Construction of an Affordable, Tactile, Didactical and Inclusive Material Aimed to Teach Biology and Biotechnology to Blind and Visually Impaired Students

Lourena P Marinho,Eloah C D Lyrio,Helena C Castro,Cristina M Delou

doi:10.4236/ce.2016.717250

Abstract

The inclusion process should guarantee teaching and learning of all students including those with special needs. Currently, didactical materials with focus in attending blind and visually impaired students are still in need, especially those for teaching Biology complex themes (e.g. Arthropods). The purpose of this work is to describe the production and the in loco test of a kit containing an accessible, tactile, didactical and inclusive material about Arthropods targeting this public, which allows to explore the biotechnological potential of these animals. The kit was constructed with affordable materials approached in two- and three-dimensional perspectives. We tested it with seven students with visual deficiency from a Brazilian public school. To verify the efficiency of the material, we applied evaluative questionnaires regarding the theme pre- and post-periods from using the material. The results revealed that the use of this didactical material helps the blind and visually impaired student to understand the complexity of Arthropods anatomy and its morphological characterization to apply for biotechnology purposes.

Highlights

Inclusion in schools must occur to attend all students respecting their uniqueness, including social, intellectual and/or physical features, among others
The inclusion process should guarantee teaching and learning of all students including those with special needs
The purpose of this work is to describe the production and the in loco test of a kit containing an accessible, tactile, didactical and inclusive material about Arthropods targeting this public, which allows to explore the biotechnological potential of these animals

Summary

Introduction

Inclusion in schools must occur to attend all students respecting their uniqueness, including social, intellectual and/or physical features, among others. Inclusive education addresses several issues especially those involving teaching people with special needs. Instead they should interact with everyone and have access to everything regarding and requested by their educational process (Brazil, 1988; Mantoan, 2005). Among them are those with visual impairment (Brazil, 1988; Sánchez, 2005). The visual impairment is described and classified into two groups: a) low vision, with less than 6/18 of light perception ability, and use of optical or non-optical equipment (OMS, 1989; Smith, 2008)

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