AccessSTEM

The Center for Emergent Materials: A Promising Practice in Training Faculty to Mentor Undergraduates with Disabilities in Research

The Center for Emergent Materials at The Ohio State University works to recruit students with disabilities for their Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program through EntryPoint! and the Ohio STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) Ability Alliance (OSAA). In internships, students engage in experimental and theoretical research in physics and materials science. Part of their training is working with sophisticated lab equipment.

How can service animals be safely included in lab classes?

Students with disabilities should be allowed to bring their service animals into the lab, although they may choose not to. There are a variety of strategies that ensure that service animals can be safe in lab classes. Because service animals are well trained they tend not to pose a safety hazard to others.

To ensure a service animal and classmates are safe, you may want to consider the following issues.

Making Design Reviews Accessible to Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Participants: A Promising Practice in Engineering Education

Design reviews are a common part of engineering education practice. In design reviews, students or student teams present their work to their classmates, instructors, and sometimes a panel of users or external experts for feedback and commentary. This practice gains formative feedback from multiple perspectives on a student’s project to ultimately strengthen both the project and the student’s communication and technical skills as engineers.

What tools can facilitate conversations between students with disabilities and their advisors?

It is important for students, including those with disabilities, to communicate with their  advisors about their disability-related needs and accommodations. Several tools can help facilitate these conversations. They include mentoring contracts, annual evaluations, and individual development plans.

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