Laying the groundwork for engineering students to make decisions regarding the application of universal design principles for development of educational products (#1745)

Authors

Reynaga-Peña, Cristina Gehibie

Oyervides-Ramírez, Griselda E.

Cuellar-Reynaga, Daniel Alejandro

Gómez Flores, Lilia

Santillán- Rosas, Irais Monserrat

Abstract

In the context of the training of engineering professionals, the inclusive perspective becomes especially relevant when considering the responsibilities that engineers have in generating products and technological solutions that are accessible and beneficial for everyone. This article presents a guide to facilitate decision-making for the creation of accessible and inclusive educational materials on specific scientific topics in higher education or any educational level. By applying Universal Design and selecting the most suitable technologies, we describe an approach that seeks to attain educational products that are usable by the largest possible number of people, eliminating potential barriers in their learning process. The three-dimensional materials obtained integrate tactile features such as differences in depth and textures, colors and low-cost technology to facilitate interaction and understanding of information, making the educational objects appealing, safe, and accessible to all users. The guide was developed based on research, analysis on the experience of the EduMakers group developing materials on Health Science topics for visually impaired learners. Overall, this work also aims to contribute to the development of transdisciplinary, transversal and multidimensional problem-solving skills in engineering students, professional attributes that are essential to face contemporary challenges.