The Universe for all to discover

Abstract

In the title of this paper, we have changed the slogan of the International Year of Astronomy, " The Universe yours to discover " to " The Universe for all to discover " in order to emphasize the need to think about broader audiences when we plan astronomical activities at school or during outreach events. The strategy we propose follows what is known as the Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL allows to reach to the general public as well as to audiences which might be regarded as " special " because they have some disability. It has been shown that everybody has a preferred style of learning (some remember better what they see, others what they hear or what they touch) and therefore, everybody is more or less able under the different styles of learning. Through this talk I am going to outline some of the principles of the UDL that can be applied in the teaching and communication of Astronomy, along with an example of its implementation in the project " A Touch of the Universe " .

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The Universe for all to discover
Amelia Ortiz-Gil1, Fernando Ballesteros1, H´ector Espin´os3, Alberto
Fern´andez-Soto2, Mariana Lanzara1, Maria Jes´us Moya1, and Javier Navarro3
1Observatori Astron`omic - Universitat de Val`encia
2Instituto de F´ısica de Cantabria (CSIC - Universidad de Cantabria)
3Image Processing Laboratory - Universitat de Val`encia
Abstract
In the title of this paper, we have changed the slogan of the International Year of Astronomy,
“The Universe yours to discover” to “The Universe for all to discover” in order to emphasize
the need to think about broader audiences when we plan astronomical activities at school
or during outreach events. The strategy we propose follows what is known as the Universal
Design for Learning (UDL). UDL allows to reach to the general public as well as to audiences
which might be regarded as “special” because they have some disability. It has been shown
that everybody has a preferred style of learning (some remember better what they see,
others what they hear or what they touch) and therefore, everybody is more or less able
under the different styles of learning.
Through this talk I am going to outline some of the principles of the UDL that can be
applied in the teaching and communication of Astronomy, along with an example of its
implementation in the project ”A Touch of the Universe”.
1 Introduction
During the International Year of Astronomy (IYA 2009) an immense global effort to reach all
people in the world was carried out by the astronomical community so no one would be left
out in the thousands of activities organized worldwide. This event also showed that most of
the big planning was done without taking into account that some of the activities were not
accesible to publics with special needs.
To help improve this situation, our team developed some accesible activities that were
carried out in Spain during IYA 2009. This work has been extended after 2009, and nowadays
there is a growing interest in this matter. Astronomers without Borders has a working group
devoted to activities for people with disabilities, and also the International Astronomical
Union’s Commission 46 has recently created a working group on this topic.

2The Universe for all to discover
2 Are we ready for a diverse audience?
The main question here is that we need to think as broad as possible in terms of audience
abilities when we develop an outreach activity or a class. And this is where the Universal
Design for Learning (UDL) comes to help us.
UDL is “an educational framework based on research in the learning sciences, includ-
ing cognitive neuroscience, that guides the development of flexible learning environments that
can accommodate individual learning differences” [8]. This is done by using learner-centered
technologies, which support multiple learning modalities, including visual, auditory, kines-
thetic, and tactile, as well as accessible field experiences [4] . In this frame the focus is not
onto a disabled person but on a disabling environment.
2.1 UDL basic principles
UDL has three basic principles [7], which can be summed up in the word “multiplicity”:
provide multiple means of representation, provide multiple means of action and expression
and provide multiple means of engagement.
2.1.1 Provide multiple means of representation
Learners differ in the ways that they perceive and comprehend information that is presented
to them. For example, those with sensory disabilities (e.g., blindness or deafness); learning
disabilities (e.g., dyslexia); language or cultural differences, and so forth may all require
different ways of approaching content.
Therefore all contents and materials should be available in formats that allow access
to them through different perception channels, for example.
2.1.2 Provide multiple means of action and expression
Learners differ in the ways that they can navigate a learning environment and express what
they know. For example, some may be able to express themselves well in written text but not
speech, and vice versa. Therefore the materials should be accessible for all and there should
be different options for expression.
2.1.3 Provide multiple means of engagement
To care is crucial for the final success in the learning process. Learners can have very different
interests or reasons to be interested in learning. The lecturer needs to know which are his/her
public’s interests or which they might be, and use different ways to motivate the audience.

Ortiz-Gil et al. 3
3 Strategies to develop educational materials and activities in
the frame of UDL
The Alliance for Students with Disabilities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathe-
matics has proposed a list of eight methods for incorporating UDL principles when developing
educational resources [2]:
•Inclusiveness. UDL should use methods that make learning easy and accessible for
everyone.
•Physical Access. Ensure that activities, materials, and equipment are physically
accessible to and usable by all students.
•Delivery Methods. Use multiple accessible instructional methods. Use a variety of
modes to deliver content, motivate, and engage students, such as lectures, collabora-
tive learning options, hands-on activities, Internet based communications, educational
software, field work, etc.
•Information Resources. Ensure that course materials, notes, and other information
resources are flexible and accessible to all students.
•Interaction. Encourage effective interactions between students and the instructor.
Ensure that communication methods are accessible to all participants.
•Feedback. Provide specific feedback to the students/ audience on a regular basis.
•Assessment. Regularly assess student progress using many accessible methods and
tools, then adjust instruction accordingly.
•Accommodation. Plan for accommodations for students for whom the instructional
design does not meet their needs.
3.1 A general protocol
When developing teaching or outreach activities for an audience with different abilities in the
UDL frame there are three main points that you need to address:
•Give the contents according to the main four different styles of learning: visual, auditory,
kinesthetic, and tactile. Studies show that people remember and learn better when they
receive the contents through their favorite learning method
•Teach/communicate to strengths. Take advantage of the audience’s strengths and na-
tural talents to engage them in the activity. Emphasize what they can do rather than
what they cannot. This improves their self-steem and gives them more chances to learn.

4The Universe for all to discover
•Use many different ways to obtain feedback from the public to check if they are grasping
the main ideas and contents. This can be done passively, by observing the public’s
response and body language, or by questioning them in oral or written forms, for
example. The results will also give hints about their abilities and the communication
strategies that work or otherwise with this particular public.
4 An example of a UDL activity: Campus Inclusiu at the
University of Valencia
Every year the University of Valencia organizes public visits to different University institutes
and faculties for groups of high school students with disabilities. This is done with the goal
of encouraging them to pursue a University degree.
The main characteristic of the groups is that they show all kinds of physical disabilities,
therefore it is mandatory that the visit follows the UDL frame. We make sure that elevators
are working for those in wheelchairs, and all the contents are given through visual, audible
and tactile means.
Figure 1: The tactile support for the planetarium program“The Sky in Your Hands”: a
half-sphere with the constellations engraved on it.
In particular, we adapted the planetarium program “The Sky in Your Hands” to reach
a wider audience. This program is a planetarium show first designed for a blind public. It
consist on the projection onto the planetarium’s dome of the night sky. A soundtrack narrates
a story related to different constellations, while specific sounds are played in relation with
particular objects. The sound track is divided into seven channels. If an array of speakers
is distributed through the dome, the sound corresponding to each astronomical object will
be played from the speaker closest to its projected image. This gives the public audible
information about the distribution of the objects through the dome.
There is also a tactile element in the show: A half-sphere with the constellations en-

Ortiz-Gil et al. 5
graved on it (see Figure 1). It lets the public feel the shape of the constellations and objects
while they listen to the script. A separated narrator guides the user through the half-sphere,
taking her from one constellation or object to the next. Larger balls represent brighter stars,
solid lines show the constellation shape, and dashed lines guide the user from one object to
the next according to the show’s script.
The show in this form is inaccesible for deaf people. Therefore, we created a slide
presentation in which images and short texts were providing the same information that was
being given in audible form.
We also used astronomy books and prints which are printed both in Braille and in
normal print. These can then be explored by all the students alike.
5 Tactile astronomy: the project “A Touch of the Universe”
“A Touch of the Universe” ([1]) is a non profit project with the goal of creating and delivering
30 boxes of tactile materials to communicate astronomy to children and adults, including blind
people. They have been distributed among informal educators and teachers in underdeveloped
countries of America, Asia, and Africa (see Figure 2). Our goal is to help children in these
countries to learn about astronomy, even if they are visually impaired. There is a lack of
educational material, specially for the blind, in these regions that needs to be addressed.
Figure 2: Places where the kits have been sent: India, Chile, South Africa, Argentina,
Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Rep´ublica Dominicana, Nepal, Tanzania, Colombia, Costa Rica,
Zambia, Iran, Ethiopia, Cuba and Bolivia.
5.1 Who?
This kit has been the result of the collaboration and support from a number of institutions,
mainly from the International Astronomical Union’s Office of Astronomy for Development.
We received funding and support also from EU-UNAWE, the Astronomical Observatory of the
University of Valencia, INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, INAF-Osservatorio Astro-

6The Universe for all to discover
nomico di Padova, NASA-CXO, Eurastro, Sociedad Espa˜nola de Astronom´ıa, Galileo Teacher
Training Program (GTTP), Galileo Mobile and Astronomers without Borders (AWB).
The working team of the project is composed of Amelia Ortiz-Gil (coordinator) (Obser-
vatorio Astronomico - Universidad de Valencia), Kimberly Arcand (NASA-CXO), Caterina
Boccato (Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova / INAF), Lina Canas (Nuclio / AWB / Galileo
Mobile), Rosa Doran (Nuclio / Galileo Teachers Training Program), H´ector Espin´os (IPL -
Universidad de Valencia),Thilina Heenatigala (UNAWE), Mariana Lanzara (Observatorio
Astronomico - Universidad de Valencia), Maria Jes´us Moya (Observatorio Astronomico -
Universidad de Valencia, Javier Navarro (IPL - Universidad de Valencia), Pedro Russo (UN-
AWE), Stefano Sandrelli (Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera / INAF) and Mike Simmons
(AWB).
5.2 What is in the box?
The kit contents are the following (see Figure 3): an introductory letter, a half-sphere with
engraved constellations, a document explaining the planetarium program “The Sky in Your
Hands”, a tactile moon model, a guide to using the tactile moon, three constellation models,
an activity book in Braille and normal printing with some suggestions on how to use those
materials, prints from the “From Earth to the Universe” (FETTU) project by NASA’s Chan-
dra X-ray Observatory, a document with FETTU activities and a book “The little Book of
the Moon Phases” by Noreen Grice. A DVD with the soundtrack of the planetarium program
in Spanish, Portuguese and English versions; FETTU audible: audible version of the FETTU
prints; different PDF versions of the kit guides in various languages. There is also a feedback
form intended to give us information about how the kit is used.
Figure 3: “A Touch of the Universe” box in ’deconstructed’ mode.
Here follows a short description of the contents in the kit that have not been described
above.

Ortiz-Gil et al. 7
5.3 The tactile moon model
We have developed and produced a tactile model of the Moon that can be used in outreach
activities, museum exhibits and planetarium shows, addressed to public with and without
visual impairments [5].
Figure 4: The tactile Moon model.
To help with the distribution, we designed a 3D model that can be printed at any 3D
printing service around the world so anybody can replicate it easily and use it in outreach
activities.
The final model is an sphere with a diameter of 20 cm, representing a simplified version
of the lunar surface, with the main maria and craters (see Figure 4). The goal is to convey
in a tactile way the visual impression that we gather when looking at the Moon. Therefore,
it is not a mere topological representation. For example, crater rays have some relief in the
model, although in the real Moon they are flat.
The different features can be labeled with a Braille letter. One can print a separate

8The Universe for all to discover
Braille document with the name of the feature corresponding to each Braille letter. Also,
the names of the features can be written on the surface, for the benefit of those who are not
totally blind.
The North pole has been marked by a ’T’, and the vertical line of this ’T’ is pointing
to the near side of the Moon. A meridian marks the separation between the near and far
sides. The South pole is marked by a smooth cap.
The prototype model has been tested by blind and visually impaired people all around
the world, from Puerto Rico, Argentina or Brazil, Spain, Ireland, to India. Their feedback
has been used to create the final model.
5.4 3D constellation models
These are hand-made models of constellations in which the relative distances among the stars
are represented, as measured from Earth. It is a visual and tactile way to explain how the
stars in a constellation, which seem to be close together when we look at the sky usually are
very far away from each other and from us in the Galaxy. The length of each star’s pole is
proportional to its distance to Earth (which is represented by the rectangular support).
5.5 The Activity book
This book contains a few activities that can be carried out with the box contents, but it is
also a guide to help educators to create their own activities.
5.6 “From Earth to the Universe” (FETTU) project
This is a IYA 2009 cornerstone project lead by NASA. They produced a number of Braille
prints with tactile images about different topics in Astronomy, from the electromagnetic
spectrum, to stars and nebulae. The files can be downloaded from the project’s web site for
free [3].
They provide also an Activity Guide and audio files for the five panels.
5.7 “The little Book of the Moon Phases”
The kit also includes a book on astronomy for the blind by renowned author Noreen Grice.
It explains the moon phases using Braille text and tactile figures.
5.8 A DVD with several audible and pdf files
A DVD provides the user with the soundtracks (in stereo and in 7 different channels) of the
planetarium show “The Sky in your Hands”, in English, Spanish and Portuguese. The pdf
files of the guides of the Moon, the planetarium and FETTU activities are also included, as
well as the FETUU audible files.

Ortiz-Gil et al. 9
6 Conclusions
The Universal Design for Learning provides the means to reach a diverse audience, including
people with disabilities. It is an inclusive tool that helps developing communication strategies
that are more efficient precisely because they take into account the variety of ways in which
a person can learn, focusing on their abilities and using them for the outreach or learning
process.
Developing materials under the UDL paradigm is a very creative process. For example,
one must try that all the contents be available through different perception channels (audio,
visible, tactile or kinesthetic), and provide for feedback mechanisms that allow us to check
if the messages or contents are reaching the audience. There are a few examples related to
astronomy in the book ”Space Science is for Everyone” by NASA ([6]).
We have presented a couple of examples of UDL activities that we have developed: a
UDL version of the planetarium show “The Sky in your Hands” and a box with astronomy
related activities from the ‘A Touch of the Universe” project.
I would like to encourage the readers of this paper to think about UDL next time
they develop any outreach or teaching activities. With UDL one achieves better results with
everyone plus the inclusion of those with a disability.
7 Acknowledgements
A. Ortiz-Gil., F. Ballesteros and A. Fern´andez-Soto acknowledge financial support from the
Ministerio de Educaci´on grants and FEDER funds AYA2010-22111-C03-02 and AYA2013-
48623-C2-2.
References
[1] “A Touch of the Universe” (2014) http://astrokit.uv.es
[2] Disabilities Opportunities Internetworking Technology. (2007). Universal Design of Instruction,
Retrieved July 20, 2007, from http://www.washington.edu/doit/Stem/ud.html
[3] “From Earth to the Universe, Braille/Tactile” (2009). http://chandra.si.edu/edu/
fettutactile.html
[4] Kennedy, J. (1990). “User-Friendly: Hands-On Exhibits That Work”, ASTC, December 1990,
ISBN 0944040225
[5] Ortiz-Gil, A., Fern´andez-Soto, A., Ballesteros Rosell´o, F., Moya, M.J., and Lanzara, M, (2012).
AstronomiA, 160, 22-26
[6] Space Science is for Everyone (2009). http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/
materials/listbytype/Space_Science_Is_for_Everyone.html
[7] Universal Design for Learning Center, http://www.udlcenter.org

10 The Universe for all to discover
[8] Universal Design for Learning, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Design_for_
Learning