Universal Design Workshop July 30-31, 2013 Team-Based Inquiry Universal Design Workshop July 30-31, 2013 This presentation focuses on another tool, called team-based inquiry (TBI), that we hope will help you implement universal design (UD) practices at your work. The focus during this workshop will be on using TBI to work effectively with visitors with disabilities and inform the development of universally designed programs and educational experiences. This presentation introduces the TBI in general, highlights the connection between TBI and UD, and introduces some resources and tools that you’ll be using during the workshop. www.nisenet.org

Launch Activity How do you get information to help improve your work or the educational experiences you create and deliver? What experiences have you had with evaluation or professional inquiry? At the most basic level, TBI is about giving you the tools to collect data in order to improve your work and create more effective educational experiences. In this way, it’s very similar to types of data collection or reflective practice you might have done before. For the next 5 minutes, share with the person next to you: How do you get information to help improve your work or the educational experiences you create and deliver? Now, share with a different person next to you: What experiences have you had with evaluation and/or professional inquiry? As a whole group: What are some interesting things you heard during your conversations? It’s important to remember that TBI is not new. It draws from many previously developed approaches to reflective practice, professional inquiry, action research, participatory evaluation, etc. and is very to similar to all of the different activities you’ve just described. What we have tried to do is package these ideas in a way that is practical and accessible for busy informal science education (ISE) professionals and provide tools and resources for those just beginning to incorporate data collection and evaluation into their work. And in particular, during this workshop we’ll be thinking about how this approach can be applied to universal design.

Team-Based Inquiry So, what is team-based inquiry? To give you a little background, as you know the NISE Network is a collaboration of researchers and informal science education professionals across the country, all focused on engaging the public in this new and challenging topic: nano science. From the beginning, the Network has been dedicated to making sure evaluation and data-based decision-making are central to these efforts. However, it’s not possible or necessarily desirable that professional NISE Net evaluators support all the amazing work that is going on across partner organizations. This need, to give ISE professionals across the country the skills and tools to incorporate evaluation and data-based decision making into their work, motivated the development of team-based inquiry.

Team-Based Inquiry An approach to empowering professionals to get the data they need, when they need it, in order to improve their products and practices and create successful educational experiences 1. Question 2. Investigate 3. Reflect 4. Improve Systematic Led by non-evaluation professionals Collaborative and team based Small scale and focused Embedded in work Team members and evaluators came up with this definition highlighting the core of TBI: At its core, team-based inquiry is an approach to empowering professionals to get the data they need, when they need it, in order to improve their products and practices and create successful educational experiences The diagram shows the ongoing professional inquiry process used in TBI, based on research from a variety of fields, such as participatory evaluation, evaluation capacity building, action research, and organizational change. Professional inquiry in general, and TBI specifically, involves asking questions related to your work or practice, collecting data to answer those questions, analyzing and reflecting on the data, and identifying concrete ways to improve based on findings. TBI was designed to be flexible. However, to be most successful we often highlight several characteristics of TBI: systematic; led by non-evaluation professionals; collaborative and team based; small scale and focused; embedded in work. Team-based inquiry has become an important practice that the Network is adopting to better achieve its goals. This is part of a broader trend towards professional and organizational learning more generally. For example, companies and businesses often try to develop cultures of learning and to help employees become better at using data to make smart business decisions and adapt to changing market trends. Similarly, professionals in the medical field use inquiry to develop and test new treatments and schools often use inquiry as part of professional development to understand student data and improve learning.

“Horton Senses Something Small” Does the program engage young children? How could it be improved? Data collection Observations of participants Surveys with caregivers and parents Improvements Shortened story Prompted participation To make this more concrete, here are some examples of TBI projects by different NISE Network teams.

NanoDays 2012 Posters Are educational posters worth including in the NanoDays 2012 kit? Data collection Interviews with 30 visitors at three museums Informal observations Debrief with educators Lessons learned Visitors liked the graphics and suggested improvements Educators felt graphics attracted attention and defined space Things to notice across these examples: In each case, the team identified a question they needed to answer in order to move forward effectively with their work. Data collection was focused, realistic, and embedded within the development process. The process was led by the educators for whom the data was most important. Project teams identify specific lessons learned and ways to improve. ***Notice that TBI is not the same inquiry teaching methods.***

Team-Based Inquiry ? A common question is: When should I use the TBI approach and when should I work with a professional evaluator? In our experience, TBI is most useful when you want to improve your own practice or you need information quickly to make decisions about a specific project. It’s important, however, that the risks or costs associated with those decisions are not extreme (e.g., employee assessment or for making major capital reinvestment decisions.) We do recommend TBI when fostering a successful team process, building shared understandings, and developing team members’ evaluative thinking and data-based decision making skills are just as important as the accuracy and credibility of the study. Although the costs and time associated with working a professional evaluator are often higher, it is worth considering when: (a) there is a need for accountability to an outside agency, (b) the risks and costs associated with questions or decisions are high, (c) you have more time and resources to invest in a comprehensive data collection process, or (d) the accuracy and generalizability of the information are more critical than shared understanding, skill building, and timeliness. In some cases, funding agencies may require you to hire an external evaluator to conduct a final assessment of how well a project has achieved its intended goals. ***Are there any questions about TBI in general before we move on to talking more specifically about how it relates to UD?***

TBI and Universal Design How might you use the team-based inquiry process to develop more inclusive and accessible education experiences? How might you use the team-based inquiry process to improve existing experiences to make them more inclusive and accessible? Now let’s talk more specifically about how this relates to universal design. For the next 5 minutes, brainstorm with a person next to you: How might you use the team-based inquiry process to develop more inclusive and accessible education experiences? As a whole group: What are some ideas you heard during your conversations? These are all compelling ways you might use the TBI process as you begin incorporating TBI practices and developing more accessible educational experiences. Tomorrow, we are actually going to go through a TBI process focused on using feedback from our expert panel to improve an existing nano activity and make it more accessible.

TBI and Universal Design 1. Question 2. Investigate 3. Reflect 4. Improve 4. Brainstorm, prioritize, and implement solutions. 1. How could this activity be improved to be more accessible? Here is a preview of the process we will be going through, using the TBI process diagram. Tomorrow, we are going to break up into small groups and go through each of the four TBI steps: Each group will have a different nano activity. We are going to start with a question already identified: How could this activity be improved to be more accessible? Next you will demo your activity for each of the expert panelists and get their feedback on what aspects of the activity are working well and what could be improved to make it more accessible. Then you will discuss this feedback with your group and identify some of the most prominent, reoccurring challenges that need to be addressed. Finally, you will use your findings to improve that activity and make it more accessible. 3. Review feedback to identify common challenges and barriers. 2. Collect feedback from UD experts and individuals with disabilities.

TBI and Universal Design Tomorrow, we’ll be handing out a worksheet to help walk you through this entire process. Hopefully, this will also be a helpful resource to take back to your institution as you experiment with UD with your own programs and activities. The worksheet will include: (a) a description of the purpose of the TBI study and the inquiry question; (b) a data collection form to get feedback from the expert panelists after you demonstrate your activity; (c) a data analysis form to identify patterns in the panelist feedback; and (d) an improvement brainstorm sheet to help you move from patterns in the data to concrete activity improvements. One workshop presenter will be in each group to help facilitate the process.

TBI Guide Finally, I want to talk about one last resource you will be getting to take home with you at the end of the workshop—the Team-Based Inquiry Guide. The TBI guide describes what I’ve gone over today in more detail and provides concrete examples and lots of tools and resources, including example data collection forms. This is not a comprehensive guide to evaluation and inquiry, but a practically oriented introduction to TBI. The guide is freely available on the NISE Net website. www.nisenet.org/catalog/tools_guides/team-based_inquiry_guide

Questions or comments?

This presentation is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0940143. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.