Designing Inclusive STEM Learning Experiences with PhET Simulations

Outline

(5 min) Welcome and overview of PhET’s mission and inclusive design philosophy.

(10 minutes) Participants will be shown a sample sim. Participants will be asked to explore the simulation. Then, they will collaboratively work to determine the challenges learners with disabilities may face when interacting with the simulation using personas.

(15 min) The presenter will introduce the work and scope of the Inclusive Design team at PhET. During this time, participants will be introduced to the three categories for inclusive features: Input, Audio, and Visual. The presenter will explain the various features available in each category set and explain how these features empower learners and augment their experience with sims. To highlight the Inclusive Features, participants will have time to explore and utilize the features during the session.

(20 min) Collaborative Design Lab: Participants will be shown the “Teacher Tips” and “PhET Activities” sections of the sim page. The presenter will walk the participants through how they could use these resources to find and customize activities for their students. As a group, the participants will think through multiple scenarios in which inclusive features are needed to meet the needs of learners in diverse classrooms. The participants will be tasked with identifying simulations, inclusive features, and activity modifications that will increase equitable access to the activity. Emphasis will be placed on alternatives and modifications that increase the learners’ “interaction time”, their active exploration with the simulation and allow for both collaborative and independent “self-discovery”

(10 min) Sharing and reflection: Participants exchange insights and refine their plans through peer feedback. Any remaining time will be devoted to questions and open exploration of PhET's inclusive features.

Outcomes

Participants will leave the session with an action plan and an example activity that:

1. Identifies and addresses common access barriers in digital interactives, with special focus on STEM simulations.

2. Identifies PhET sims with Inclusive Features (audio, visual, and input) to support learner variability.

3. Modifies lesson or activity plans to promote equitable opportunity, collaboration, and increased self-directed learning.

Supporting research

PhET Interactive Simulations. (2024). Inclusive Features Overview. https://phet.colorado.edu/en/inclusive-design

Fiedler, B. L., Moore, E. B., Sawyer, T., & Walker, B. N. (2021, October). Multimodality and inclusion: Educator perceptions of physics simulation auditory display. In 2021 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings (pp. 123-128).

Fiedler, B. L., Walker, B. N., & Moore, E. B. (2021). To sonify or not to sonify?: Educator perceptions of auditory display in interactive simulations. In 2021 International Conference on Auditory Display Conference Proceedings. https://doi. org/10.21785/icad2021

Winters, R. M., Harden, E. L., & Moore, E. B. (2020, October). Co-designing accessible science education simulations with blind and visually-impaired teens. In Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (pp. 1-4).

National Academies of Sciences. (2019). Science and Engineering for Grades 6–12: Investigation and Design at the Center.

Moore, E. B., & Perkins, K. K. (2018). Advances in PhET interactive simulations: Interoperable and accessible. In Cyber-physical laboratories in engineering and science education (pp. 141-162). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Moore, E. B., Smith, T. L., & Randall, E. (2016, June). Exploring the relationship between implicit scaffolding and inclusive design in interactive science simulations. In International conference on universal access in human-computer interaction (pp. 112-123). Cham: Springer International Publishing.