blow up two balloons (so that they are
roughly of equal size) and tie them to opposite ends of a
meter stick. Tie a string to the center of the meter stick so
that the meter stick and balloons can be held suspended in
the air. The meter stick should be fairly level since the
balloons "weigh" the same.
• Have students write down their prediction of what will
happen when one of the balloons is broken with a pin.
Short-Term Activities
Example 1: Air has Weight
• [See Film Clip A4]
• Have students turn down their hearing aids. Have a
student burst one of the balloons with a pin. After the
students burst the balloon, have them write on an index
card what they saw actually happen. Did this match
their prediction? Why or why not? Why did the
remaining balloon rise or fall?
Short-Term Activities
Example 1: Air has Weight
• Some teachers may assume that a verbal explanation is
adequate. Having the students do this themselves
makes a difference in how well they understand the
concept. The activity also fosters inquiry, involves
multisensory experiences (visually observing, feeling
and/or hearing the balloon burst, etc.), and the writing
activity encourages self expression.
Short-Term Activities
Example 2: Air occupies space
• In the same manner, students can see how air will
occupy space when they do this short-term activity
themselves.
• Importantly, ask the students first if they can design a
basic activity that will demonstrate air occupying space
(inquiry learning).
• See next slide
Short-Term Activities
Example 2: Air occupies space
• Give them a container with water and an empty glass
and allow them to discuss the design…rather than
quickly demonstrating it yourself.
• [See Film Clip A5]]
Short-Term Activities
Example 3: Air exerts pressure
• A simple piece of balsa wood and some newspaper are
all that are needed to dramatically observe air pressure.
• Importantly, involve the students in the activity.
• [see Film Clip A6]
Short-Term Activities
• With the open newspaper, there is a larger area
on which the weight of the air is applied. There is
a larger force. The balsa wood breaks. With the
same newspaper rolled up, there is less area
and less force. The balsa wood does not break.
Active Learning
Tell me, and I will forget.
Show me, and I will remember.
Involve me, and I will understand.
Importance of Active Learning
The use of multisensory,
active learning with deaf
students was first
mentioned in the
seventeenth century.
In one of his books on the
education of deaf students,
Juan Pablo Bonet
discussed the importance
of active learning.
Importance of Active Learning
• In an active learning environment, students
develop conceptual knowledge and acquire
language through engaging in activity.
Importance of Active Learning
• Active learning involves the student taking responsibility
for discovering, constructing, and creating something
new. The primary role of the teacher is to be a resource
and facilitator, not a "source of facts".
• Such an approach leads deaf learners to gain a sense
of empowerment as they construct meaning through
experience and discussion.
Importance of Active Learning
• A number of research studies have been cited thus far
which show that when deaf students are "active,"
"interactive" (with peers, teachers, or computer media, for
example), or "participate" (in terms of learning styles)
rather than passively watch a teacher, they learn better.
• The more deaf students are actually engaged in the
learning activity (as compared to passively watching
explanations or examples), the better they will learn.
Importance of Active Learning
As science and mathematics
teachers, we should take every
opportunity to actively engage
the deaf student in the
classroom, avoiding traditional
lectures as much as possible
and encouraging interaction and
collaborative learning
experiences.
Importance of Active Learning
In one study with deaf adolescents, Lang, Stinson, Basile,
Kavanagh and Liu (1998) compared six learning styles and
their relationships to course grades for 100 deaf adolescents.
• The only learning style found to correlate significantly with
course grade was "Participative Learning Style.“
• The study indicated that deaf students who have higher
“participative” learning styles tend to receive higher course
grades.
Lang, H.G., Stinson, M.S., Basile, M., Kavanagh, F., & Liu, Y. (1998). Learning styles of deaf college students and
teaching behaviors of their instructors. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 4, 16-27.
Importance of Active Learning
In "How the Brain Learns",
Sousa (2000) summarizes
what research has shown
about retention of learning
material after 24 hours for
various instructional methods.
As shown in the graph, on
average only about 5% of the
material is remembered when
learned through a lecture.
Sousa, D. A. (2000). How the brain learns: A
classroom teacher's guide. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Corwin Press.
Importance of Active Learning
Audiovisual support and
demonstrations, for
example, increase the
amount of material
remembered as compared
to non-supported lectures
or reading.
Importance of Active Learning
Active learning
("practice by doing")
strategies significantly
improve the
percentage retained
(75%).
Importance of Active Learning
Teachers may enhance
recall in their students
even further when they
introduce activities that
encourage students to
explain what they have
just learned to others…or
to use what they have
learned.
Importance of Active Learning
• In film clip A7, a deaf student was asked to
explain to others what she just learned about
simplifying radicals in a mathematics class. (A
story about prime factors escaping from prison
was used to help remember the process.)
• She proceeds carefully through the steps,
demonstrates to the teacher and peers an
understanding of the process, and she will likely
remember this process much better as a result of
having explained it in class.
Multimedia Approaches
•
In a study with 144 deaf students involving multimedia
science learning, Dowaliby and Lang (1999) compared
factual recall when the students learned through:
1. text only
2. text and sign movies
3. text and animation movies
4. text with adjunct questions
5. all of these conditions together
Multimedia Approaches
• Deaf students with low reading skills who learned through
reading with adjunct questions performed as well as high
reading ability students who learned through text only.
• (No statistically significant difference was found for the sign
movies or content movies.)
• What is a possible explanation for this finding?
• Please discuss this with your group before advancing to the
next slide.
Multimedia Approaches
What is a possible explanation for this finding?
Dowaliby and Lang conjecture that watching movies
and reading text are more passive as compared to
answering the adjunct questions while reading text,
which likely leads to more cognitive engagement.
Dowaliby, F. & Lang, H. G. (1999). Adjunct aids in instructional pose: A multimedia study with deaf college students.
Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 4, 270-282.
Multimedia Approaches
One implication of the Dowaliby and Lang study
is that teachers should give several questions
with all reading assignments. This will likely
encourage more thinking about what is being
read.
Multimedia Approaches
Steely (see Lang & Steely, 2003) combined text, signing,
animations, and questions in three separate studies (Earth
Science, Chemistry, and Physical Science), each 8 months long.
He compared deaf students’ performance in learning through the
multimedia units with learning the same material in traditional
lectures.
Lang, H.G., and Steely, D. (2003). Web-based science instruction for deaf students: What research says to
theteacher. Instructional Science, 31, 277-298.
Multimedia Approaches
Steely found that in all three studies, deaf students
learning through interaction with the multimedia units did
significantly better on post-tests as compared to students
learning the same material through lectures.
Again, there appeared to be more cognitive engagement
via adjunct questions. The combined use of signing, text,
and graphics with the questions had a positive effect on
learning.
Active Learning
General Strategies:
• To enhance cognitive engagement, a teacher
should use a series of questions and encourage
students to write down their answers individually.
Active Learning
General Strategies:
• In general, science and mathematics teachers
should minimize passive seat work (e.g.
meaningless copying from blackboard), single
student answers, "busy work" (e.g. watching a
movie for pleasure during class time), and drill
and practice.
Active Learning
General Strategies:
• Teachers need to maximize time on task, "minds-on" work,
and full-class responses to questions.
• For example, when students are watching a film, offer a prize
for answering five questions about the movie's characters,
plot, etc.
• Take advantage of every opportunity to develop thinking skills.