ERIC Number: EJ1311211
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Sep
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1931-7913
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Access Needs: Centering Students and Disrupting Ableist Norms in STEM
Reinholz, Daniel L.; Ridgway, Samantha W.
CBE - Life Sciences Education, v20 n3 Essay 8 Sep 2021
This essay describes the concept of access needs as a tool for improving accessibility in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education broadly, from the classroom, to research group meetings, to professional conferences. The normalization of stating access needs and creating access check-ins is a regular practice used in disability justice activist circles, but it has not yet been normalized in STEM education spaces. Just as normalizing the use of pronouns has been an important step for supporting gender justice, we argue that normalizing access talk is an important step for advancing disability justice in STEM fields. Moreover, we argue that all individuals have access needs, regardless of whether they are disabled or nondisabled. We provide concrete suggestions and techniques that STEM educators can use today.
Descriptors: Access to Education, Student Centered Learning, Social Bias, Social Discrimination, Students with Disabilities, STEM Education, Accessibility (for Disabled), Social Justice, Science Laboratories, Active Learning, Synchronous Communication, Videoconferencing, Educational Environment
American Society for Cell Biology. 8120 Woodmont Avenue Suite 750, Bethesda, MD 20814-2762. Tel: 301-347-9300; Fax: 301-347-9310; e-mail: ascbinfo@ascb.org; Website: http://www.ascb.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: 1943146
Author Affiliations: N/A