Sign Language Vocabulary to Support Biology Learning for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students

Abstract

One of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets is quality education, emphasizing quality education and ensuring fair and inclusive education. The COVID-19 pandemic hinders the achievement of SDGs targets. One of the most vulnerable groups to be affected by the pandemic is deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (HoH) people, who have had difficulty communicating since online learning was applied. The purpose of this study was to develop sign vocabulary to support biology learning for deaf and HoH students. This research and development (R&D) study used the ADDIE Model. There are five steps in the ADDIE Model: analyze, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. The final product of this study is a demonstration video containing sign vocabulary to support biology education. Five sign vocabularies developed are chemoautotroph, conservation, eutrophication, global warming, and pollution. This study was conducted from March to July 2022. Media and material experts tested the developed sign vocabulary’s eligibility. The test resulted in a 77,5% percentage of media eligibility and a 79% percentage of material eligibility, and both aspects interpreted that the vocabulary is eligible to be used. A further test was conducted on science teachers and tenth grade students of SLB Negeri 01 Jakarta with 87% and 86% results. The overall percentage score of the developed sign vocabulary for deaf and HoH students was 82%. Based on the results from the media and material eligibility test as well as from the respondent testimonies, it can be concluded that the developed sign vocabulary is valid and eligible to be used in the biology learning process for deaf and HoH students.