SBIR-STTR Award

The next generation of STEM and health care professionals will need to understand the foundational principles of science. Science textbooks play a critical role in supporting scientific understanding in school, yet these books are not designed to meet the diverse learning needs of students in today’s classrooms. By their nature, science textbooks assume a one-size-fits-all approach to learning. Because of this problem, teachers spend substantial time outside of the classroom locating and adapting texts to support students who are learning English, students who read below grade level, and students with learning disabilities. The proposed Phase I project seeks to address the limitations of current Earth Science textbooks and to revolutionize reading with adaptable texts. Transforming the learning process, SquidBooks makes texts flexible by offering digital texts at different difficulty levels with embedded language support to create a personalized reading experience, optimizing both learning and engagement. In particular, the project will support ELL students and students unable to read at their grade level. Because science textbooks are often written 3 to 5 years above the intended grade level, it is almost impossible for students with emerging and intermediate English reading skills to comprehend and learn from traditional science books. The Phase I project includes 3 aims: translating NGSS-aligned Earth Science content (ESS2C, The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes) into Spanish (Aim 1); designing, developing, and testing digital graphic organizers to function through a web browser (Aim 2); and conducting user testing with students and teachers (Aim 3). Successful completion of the proposed project will create knowledge about disciplinary textual processing and adaptive reading technologies and will support students who have historically been marginalized from STEM fields, especially students with low reading achievement and ELL students. In turn, this project will enhance and diversify the STEM and health care fields.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Project narrative:
Although science textbooks are a central curricular resource in K-12 education, they are often inaccessible and difficult to read; this problem is compounded when students are unable to read at their grade level, are learning English, or have diagnosed learning needs. This Phase I project will produce an interactive, digital textbook to support students’ understanding of Earth Science by giving them the ability to seamlessly move between different reading levels and languages and to take note using interactive graphic organizers that enhance their understanding of scientific language and concepts. This project will also solicit feedback from teachers and students to evaluate the efficacy of SquidBooks at improving science learning outcomes.

Project Terms:
Address; Adoption; base; Books; Collaborations; Complex; Computer software; deep ocean; design; Diagnosis; digital; Earth science; Education Projects; education resources; eighth grade; English Learner; experience; Feedback; flexibility; Foundations; Future Teacher; hands-on learning; Health Professional; Healthcare; Home environment; improved; Internet; K-12 Education; Knowledge; Language; Learning; Learning Disabilities; learning engagement; learning outcome; Middle School Student; Nature; next generation; Oceanography; Phase; Planet Earth; Play; Process; Reader; Reading; reading ability; Research Personnel; Resources; Role; Saline; Schools; Science; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education; scientific literacy; skills; statistics; STEM field; Structure; Students; Surface; teacher; Technology; Testing; Text; Textbooks; Time; tool; Translating; Translations; usability;