Proceedings of the 19 th International Conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, Las Vegas, March 2008, in press. Working memory and math problem solving by blind middle and high school students: Implications for universal access Carole R. Beal & Erin Shaw Information Sciences Institute University of Southern California United States cbeal@isi.edu, shaw@isi.edu Abstract: Math achievement tends to be low for blind students, relative to other academic subjects. The project is investigating how blind students solve math word problems varying in text length and grade-level readability, in the context of an existing web-based tutorial. Text-to-speech software will allow blind students to access word problems in audio format. Replay actions will be used to track blind students’ processing of word problem texts varying in number of words and grade-level readability. Results will be used to adapt the software to select math word problems that are appropriate for blind students. Introduction Achievement in math by blind students tends to be poor relative to performance in other academic subjects. Blind students face multiple challenges in math problem solving, including gaining access to the problem information, mapping the problem information to the appropriate representation, and providing the resulting answer. Adaptive interfaces can help make math problems accessible, and recent innovations in interface technology have provided new options for students with severe visual impairments (Chen, 2005; Walker, Lindsay & Godfrey, 2004; Yesilada, Stevens, Goble, & Hussein, 2004). Yet there has been relatively little research on the cognitive and motivational processes involved in the intervening phase, specifically, whether students without vision differ from their sighted peers in their ability to identify what the problem is asking, what operation is involved, to construct the corresponding equation, and to persist towards the solution when the initial attempts do not lead to success. Our project focuses on mathematics problem solving processes in students who are congenitally or adventitiously blind, meaning that they have little or no vision, and who are functioning at or near grade level. We recognize that this is a focused population. For one thing, although visual impairments are relatively common around the world, functional and total blindness are relatively low-incidence disabilities in the United States, and are more common among adults than children. In addition, in many cases children who are blind also have other disabilities that may limit their achievement in school. However, rates of childhood blindness have been rising in recent years (Steinkuller, Du, Gilbert, Foster, Collins, & Coats, 1999). For those students who lack functional vision but do not have other significant disabilities, academic success is possible, particularly given the support of new technologies for assessment, accommodations and training (Helwig & Tindal, 2003; Quantum Simulations, 2005; Smith, Francioni, & Matzek, 2000). In fact, there have been recent calls for higher academic expectations for students with severe visual impairments (Ferrell, 2005). There is also growing recognition that students who are blind are dramatically under-represented in the sciences at the college level and beyond (Kirchner & Smith, 2005; Rapp & Rapp, 1992). One reason is that these students face a disproportionate challenge in learning mathematics, for reasons that have not been clearly established (Blackorby et al., 2003; Fisher & Hartmann, 2005; Thahane et al., 2005). Unfortunately, low achievement in mathematics can be a barrier that impedes students without functional vision from full participation in science and engineering fields, and closes out students who are blind from a range of careers with salaries in the higher ranges (National Science Board, 2003; National Science Foundation, 2004).