1. What is Universal Design for Learning?

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for curriculum development. The framework was developed by a US based non-profit organisation called CASTL. UDL promotes the intentional design of teaching, learning, and assessment in a way that reduces barriers for learners, rather than making accommodations for individual learners. The link between UDL practices and assisting students with disabilities is obvious, but UDL can be beneficial to a wide range of students. For example, providing captions on your videos can help students who are deaf or hard of hearing. However, this practice can also help other students, such as students for whom English is an additional language who may need help with understanding some of the vocabulary you use. We know that not all students disclose the barriers they face, and we can help many students by using UDL practices.

The UDL framework argues that educators should follow three core guidelines when designing learning experiences, building in:

• Multiple Means of Engagement: Stimulate motivation and sustained enthusiasm for learning by promoting various ways of engaging with material.
• Multiple Means of Representation: Present information and content in a variety of ways to support understanding by students.
• Multiple Means of Action/Expression: Offer options for students to demonstrate their learning in various ways.

2. What UDL Is and Isn’t

What it is:

• A lens with which to examine your practice.
• An opportunity to plan for and make small, incremental changes to your practice.
• An opportunity to learn from colleagues in different disciplines and roles whose approaches to teaching and assessment may offer inspiration.
• An opportunity for you to use your own experience and creativity to make a positive impact on the learning experience of your students.

What it isn’t:

• A checklist for you to tick things off to be accessible.
• A box-ticking diversity exercise.
• Something completely new that you must do on top of your usual work. Rather, UDL should help you in the decisions you make every day/month/year as a practitioner in how you tweak and deliver your programmes.

Guideline 1: Multiple Means of Engagement

The Multiple Means of Engagement guideline is based on the idea that in order to learn, our attention must be gained and maintained; we must be ‘engaged’. We evaluate and prioritise learning, meaning we attribute appeal and significance to certain learning opportunities. In the literature that informs UDL, the capacity we have to evaluate and prioritise learning is sometimes referred to as the “affective networks”. The UDL guideline of providing Multiple Means of Engagement hooks into the impact affective networks have on student learning. Put very simply, how we feel about our learning matters. When we feel positive affect towards our learning, we are more likely to be motivated towards learning.

Practical Ideas for incorporating Multiple Means of Engagement

• Ask students to review learning goals and give them the option to create a new learning goal for future students.
• State the purpose of activities explicitly. Use the course description actively.
• State the course usefulness and relevance explicitly, preferably through concrete examples.
• Encourage collaborative projects across disciplines. This can raise students’ understanding of the subject.
• Be clear about how your feedback can be used to improve students' work.

Guideline 2: Multiple Means of Representation

The Multiple Means of Representation guideline is based on the idea that in order to learn, we must identify and make sense of the information we receive and relate it to our pre-existing knowledge. Learning involves gathering and categorising information, as well as assigning meaning to the patterns we see within this information. In the literature that informs UDL, this capacity we have to gather and assign meaning to information is sometimes referred to as the “recognition networks”. The term recognition (or re-cognition) prioritises the experiential role or the “what” of knowing. The term refers to what we perceive, what we remember, what we are able to imagine, etc. The Multiple Means of Representation guideline hooks into the impact that recognition networks have on student learning. Put simply, how we recognise and organise information matters to our learning. If students can recognise information as meaningful, categorise information and link it to pre-existing knowledge, then they are more likely to be able to remember and use that information.

Practical Ideas for incorporating Multiple Means of Representation

• Offer alternatives to auditory information (such as video captions) and visual information (include descriptions of images as ‘ALT’ text.)
• Make sure digital documents are accessible.
• Offer ways of customising the display of information e.g. provide slides in advance.
• Clarify vocabulary by offering a glossary of terms.
• Highlight previously learned skills that can be used to solve unfamiliar problems.

Guideline 3: Multiple Means of Action and Expression

The Multiple Means of Action and Expression guideline is based on the idea that in order to learn, we must go beyond merely receiving information towards actively representing that information to ourselves and interacting with it. Learning is an active process and involves interacting with what we perceive.  In the literature that informs UDL, this capacity we have to interact with our learning and communicate it to ourselves and others is sometimes referred to as the “strategic networks”. Strategic networks manage executive functions like selective attention and goal setting, planning, organisation, coordination, and self-monitoring. Strategic networks enable us to respond to information and express understanding. These networks allow us to set goals, identify strategies, focus, monitor our progress, and correct our course of action.

Providing Multiple Means of Action and Expression hooks into the impact strategic networks have on student learning. Again, to put it simply, how we interact with our learning through communicating our understanding, knowledge and ideas matters. If students can interact with their learning effectively and express and communicate their progress, they are more likely to consolidate their learning effectively.

Practical Ideas for incorporating Multiple Means of Action and Expression

• Choose an assessment method based on what skills and characteristics you want your graduates to have. The targeted skills and knowledge should be those used to make decisions about a student’s performance/achievement.
• State the purpose and criteria for goal achievement.
• Ensure a close connection between students’ achievement, your chosen assessment method, and the feedback you provide to the student.
• Think beyond traditional essays and MCQs towards inclusive assessment. There may be opportunities to provide more authentic forms of assessment where you incorporate real world activities within the assessment, provide low/no stakes assessment to build agency, etc. If you are interested in learning more about Inclusive Assessment, you can self-enrol in CIRTL’s Inclusive Assessment short course at any point.
• Set goals that are big enough to capture the vision and complexity of what is being learned, but are specific enough to be clear, objective, and measurable.

UDL in Action at UCC

UDL has been implemented by many colleagues across UCC. You can read about Dr Therese Kenna’s (Department of Geography) use of student-generated research podcasts as a form of inclusive assessment here. Alternatively, you can listen to/watch Therese speaking about her use of podcasts for inclusive assessment in this short (11 minute) video.

Further resources

CIRTL’s Digital Badge in Universal Design for Learning

CIRTL’s Inclusive Assessment Short Course

Further information on UDL (CAST website)