3.The first time that I met a blind scientist.I worked in a program for disabled students interested in pursuing STEM (Science,Technology,Engineering,Maths) research.Until that point,it had never occurred to me how blind students were prevented from receiving science education.My daily experience in classrooms consisted of professors drawing and writing on the board with the assumption that students in the class could see.But what about those students who cannot see or suffer from vision problems?
A recent paper from Baylor University,led by Katelyn Baumer and Bryan Shaw,was inspired by exactly this problem.They designed a study to assess whether people could learn to recognize 3 D models,like those often used to teach science,with their mouths instead of with their eyes.
A 2021 paper in Nature found that primates(靈長類動物)showed the same brain circuit activation(激活)when grasping objects with their hands and when moving an object with their tongues.This indicates that there may be underlying similarities of physical manipulations(操縱)of the hand and the mouth.
Baumer and Shaw found that there was comparable touch recognition with hands to mouth manipulation recognition when using these models.365 college students and 31 primary school students participated in the study.The participants were blindfolded and then divided into two groups,one assigned to manipulate objects by hand,and one to manipulate the objects with only their mouths.Each participant was given a single model protein to study.They then were asked to identify whether each of a set of eight other protein models matched the original they were given.
The research team saw that both age groups of students were able to successfully distinguish between models.Moreover,the accuracy of recalling the structures was higher in people who only assessed the models through mouth manipulation.
Although this study did not involve blind or low-vision students,it sets the basis for expanding into them next.It may offer a way to have science become more accessible,which is the ultimate goal.
(1)Who will most probably benefit from Baumer and Shaw's study?
A.Professors.
B.College students.
C.Primary school students.
D.Blind and low-vision students.
(2)What does the author intend to do in paragraph 3?
A.Explain a concept to readers.
B.Provide supporting information.
C.Summarize the previous paragraphs.
D.Introduce a new topic for discussion.
(3)What method is used in the study?
A.Making comparisons.
B.Doing surveys.
C.Conducting interviews.
D.Reviewing papers.
(4)What is the text mainly about?
A.A recent paper about STEM education.
B.A protein model used in science teaching.
C.A potential way for disabled students to learn science.
D.An academic program for blind scientists to do research.