7. Accessibility Workshops
In 2012, the IAGD presented the Instructional Approaches to Access, Accommodation, and Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in the Geosciences short courses at the International
Geoscience Congress in Brisbane, Australia as well as the Geological Society of America in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.
This course is designed to assist K-20 earth science instructors in universally designing instruction, planning to accommodate these students, and developing alternative activities for lessons, labs, and field trips. Additionally, this course will target instructors at all levels of experience; those who have never had to modify a course, to those who have a great deal of experience accommodating students of various abilities. A secondary aim of this workshop is to connect instructors to a community of people who have worked through the many challenges of teaching students with disabilities, thus expanding the network of faculty and students who can share ideas, resources and curricula.
This accessibility short course includes:
• Best practices for accommodating students with disabilities
• Examples of lesson plans and activities that have helped a variety of students with disabilities
• Advice on how to find resources for accommodating students
• An opportunity for faculty to develop activities and/or lessons for their own students
• Instruction and guidance from a first-hand perspective of student facilitators with disabilities
This accessibility short course is currently being scheduled for 2013. The IAGD is looking to create instructional teams of members interested in presenting the course regionally.
If anyone is interested in becoming an instructor on one of the short course teams, or regionally hosting this course at your campus, please contact info@theiagd.org.
