Science for Pupils with Disabilities

Science may be the curriculum area that is most amenable to adaptation for students with disabilities. Hands-on activities and group work—both a natural part of an elementary-school science program—provide opportunities that are seldom available in other subject areas. Science curriculum materials adapted or specially designed for children with hearing impairments, visual impairments, and mental handicaps have been shown to be effective in both regular and special education classrooms. Some of these are listed among the references at the end of this chapter and in the Appendix. Adaptations include many commonsense ideas such as the use of motors or buzzers, rather than light bulbs, for students with visual impairments to use in testing electric circuits. For students with hearing impairments, teaching methods that emphasize communication through pantomime, pictures, and careful explanation of terms have been effective. A comprehensive review of research involving science education for students with disabilities (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 1992) found that activity-centered science curricula were generally effective in facilitating science content learning, manipulative skills, and process skills. Their recommendations for teaching learning disabled (LD) students include (a) repeated practice with new problems, (b) a wide array of instructional strategies, (c) continuous assessment of progress and (d) extensive structure and guidance for working cooperatively with others. The cumulative results of studies that examine science teaching for students with disabilities indicate that adaptations of science education methods and materials can be effective for students with sensory, physical, intellectual, behavioral, or learning disabilities. More intensive teaching practices, more highly structured presentations, and more use of pictures and mnemonics are strategies that appear to improve learning for students with disabilities. In addition to paying attention to teaching strategies, teachers can adapt curriculum materials by reducing peripheral content, enhancing concrete experiences and incorporating additional practice and review activities.