This article explores learning communities within geoscience field courses that have been purposely establshed to creative inclusion for students with physical disabilities.
People with disabilities make up the largest minority population in the U.S. yet remain sorely underrepresented in scientific disciplines that require components of field-based training such as the geosciences. This paper provides…
Navigating a field based learning environment presents many challenges for students with physical disabilities, this article explores the outcomes of a field trip experience that was designed for students with disabilities.
Eighteen middle and high school students with visual impairments participated in a weeklong field-based geology summer camp. This paper reports the curriculum, strategies, and what the students learned about Earth science by…
In 2014, the Geological Society of America sponsored an Accessible Field Trip, designed to demonstrate best practices in accommodating a wide variety of participants with disabilities during a field experience. During the trip, an…
The geosciences benefit from diverse student perspectives and backgrounds, but the field-based learning requirements pose barriers to students with disabilities. If carefully designed, fieldwork can be made…
Meeting the future demand for a qualified geoscience workforce will require efforts to increase recruitment, retention, and graduation of an increasingly diverse student body. Doing this successfully requires renewed attention to…
The author describes their personal experience as a person with a disability in the geosciences. Given the physical demands of the discipline, this presents challenges for participants, but a better understanding and more inclusive practices in the geosciences can create a more welcoming…
The geosciences are considered by many to be inaccessible to individuals with disabilities. Challenging traditional perceptions of identity in the geosci- ence community is an important step to removing…
Students with physical disabilities encounter challenges in any scientific discipline, yet the geosciences have extremely low participation levels for persons with dis- abilities. Because of the emphasis placed on field research at…