DeAnn Peterson

Peterson's "Accessibility Assessment/Engineering and Human Factors" is a project designed for 11th- and 12th-grade physics students combining engineering concepts and the variables of human factors to make their high school facilities more accessible to the disabled. Students survey disabled students, try to negotiate the building themselves in wheelchairs, use surveying equipment to determine ramp slopes and elevation rises, and then design modifications to the building, taking fiscal and engineering constraints into account. The result is a chance to apply what they've learned, greater appreciation of the obstacles faced by the disabled, and easier access for disabled students.