Computer Science students on a Part 2 “Human Computer Interaction and Applications” module taught by Biomedical Engineering have been designing and building a website as part of their coursework. This morning, they participated in an experiential learning session where they interacted with their own website designs while their vision and dexterity was impaired.

Student feedback showed that all “Agreed” or “Strongly agreed” that the session gave them a better appreciation of some of the challenges faced by older adults and/or people with disabilities. Students also commented that they liked the hands-on and interactive approach.

Many thanks to all the students for their participation and feedback!

Students assessed their own website designs while wearing simulator glasses and gloves.

The students noted challenges with being able to see the cursor on the screen and with reading small text.

The students assessed website designs on laptops and smartphones.

Speech and language therapy (SLT) students took part in an experiential learning session today, with activities that were tailored for their professional training. The activities were designed to enable the students to gain insight into how a range of impairments and conditions may affect people in everyday activities, and also to have experience of how other people’s impairments may impact their role as SLTs.

With their dexterity impaired, students were asked to fill a plastic cup full of water and stir a sachet of thickener into it – as SLTs, they may often interact with people with swallowing difficulties who require thickened drinks. They were asked to administer a speech and language assessment to somebody whose vision was impaired, and then to undertake the assessment with their own vision impaired. Students were asked to have a conversation, with one person sitting in a wheelchair and the other pushing the wheelchair whilst having their hearing impaired. Students also carried out activities whilst wearing bariatric training suits or ageing simulation suits.

Student feedback highlighted that they enjoyed the interactivity and the opportunity to try a range of equipment. They also liked that the activities were SLT-focused.

Thanks to all the students for their enthusiastic participation! Much credit is due to Melissa Loucas (Clinical Tutor) for designing the SLT activities and leading the workshop, and to Allie Biddle and Mirjana Sokolovic-Perovic for their support today and for their instrumental roles in making this workshop happen.

Carrying a plastic cup full of water while wearing gloves which simulate dexterity impairment.

Trying to open a sachet of thickener with impaired dexterity.

Trying to dissolve thickener into a cup of water with impaired dexterity and impaired vision.

One student administers a speech and language assessment to another who is wearing vision impairment simulation glasses.

Experiencing how different body positions and different impairments can affect conversation.

Trying on a bariatric training suit.

Being helped down the stairs whilst wearing an ageing simulation suit.

It was great to have people from BdB at the Biomedical Engineering seminar today on “Designing Playful Systems to Support Well-being” by Dr. Kathrin Gerling who is Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Lincoln. Kathrin presented three projects on movement-based play for older adults in long-term care, participatory game design with young people with mobility impairment, and playful interactive wheelchair skills training, and reflected on the challenges and opportunities that emerge when working with and developing for vulnerable end-users.

BdB were invited to join the marketplace activities at the University’s teaching and learning conference today, which had a particular focus on diversity and inclusion. We were pleased to share the project with people from across the University, including Psychology, Law, Education, Henley Business School, Clinical Language Sciences, Careers, the Students’ Union, and the Academic Practice Programme. A number of people expressed interest in running a workshop – thank you for your interest and enthusiasm. We will be in touch! Particular thanks to Jessie Webb, undergraduate student in Typography, for joining us to share her BdB experiences.

Robotics and Cybernetics MEng students took part in an experiential learning session last Friday. In their feedback, the students indicated that the session gave them a better appreciation of some of the challenges faced by older adults and/or people with disabilities, and that it encouraged them to think about the inclusivity of products and services.

This student noted that he was able to read the screen of the top-up kiosk without difficulty, but that the labels stuck on to the machine were more difficult to see.

This curb was lowered, but there was still enough of a difference in the levels to get stuck.

Contemplating the distance to the students’ union via two different routes.

BdB were delighted to share the project’s activities with a delegation of visiting academics from Sri Lanka, hosted by Professor Lynn McAlpine from the University of Oxford.  The purpose of the visit was to learn more about teaching and learning in the UK, to inform the development of new programmes in Bachelor of ICT and Bachelor of Engineering Technology in Sri Lanka.