Kathleen Williams

ISU SPED 654

Tactile Graphic Explanation

Concept being demonstrated by tactile graphic

The concept being demonstrated by this tactile graphic is a Normal Curve Standard Deviation
Chart, or most colloquially known as a “Bell Curve”. In my graph, there are three standard deviations
(SD), which shows how a set of data is arranged around the mean line. In a normal distribution, 34% of
data above and below the mean is seen. 13.5% of data above and below +/-1 SD is seen, and 2.5% of
data above and below +/-2 SD is seen.

Educational activity that surrounds the use of this graphic

The educational activity that surrounds the use of this graphic is taking a pool of data and then
determines how much your data is spread out around the mean. You would determine the mean
(average), which would be your 0 Standard Deviation (SD) or mean line and then you would determine
that 34% of the scores above the mean would fall between the 0 and 1 SD line. 13.5% of the next set of
data above the mean would fall between the 1 and 2 SD line. 2.5% of the next set of data above the mean
would fall between the 2 and 3 SD line. The same is true for the data below the mean and would
determine the -1, -2, and -3 SD lines.

Age/grade level of the student(s)

This tactile graphic on Normal Curve Standard Deviation is suited for an academic high school or
college aged student who is enrolled in a statistics class or is in a class in which statistics is a unit
embedded within.

Materials used to create the graphic

I used materials that I had in my office along with tools from APH. I had the “Carousel of
Textures” Kit from APH, which I used the clear rough paper, the orange fuzzy paper, and the yellow
ridges paper. I also used pipe cleaner and wikki stix for my bell curve and mean line, respectively. For
the last part, I used a Tactile Graphic Line Slate to create my dotted and dashed lines for the Y-line and
arrows to the Standard Deviation and percentages. For the labels, I used white label paper and covered
them with clear braille label paper.

Successful representation of the intended concept

In order to accurately portray the Standard Deviations, I used different texture paper for each SD.
I did choose to use the same texture paper for the negative and positive values of the same SD to allow
the tactile reader to understand that:

- Ridges = +/-1 S.D.

- Fuzzy = +/-2 S.D.
- Rough = +/- 3 S.D.

Where they fell in relation to the mean line dictated if it was a negative or
positive S.D. However, if they needed more information, the S.D. values are labeled at the bottom of the
graph as well.
I also used a thick line (pipe cleaner) to represent the bell curve to drive home the actual shape of
this graph. The mean line is a bit thinner and a different texture so it is distinguishable enough among the
ridges, but doesn’t compete or get lost within the other lines.
 The dotted and dashed lines provided information to support the texture bars above if the reader
needs more information on what standard deviation they are reading. The percentages are shown above
the curve so they don’t make the graph too cluttered to read tactually.