Beyond Reaching Into The Margins
Beyond Reaching Into the Margins:
Connecting Students with Content Through Universal Design
Christopher S. Lanterman, M.Ed.
Northern Arizona University
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Beyond Reaching Into The Margins
Universal Design Checklist
The following are some considerations when creating and delivering a universally-designed course. These suggestions are not comprehensive, AND ARE MEANT AS A STARTING POINT FOR DESIGN; much of what faculty can do to make their courses universally-designed will be specific to their preferred teaching style, their philosophy of teaching learning, their content area, their mode of instructional delivery, etc.
It is important to remember, however, that universal design for learning is not intended to respond to specific needs within a cohort of students. Rather, it is a model for considering the needs of any future course participant, regardless of their learning styles, preferences, life experience, prior knowledge, personal dimensions, disability, etc.
Multiple Means of Engagement
Use reflective activities (e.g., think-pair-share)
Have students work in pairs or small groups to solve a problem
Use collaborative, as well as cooperative, group experiences
Change pace of lecture frequently
Give a demonstration
Show a video clip
Tell a story or anecdote
Provide opportunities for students to move (e.g., Snowball or Concentric Circles activities, etc.)
Perform pre-assessment to determine students’ “starting point”
Scaffold instruction around prior knowledge
Get to know your students
Be available and receptive
Model empathic and ethical behavior
Encourage active learning and student feedback
Use listserves, discussion boards, email, social networking sites, or other communication tools to keep students informed
Clearly align evaluation with instruction
Provide rationale for evaluations and assignments
Define clear expectations in the syllabus
Model expectations through personal practice, samples, rubrics, etc.
Consistently adhere to those expectations
Spiral the curriculum
Multiple Means of Representation (Instructional Delivery)
Provide all print materials with digital option or flexible access
Provide captions for all audio
Provide educationally relevant descriptions for images and graphical layouts
Present material in redundant ways (e.g., slides presented with verbal reinforcement and online version for later reference)
Provide captions and educationally relevant descriptions/transcriptions for video
Consider implications of field-based experiences
Use texts available in both print and digital formats
Use web pages to provide relevant course materials in digital formats (e.g. PowerPoint’s, handouts, syllabi, notes, articles, etc.)
Incorporate images in PowerPoint’s to enhance interest
Multiple Means of Expression (Assessment and Student Activities)
Use assessment data to inform instruction (i.e., if the average for a test is a 52%, determine what the students didn’t understand, and make sure they do)
Create assessments that address higher order thinking skills (i.e., application, analysis, evaluation)
Provide flexibility or choice in evaluation methods
Consider take-home, online, or group assessments
Consider untimed assessments
Consider evaluating process in addition to product (e.g., portfolios, etc.)
Consider project, performance and product assessments, in addition to written assessments
Use study guides and review sessions
Use clear grading rubrics or criteria
Provide immediate feedback
Align assessment choices with variety in instructional delivery
Principles of Universal Design of Instruction©
Principle / Definition / Example(s)Principle 1: Equitable use / Instruction is designed to be useful to and accessible by people with diverse abilities. Provide the same means of use for all students; identical whenever possible, equivalent when not. / Provision of class notes on-line. Comprehensive notes can be accessed in the same manner by all students, regardless of hearing ability, English proficiency, learning or attention disorders, or note taking skill level. In an electronic format, students can utilize whatever individual assistive technology is needed to read, hear or study the class notes.
Principle 2: Flexibility in use / Instruction is designed to accommodate a wide range of individual abilities. / Use of varied instructional methods (lecture with a visual outline, group activities, use of stories, or online discussions) to provide different ways of learning and experiencing knowledge.
Principle 3: Simple and intuitive / Instruction is designed in a straightforward and predictable manner, regardless of the student's experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level. / Provision of a grading rubric that clearly lays out expectations for exam performance, papers or projects; a syllabus with comprehensive and accurate information; or a handbook guiding students through difficult homework assignments.
Principle 4: Perceptible information / Instruction is designed so that necessary information is communicated effectively to the student, regardless of ambient conditions or the student's sensory abilities. / Selection of text books, reading material, and other instructional supports in digital format or online so students with diverse needs (e.g., vision, learning, attention, English as a Second Language) can access materials through :traditional hard copy or with the use of various :technological supports (e.g., screen reader, text enlarger, online dictionary).
Principle 5: Tolerance for error / Instruction anticipates variation in individual student learning pace and prerequisite skills. / Structuring a long-term course project so that students have the option of turning in individual project components separately for constructive feedback and for integration into the final product; provision of on-line "practice" exercises that supplement classroom instruction.
Principle 6: Low physical effort / Instruction is designed to minimize nonessential physical effort in order to allow maximum attention to learning. Note: This principle does not apply when physical effort is integral to essential requirements of a course. / Allow students to use a word processor for writing and editing papers or essay exams. This facilitates editing be document without the additional physical exertion of rewriting portions of text (helpful for students with fine motor or handwriting difficulties or extreme organization weaknesses while providing options for those who are more adept and comfortable composing on the computer).
Principle 7: Size and space for approach and use / Instruction is designed with consideration for appropriate size and space for approach, reach, manipulations, and use regardless of a student's body size, posture, mobility, and communication needs. / In small class settings, use of a circular seating arrangement to allow students to see and face speakers during discussion -important for students with attention deficit disorder or who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Principle 8: A community of learners / The instructional environment promotes interaction and communication among students and between students and faculty. / Fostering communication along students in and out of class by structuring study groups, discussion groups, e-mail lists, or chat rooms; making a personal connection with students and incorporating motivational strategies to encourage student performance through learning students' names or individually acknowledging excellent performance.
Principle 9: Instructional climate / Instruction is designed to be welcoming and inclusive. High expectations are espoused for all students. / A statement in the class syllabus affirming the need for class members to respect diversity in order to establish the expectation of tolerance as well as encourage students to discuss any special learning needs with the instructor; highlight diverse thinkers who have made significant contributions to the field or share innovative approaches developed by students in the class.
From Principles of Universal Design for Instruction by Sally S. Scott, Joan M. McGuire, and Stan F. Shaw, Center on Postsecondary Education and Disability,
University of Connecticut. Copyright 2001. Reprinted with permission.
Beyond Reaching Into The Margins
Universal Design for Learning Case Studies
Post-Secondary – Scenario 1
With your partner(s), please read the short classroom scenario below. Use the information you have on universal design for learning to evaluate the following:
- What elements of universal design already exist in this classroom, if any?
- What potential barriers to learning may exist in this classroom?
- What universal design solutions can you devise for these barriers?
Dr. Franklin Bowman is teaching a course in biology, which meets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for fifty minutes each day. There are approximately 100 students in his class, which meets in an auditorium-style lecture hall. He uses the text, Essential Biology, by Campbell.
For the following Wednesday, Dr. Bowman has prepared a lecture on the circulatory system, with an emphasis on the structure of a blood vessel. He plans to use slides and models to illustrate his lecture, with a short film clip that clarifies the major functional differences Between those vessels that deliver oxygenated blood to tissues and those vessels that return blood with carbon dioxide for gas exchange.
Finally, Dr. Bowman will preview the next class, where the topic will be the mechanical properties of blood vessels. He will also remind students that there will be a quiz on blood vessels at the end of class on Friday, and that the students should remember to bring their Scantron sheets.
Beyond Reaching Into The Margins
Universal Design for Learning Case Studies
Post-Secondary – Scenario II
With your partner(s), please read the short classroom scenario below. Use the information you have on universal design for learning to evaluate the following:
- What elements of universal design already exist in this classroom, if any?
- What potential barriers to learning may exist in this classroom?
- What universal design solutions can you devise for these barriers?
Dr. Glenda Lazarus teaches Modern American History to a moderately-sized class of forty students. Her class meets twice a week for 75 minutes each meeting. Her focus for the next two weeks will be the Civil Rights movement. Dr. Lazarus does not use a text, but has the students read a series of non-fiction books relevant to the topics at hand. For example, she gives her students the choice to read Lay Bare the Heart, by James Farmer, My Soul Is Rested, by Howell Raines or Carry Me Home, by Diane McWhorter. She will lecture for a portion of each class meeting, then break the students into groups, based on the book that they read, to share their perspectives on the reading. She will then reorganize the groups to include some students who have read each of the three books. Dr. Lazarus will provide the class with a number of questions to guide the ensuing discussion. These questions directly relate to her learning outcomes, and include:
How did the economic environment of the times impact the Civil Rights movement?
To what extent did the Civil Rights movement include people who were not African American and what role did they play?
What connections can be made among the Civil Rights movement and other critical periods in American history?
At the end of the unit on the Civil Rights movement, Dr. Lazarus has her students complete an in-class essay exam that focuses on the key concepts addressed on the topic.
Beyond Reaching Into The Margins
Universal Design for Learning Case Studies
Post-Secondary – Scenario III
With your partner(s), please read the short classroom scenario below. Use the information you have on universal design for learning to evaluate the following:
- What elements of universal design already exist in this classroom, if any?
- What potential barriers to learning may exist in this classroom?
- What universal design solutions can you devise for these barriers?
Dr. Evelyn Banks teaches courses in computer science, including one in web development. Her course, which focuses on the basics of html, java and css, is a 200 level course which meets one night a week for two and a half hours.
Dr. Banks has provided all instructional materials in digital form, which are available directly through a link on the course web page to the library’s electronic reserves. These materials are a combination of readings in PDF format, instructional videos, and collections of screen shots. In addition, the course web page provides links to advanced organizers of the course content, electronic versions of the syllabus, W3C accessibility standards, the Rational Policy Tester Accessibility Edition for checking and fixing accessibility issues with web pages, tutorials in various aspects of the design process, as well as other department, college and university supports and information.
Dr. Banks evaluates learning through a variety of assessment devices, including evaluations of basic knowledge through timed, online quizzes and out-of-class open response essays. She also evaluates individual product and group process through the use of rubrics.
This week, Dr. Banks will be conducting class around the topic of .html tags. She will use a PowerPoint (PPT) presentation to cover the key concepts and basic tags, while providing opportunities for students to reflect on the key concepts through a two-minute think-pair-share activity. Dr. Banks will post the PPT presentation to the website, and will have a MS Word copy of the outline linked, as well.
At the end of the class, she will assign the students to use their new understanding of .html tags to create a rough draft of a web page that uses a graphic device that both demonstrates their knowledge and represents the fundamental conceptual idea of .html and its application.
Multiple Choice Questions That Demand Critical thinking
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IV. Some Techniques for Writing Multiple-Choice Items that Demand Critical Thinking
1) Premise - Consequence
Students must identify the correct outcome of a given circumstance.
Example: If nominal gross national product (GNP) increases at a rate of 10% per year and the GNP deflator increases at 8% per year, then real GNP:
a) Remains constant.
b) Rises by 10%.
c) Falls by 8%.
d) Rises by 2%.
Note: To increase the difficulty, provide more than one premise.
2) Analogy
Students must map the relationship between two items into a different context:
Example: E-mail is to an unmoderated listserv as office hours are to:
a) Class lecture.
b) Class discussion.
c) Review sessions.
d) Tutorials.
3) Case study A single, well-written paragraph can provide material for several follow-up questions.
Example:
2) Alice, Barbara, and Charles own a small business: the Chock-Full-o-Goodness Cookie Company. Because Charles has many outside commitments and Barbara
has a few, Alice tends to be most in touch with the daily operations of Chock-Full-o-Goodness. As a result, when financial decisions come down to a vote
at their monthly meeting, they have decided that Alice gets 8 votes, Barbara gets 7, and Charles gets 2-with 9 being required to make the decision.
According to minimum-resource coalition theory, who is most likely to be courted for their vote?
a) Alice
b) Barbara
c) Charles
d) No trend toward any specific person.
3) In the scenario in question 2, according to minimum-power coalition theory, who is most likely to be courted for their vote?
a) Alice
b) Barbara
c) Charles
d) No trend toward any specific person.
4) Incomplete Scenario
Students must respond to what is missing or needs to be changed within a provided scenario.
Note: when using a graph or image, try to lay it out differently than how the students have seen it. This is equivalent to using new language to present
a familiar concept and prevents students from using rote memorization to answer the question.
For example, the diagram below may originally have been split left to right instead of top to bottom, and this diagram may not be as detailed as the diagram
they saw in the book.)
Example: Use the diagram below to answer the following questions.
1) What belongs in the empty box in the upper right corner of the diagram?
a) Hardware devices
b) Client Services for Netware
c) Logon Process
d) Gateway Services for Netware
2) If the Applications resided below the heavy black line, they would:
a) be open to hackers on the network.
b) compete with the OS for memory.
c) be preemptively multi-tasked.
d) launch in individual NTVDMs.
5) Problem/Solution Evaluation Students are presented a problem and a proposed solution. They must then evaluate the proposed solution based upon criteria
provided.
Example: A student was asked the following question: "Briefly list and explain the various stages of the creative process."
As an answer, this student wrote the following:
"The creative process is believed to take place in five stages, in the following order: orientation, when the problem must be identified and defined, preparation,
when all the possible information about the problem is collected, incubation, when no solution seems in sight and the person is often busy with other tasks,
illumination, when the person experiences a general idea of how to arrive at a solution to the problem, and finally verification, when the person determines
whether the solution is the right one for the problem."
How would you judge this student' s answer?
a) EXCELLENT (all stages correct in the right order with clear and correct explanations)
b) GOOD (all stages correct in the right order, but the explanations are not as clear as they should be)
c) MEDIOCRE (one or two stages are missing OR the stages are in the wrong order, OR the explanations are not clear OR the explanations are irrelevant)
d) UNACCEPTABLE (more than two stages are missing AND the order is incorrect AND the explanations are not clear AND/OR they are irrelevant)
An Annotated Resource List on Universal Design
Online Publications on Universal Design
Higbee, J.L. (ed.) (2003). Curriculum transformation and disability: Implementing universal design in higher education. Retrieved August 5, 2003, from
Highly Recommended
This is an online book, also available in print, that describes the experiences of participants in a project at the University of Minnesota. Each chapter is a different perspective on universal design, from its theoretical base to how it is applicable to community colleges, residential life, counseling centers, learning communities, and multicultural education.