Advanced mathematics communication beyond modality of sight

ABSTRACT

This study illustrates how mathematical communication and learning are inherently multimodal and embodied; hence, sight-disabled students are also able to conceptualize visuospatial information and mathematical concepts through tactile and auditory activities. Adapting a perceptuomotor integration approach, the study shows that the lack of access to visual fields in an advanced mathematics course does not obstruct a blind student's ability to visualize, but transforms it. The goal of this study is not to compare the visually impaired student with non-visually impaired students to address the ‘differences’ in understanding; instead, I discuss the challenges that a blind student, named Anthony, has encountered and the ways that we tackled those problems. I also demonstrate how the proper and precisely crafted tactile materials empowered Anthony to learn mathematical functions.

KEYWORDS:

• Visually impaired
• mathematics
• learning
• tactile graphs
• undergraduate student
• blind
• graphing
• function

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Anthony C. Janolino, Farzad Kooshyar and Ali Kooshyar for their helpful contributions and suggestions on the creation and innovation of tactile graphs.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Braille embossers are printers for Braille. Braille embossers usually need special braille paper which is thicker and more expensive than standard paper.