An Introductory Course in Electrical Circuits and Coding for Deaf and DeafBlind Middle School Students

The Playful Learning Lab collaborated with Metro Deaf School (MDS) to design and deliver an Intro to Electronics and Computer Programming course to Deaf and DeafBlind middle school students. Four sets of 6–8 students went through an approximately 20-day course that met four days a week for 40 minutes per day. The content of the class focused on electrical circuits and computer programming. Lessons covered topics such as conductivity, closed/open circuits, series/parallel circuits, and coding. Students were introduced to the Scratch computer programming language and Makey Makey kits. The development and delivery of the course was a collaborative effort between Metro Deaf School staff and the undergraduate student researchers in the Playful Learning Lab. The class was a project based mix of lectures, projects, and hands-on assignments. In this presentation we will share the lessons learned by designing, and delivering, this course.