Abstract: Innovations in undergraduate education have increased the prevalence of active learning courses, online education, and student engagement in the high-impact practice of undergraduate research, however it is unknown whether students with disabilities are able to engage in these innovative learning environments to the same extent that they are able to engage in more traditional learning environments. Universities, disability resource centers, and instructors are mandated to provide accommodations to students with disabilities for the purposes of prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Are accommodations being adapted and created for these new types of learning environments? This seminar describes findings from four studies about the experiences of students with disabilities in these three learning environments, specifically examining the challenges students with disabilities encounter and the emerging recommendations for more effective accommodations. In this work, I find that students with disabilities experience challenges in each of these learning environments and that the current suite of accommodations are not sufficient for accommodating students with disabilities. I argue that institutions need to consider modifying student accommodations and the process for obtaining them to better support students with disabilities in these evolving learning environments. I also provide recommendations for the ways in which we can make undergraduate science education more accessible and inclusive of students with disabilities.

About the Presenter: Dr. Logan Gin is currently the Assistant Director for STEM Education at the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning at Brown University and he works on initiatives related to STEM graduate student teaching professional development. Prior to arriving at Brown, Dr. Gin was an NSF Graduate Research Fellow at Arizona State University and served as the program manager for an NSF S-STEM program focused on involving community college transfer students in undergraduate research. Logan holds a Ph.D. in Biology from Arizona State University where his dissertation work centered around the experiences of STEM students with disabilities. He also holds a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.