Ali Amjad, Khusro Shah, Alahmadi Tahani Jaser
Department of Computer Science, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan.
Department of Information Systems, College of Computer and Information Sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
PeerJ Comput Sci. 2024 Dec 23;10:e2599. doi: 10.7717/peerj-cs.2599. eCollection 2024.
Globally, students with visual disabilities face significant challenges in accessing and learning mathematics, particularly when solving mathematical equations and expressions. These challenges result from the inherent complexity and abstract nature of mathematical content. Additionally, braille codes are inconsistent across regions, collaborative math platforms are unavailable, and accessible mathematics literature is scarce. Assistive technologies, artificial intelligence, and educational resources have improved accessibility for students with visual disabilities. However, these students still face significant challenges when navigating, exploring, and solving mathematical equations and expressions. These challenges contribute underrepresentation of these students in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. To address these limitations, this study proposes a novel solution to assist students with visual disabilities in learning mathematical expressions interactively with flexible navigation. This study proposes an algorithmic approach for converting input mathematical expressions into content MathML expressions, parsing those expressions into semantic elements, and then providing a structural overview of these expressions. Moreover, interactive keyboard keys were designed to provide flexible navigation through speech feedback, so that users can interact more effectively with expressions. Python libraries were utilized to implement the proposed solution. An empirical evaluation was conducted by 15 instructors and 94 students with visual disabilities and validated by Cronbach's alpha. Results indicate that the proposed solution improved mathematics accessibility and learning. This study lays a foundation for future research on the integration of advanced technologies in special education.
在全球范围内，视力障碍学生在获取和学习数学方面面临重大挑战，尤其是在解数学方程和表达式时。这些挑战源于数学内容固有的复杂性和抽象性。此外，盲文编码在不同地区不一致，协作数学平台无法使用，且无障碍数学文献稀缺。辅助技术、人工智能和教育资源提高了视力障碍学生的可及性。然而，这些学生在浏览、探索和解决数学方程及表达式时仍面临重大挑战。这些挑战导致这些学生在科学、技术、工程和数学学科中的代表性不足。为解决这些限制，本研究提出了一种新颖的解决方案，以帮助视力障碍学生通过灵活导航交互式地学习数学表达式。本研究提出了一种算法方法，用于将输入的数学表达式转换为内容MathML表达式，将这些表达式解析为语义元素，然后提供这些表达式的结构概述。此外，还设计了交互式键盘按键，通过语音反馈提供灵活导航，以便用户能更有效地与表达式进行交互。利用Python库实现了所提出的解决方案。由15名教师和94名视力障碍学生进行了实证评估，并通过克朗巴哈系数进行了验证。结果表明，所提出的解决方案提高了数学的可及性和学习效果。本研究为未来在特殊教育中整合先进技术的研究奠定了基础。
