An interactive, digital textbook to support biological reading

AbstractThe next generation of health care professionals need to understand the foundational principles of biologyWhile science textbooks play a critical role in supporting biological understandingthey are often writtentoyears beyond their intended grade levelAdditionallymany students readyears below grade levelmaking a gap ofgrade levels possible between what a student can read and what he or she is assignedFrom a cognitive learning perspectivethe syntactic and semantic complexities of science texts often overwhelm studentsworking memorypreventing them from constructing the accurate mental representations that would allow them to learn new biology or science contentSquidBooks seeks to address the limitations of current textbooks and revolutionize reading with adaptable textsLike the shape shifting form of a squid at seaSquidBooks change on demand to meet the needs of diverse readersTransforming the learning processSquidBooks makes texts flexible by offering books at different reading levels with embedded language support to create a personalized reading experiencewhich optimizes learning and engagementThe proposed Phase I project will use the SquidBooks concept to develop a new web based technologyan interactivedigital textbook comprehensively addressing the life science concept of inheritanceone ofdisciplinary core ideas in the Next Generation Science StandardsNGSSThe overall goal of the Phase I project is to positively impact studentsunderstanding of biologywhich will serve as the Phase I milestoneThe program will involve the creation of subject content for inheritance that will include imagesvideosand diagramsAimThis content will then be used to construct a prototype of the digital textbook that will function through a web browserAimThe prototype will undergo user testing with students and teachers to assess the efficacy of SquidBooks to improve science learning outcomes utilizing a counterbalanced repeated measurewithin subject designAimThe trial will also involve feedback from these participants about the usability and feasibility of the interactivedigital textbookThe successful completion of the proposed project willacreate knowledge about disciplinary textual processing and adaptive reading technologies for the field of educationandbsupport scientific literacyespecially among students with reading difficulties or low English reading skillsenhancing and diversifying the STEM and health care fields Project NarrativeAlthough science textbooks are a central curricular resource in Keducationthey are often inaccessible and difficult to readThis SBIR Phase I project will produce a web basedinteractivedigital textbook to support studentsunderstanding of inheritanceNext Generation Science Standard LS AAlong with producing content and the web applicationwe will solicit feedback from teachers and students and evaluate the efficacy of our e reader to improve science learning outcomes