Inquiry-based science instruction and performance literacy for students who are deaf or hard of hearing

Deaf and hard of hearing students, who cannot successfully access and utilize information in print, experience various difficulties in conventional science instruction, which heavily relies on lectures and textbooks. The purpose of the present review is threefold. First, an overview of inquiry-based science instruction reform, including the so-ciohistorical forces behind the movement, is presented. Then, the author examines the empirical research on science education for students who are deaf or hard of hearing from the 1970s to the present and identifies and rates inquiry-based practice. After discussing the difficulty of using science texts with deaf and hard of hearing students, the author introduces a conceptual framework that integrates inquiry-based instruction and the construct of performance literacy. She suggests that this integration should enable students who are deaf or hard of hearing to access the general education curriculum.