Universal Design for Learning

Students come from unique lived experiences. That's why it's so important for educators to move away from the one-size-fits-all approach to teaching and learning. Universal Design for Learning is a teaching approach that helps educators do just that. At the heart of universal design is the belief that variability is the norm. Rather than design for the average student, Universal Design for Learning encourages educators to design their curriculum keeping in mind that all students are unique. Universal Design for Learning informs educators how to build a strong foundation for learning and ensure that curriculum design is approached in a proactive rather than reactive way. Based on the framework created by CAST, Universal Design for Learning can be broken down into 3 core principles. Engagement is a crucial element of learning and students differ greatly in the ways in which they can be motivated to learn. Some examples to engage students are providing students with an option to do a deeper dive with the course material. Provide extra resources and supports in the notes section of PowerPoint. Consider providing mastery-oriented feedback that focuses on level of effort and process to keep students engaged. It's also great to highlight learning outcomes and encourage students to create their own learning goals. Focusing on the post-educational goals of students is also important. Attention to their future career goals provides them with motivation to stay enrolled and stay engaged. The next pillar of Universal Design for Learning deals with how to best present teaching materials to students to maximize understanding. Providing options for students to engage with information through text, video, audio, or graphics gives all students a chance to learn in a way that is best for them. Another important approach is to embed hyperlinks for vocabulary and symbols that link students to definitions and resources. It can also be helpful to make connections between concepts by using graphic organizers or concept maps. Empowering students is what inclusive design is all about. It helps educators remove the obstacles that may be interfering with students' learning. The final pillar of Universal Design for Learning deals with the options students are given to show what they've learned and to best communicate with each other in the classroom. Students have different ways of navigating the learning environment and expressing what they know. Since there isn't one means of action and expression that is optimal for all learners, providing options is essential for student success. To provide multiple means of action and expression, consider the following. Give students a voice. Use student response software like Socrative or Kahoot to give students options for communicating in class. Flexible assessments. Allow students to use multiple media for assignments like comics, speech, video, music, and visual art. And finally, foster critical thinking by using think-alouds to model thought processes and demonstrate your logic to students. A good analogy to sum up UDL is to think of these concepts within architectural terms. If you construct a building you will have to consider accessibility issues. Adding ramps and other features after construction can be costly, cumbersome, and time consuming. The idea is to incorporate accessibility features in the space within your initial design plans. The cool thing is, if you remove a certain barrier with one student in mind, other students will benefit as well. Constructing a flexible course that gives the learner autonomy while maintaining the same learning outcome expectations for all students is the goal of Universal Design for Learning. By exploring these 3 key principles of Universal Design for Learning, instructors will improve their students' overall educational experience. This approach is a way to become a more effective and inclusive educator.