Faculty Support
An Introduction to UDL
Universal design for learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. This framework is based on three main principles:
Engagement: UDL encourages teachers to look for multiple ways to motivate students. Letting kids make choices and giving them assignments that feel relevant to their lives are some examples of how teachers can sustain students’ interest. Other common strategies include making skillbuilding feel like a game and creating opportunities for students to get up and move around the classroom. The “WHY” of learning. Explore the engagement principle.
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Representation: UDL recommends offering information in more than one format. For example, textbooks are primarily visual. But providing text, audio, video and hands-on learning gives all kids a chance to access the material in whichever way is best suited to their learning strengths. The “WHAT” of learning. Explore the representation principle.
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Action and expression: UDL suggests giving kids more than one way to interact with the material and to show what they’ve learned. For example, students might get to choose between taking a pencil-and-paper test, giving an oral presentation or doing a group project. The “HOW” of learning. Explore the action and expression principle.
UDL General Resources:
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UDL: Engagement
The first of UDL principles focuses on ensuring that learners are provided with a variety of ways to engage with materials, the instructor, and each other. This principle supports the affective parts of the brain and corresponds to “the why” of learning, which means that it helps create learners who are vested in the learning process because they feel motivated and understand why they are learning. To achieve that, instructors should focus on strategies that stimulate students’ interests, strengthen their effort and persistence, and support self-regulation.
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Possible Strategies
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Build in opportunities for students to provide input on how course tasks are designed.
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Include a variety of activities to integrate the different experiences, identities, background and cultures of your students.
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Build activities that ask students to engage with a “real” audience and has a clear “real-world” purpose.
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Divide long-term assignments/projects into smaller, sub-assignments that can provide early feedback.
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Require students to align course objectives into their own personal goals.
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Construct tasks with varying degrees of difficulty as students work toward course goals.
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Give students feedback frequently and in a timely manner.
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Give students resources to help the cope with “subject phobias”.
Additional Resources
UDL: Representation
The second of UDL’s principles addresses the recognition parts of the brain to provide “the what” of learning. In other words, it refers to the content of learning and its presentation. In particular, the goal of this principle is to create learners who know how to access information and have resources to do so by providing them with alternatives for receiving information, options for supporting language and symbols recognition, and options for comprehension.
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Possible Strategies
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Provide a glossary of key terms at the beginning of the week, unit or course.
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Provide links to resources were students and find definitions of key terms.
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Assign key vocabulary terms to students and ask them to teach the terns to the class.
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Provide recorded lectures for later review (with appropriate captioning or transcripts).
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Provide videos, animations and simulations as appropriate.
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Ask the students to find and share helpful resources for the course.
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Use concept mapping to highlight relationships between course concepts throughout the semester.
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Create an assignment asking students to connect key concepts.
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Design class activities that scaffold students’ understanding of the course content.
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Use a variety of quantitative representations to demonstrate concepts.
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Chunk information into smaller units to help learners develop their knowledge.
Additional Resources
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UDL: Action & Expression
The third principle of UDL addresses the strategic parts of the brain, or the “how” of learning. Consequently, the ultimate goal of implementing this principle is to develop learners who can set goals for their learning and are strategic in how they express their knowledge and skills. Specifically, this principle is addressed by providing learners with a variety of opportunities for physical action as well as options for communication and expression, and multiple chances for improving executive function (i.e., strategic planning and executing steps of a learning task).
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Possible Strategies
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Supplement any video content with text content
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Create tasks that can be done in writing or through presentation
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Allow students to refine their work
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Develop interactive online discussions
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Ask students to relate their experience with course content outside the classroom
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Provide graphic organizers