Curious Minds 2024

Can visually impaired students identify acids and bases? Can they construct a parabola? How to teach the concepts like Hydrogen displacement, types of motion, reflection and refraction to them? Can we make learning more fun for them by including games to teach topics like data interpretation? How can we make learning interesting with puzzles and experimentation?

The Curious Minds 2024 event organized by Vividha Trust in partnership with Vision Empower, Raised Lined Foundation and Curiouscity on November 23rd and 24th at ACTS Secondary School ICSE, Pragathi Nagar, Electronics City, Bengaluru was a commendable effort in getting visually impaired (VI) students and their teachers excited and curious about Science and Maths.

On the first day, teachers, both sighted and visually impaired, in parallel, participated in four simulated model classrooms, that empowered them with various resources and best practices that can be followed when creating inclusive and accessible lesson plans, using not just curricular materials but also activities, games, tactile diagrams, models, and assistive technologies such as the Hexis Refreshable Braille Reader, IRIS Diagram Comprehension device, and Subodha Accessible Learning Management System in their own classrooms.

In the afternoon Prayogalaya session, the teachers also got the opportunity to understand numerous experiments for primary and high school science and math with hands-on exploration using models and accessible experiment kits curated by Vividha Trust.

For students, a tactile Olympiad was conducted by Raised Lines Foundation in the morning and activities explaining science concepts in a hands-on, fun-filled, multi-sensory manner were conducted by Curiouscity Discovery Centre in the afternoon session.

On the second day, the demonstration of science and maths experiments by the VI children was the highlight with visitors expressing their joy and wonder at how well they had understood the experiments and explained them. Nearly 30+ experiments involving light, sound, fire and more were demonstrated by the VI students. The inclusive science exhibition was attended by over 100 sighted and VI students, as well as teachers and parents of the visually impaired. All attendees were enriched and inspired by the in-depth knowledge and demonstration skills of the VI children.

Around 100 students and 60 educators from various states participated in this event that shattered the myth that visually impaired students cannot learn visual subjects like Science and Maths. About 60 students from both ACTS secondary school ICSE, and New Horizon college of engineering through MABP, volunteered to support the entire event.

The organizing partners also showcased the strong ecosystem that is emerging to support the teachers and students in their STEM journey. RLF, uDot, Enable India, Saksham, i-STEM, Tactile Braille India and Vembi Technologies showcased their offerings for the VI community in the Assistive Solutions Stall to empower the VI community, their teachers and their family.

Along with being an enjoyable and enriching experience for everyone involved, celebrating not just the curiosity but also the capabilities and interests of the visually impaired children, this event has also emphatically proved that there should be no more question about whether the visually impaired can learn science and math subjects. Numerous individuals, organizations and institutions have been working tirelessly to make STEM education inclusive in India. More awareness in the community and support from key decision makers will help in making education inclusive for children with diverse aptitudes and help them pursue subjects of their interest and fulfilling careers in their lives.