AstroDance: Engaging Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students in Astrophysics
  via Multimedia Performances
  The dynamics of gravitating astrophysical systems such as black holes and
neutron stars are fascinatingly complex, offer some of nature's most
spectacular phenomena, and capture the public's imagination in ways that few
subjects can. Here, we describe {\it AstroDance}, a multi-media project to
engage deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students in astronomy and gravitational
physics. {\it AstroDance} incorporates multiple means of representation of
scientific concepts and was performed primarily for secondary and
post-secondary audiences at $\sim$20 venues in the northeastern US prior to the
historic first detection of gravitational waves. As part of the {\it
AstroDance} project, we surveyed $\sim$1000 audience members roughly split
evenly between hearing and DHH audience members. While both groups reported
statistically equivalent high-rates of enjoyment of the performance, the DHH
group reported an increase in how much they learned about science at a
statistically significant rate compared to the hearing audience. Our findings
suggest that multi-sensory approaches benefit both hearing and deaf audiences
and enable accessible participation for broader groups.
