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Learn how Lee Wallace from the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation, and the Inclusive Practices Team made anatomy accessible for a student with low vision.
Academic in focus
Lee Wallace, a lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science, used a medical skeleton model to help a student with low vision better understand human anatomy in his subject – 92521 Functional Anatomy. In 2023, he received a UTS Learning and Teaching Award “for enhancing student engagement through innovation and sensory rich learning”.
The access requirement
The student experiences vision loss, making it challenging to discern small and intricate details.
The learning context
The Canvas course includes several videos on the human body, bones, and skeleton, which are embedded within the modules. These videos were personally created by Lee, who provides in-depth commentary, describing each body part, its location, and function, while displaying corresponding images on screen. Reshooting these videos would be an extremely time-consuming process.
The solution
This solution was determined through collaboration with both the student and their Accessibility Consultant. It’s important to note that students with the same disability may have different access needs.
Since the student was unable to visually interpret the body part or bone in relation to its location, the medical skeleton model provided by Lee himself offered a valuable hands-on learning experience. This approach enabled the student to understand the content through tactile exploration, enhancing their understanding of the content. The activities utilised provided a combination of tactile learning and language that draws upon sensory rich descriptions that help students associate everyday objects or experiences with complex problems or tasks. The student was provided with extra time in class to work with the skeleton, which included examining the anatomical models under the instruction of illustrative terminology to describe the orientation of anatomical landmarks and movement patterns.
Future considerations
When considering the use of a medical model for your student with low vision, start by clarifying the purpose of using the model. Ask yourself if the goal could be better achieved through a physical medical model rather than alternatives like alt text or tactile paper. A hands-on model might provide a clearer understanding, especially for complex anatomical details. Think about which part of the body the model needs to display and whether there is something specific you want to highlight for the student.