ATMK: A Monera Kingdom Atlas for Presenting Cell Morphology and Biotechnology for Visually Impaired Students

Abstract

The teaching and learning process for approaching the scientific knowledge should allow the inclusion of all students especially those with blindness or visual impairment. In this work we produced a didactical material about Monera kingdom to allow the knowledge accessibility by all students including those with blindness or visual impairments. The Monera kingdom theme was selected due to its complexity and variety of examples about cellular morphology that also allow the approach of other topics such as biotechnology. Thus we produced an Atlas about bacterial morphology using paper with different textures to provide a tactile distinction to the student with visual impairment. The Atlas development involved four steps including: a) the Atlas preparation, b) in locus test with students with visual impairment, c) morphologies structural evaluation (2D to 3D) using modeling clay and d) analysis about student’s opinion through an interview. The Atlas of the Monera Kingdom was produced and we observed that it had a stimulatory effect on blind and visually impaired students. The Atlas allowed the understanding of the microorganism’s morphology with full content access for these students and also with the possibility of approaching biotechnology topics such as microorganisms and its biotechnological potential. These conclusions were reinforced by observing the three-dimensional analysis and evaluation of the questionnaire responses that pointed for the importance of this material for the public with special needs.