Assistive Technologies in Physics Teaching to Visually Impaired Students: a Case study based on audio description

Abstract

This paper presents a case study on the use of audio description as assistive technology incorporated into the physics teaching-learning process with a visually impaired undergraduate student. After the insertion of some types of assistive technologies, we observed that the communication barrier was still present and preventing the student from completely understanding the content, thus resulting in his dependence on peers as well as on the tutor. The objective of this research is to verify how the audio description incorporated into the educational context can contribute to the learning of physics by visually impaired university students. After monitoring each step, qualitative data were collected by applying a semi-structured questionnaire with the student and his tutor. Data analysis showed that the audio description, combined with the tactile material, has provided the student with greater autonomy and remarkable improvement on his academic performance, favoring conditions for the exercise of his full citizenship.

Keywords:
Physics teaching; Visual Impairment; Higher Education; Scholar inclusion