Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Response to intervention (RtI) provides tiered levels of supports to all students and allows for increasingly more intensive and individualized instruction. Similarly, universal design for learning (UDL) addresses needs of students by proactively planning for instructional, environmental, and technology supports to allow all students to effectively access and engage in instruction.

The universal design for learning (UDL) principles provide a blueprint for designing a curriculum that addresses the diverse needs of all learners. The author provides an overview of UDL, connections to curriculum planning, and practical techniques that guide general and special education teachers in planning and implementing curriculum, using the planning for all learners (PAL) procedures. PAL is a 4-step process for designing and implementing a curriculum (goals, methods, materials, and assessments) that is accessible and effective for all learners.

The model of differentiated instruction requires teachers to be flexible in their approach to teaching and adjust the curriculum and presentation of information to learners rather than expecting students to modify themselves for the curriculum.

The effects of training in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) on lesson plan development of special and general educators in a college classroom environment were investigated. A true experimental group design with a control group was used for this study. A one-hour teacher training session introduced UDL to the experimental group; the control group received the intervention later. A three-factor analysis of variance with repeated measures was completed for each of the dependent variables (i.e., UDL lesson plan).

Presents the results of two studies on the applicability and use of universal design in higher education

A grant-funded initiative for professional development that used the framework of Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) included activities in developmental reading, writing, and math courses. Participants, most of whom were part-time instructors, engaged in an intensive administrator-led, 2-day workshop followed by participant-led activities that extended over multiple semesters. Elements of the training are described; examples of strategies used by these instructors based on UDI principles are included; and insights into the value of designing teaching to incorporate UDI principles are shared.

The article outlines 5 key strategies for creating and converting online course content to be more accessible to learners.

Literacy instruction for students with significant intellectual disabilities traditionally emphasizes isolated skills instruction focusing on sight words and basic vocabulary. Recent research suggests these students benefit from high-quality instruction that includes comprehension and storybook reading. This study examined the effect of a technology-based universal design for learning (UDL) approach to literacy instruction, Literacy by Design (LBD), on the reading achievement of 16 students with significant
intellectual disabilities in Grades K–2.

The proliferation of new technologies will not diminish literacy but rather expand it. In particular, we shall argue that new technologies—from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) to iPods, sound blogs and text-to-speech—have revived the importance of listening and “re-balanced” literacy such that printed text remains an important facet of literacy but is not itself synonymous with literacy.

The purpose of this study was to measure faculty attitudes toward academic accommodations and the inclusive teaching method labeled Universal Design for Instruction (UDI). Identifying faculty attitudes can determine readiness for organizational change with respect to implementing UDI principles and can be useful when developing training methods or materials by comparing differences between faculty groups.

Today teachers are charged with including all students in literacy instruction, even those who have previously struggled in traditional school environments. One group that has struggled in the past is English Language Learners (ELLs). Here Proctor, Dalton, and Grisham discuss a 4-week study that used supported digital text to assist ELLs with reading comprehension. They found that embedding features did help promote learners’ use of comprehension strategies.

Responding to the call by educators for empirical evidence of UDL's beneficial effects on student learning, performance, persistence, and ultimately retention, this study measured changes and/or improvements in instruction as perceived by students following UDL instructor training and subsequent course delivery modifications. This study also describes the process that was undertaken to develop and implement pre- and post-student surveys, and points the way toward further research regarding the benefits of UDL implementation to postsecondary education.

The purpose of this article is twofold: 1) to introduce the concept of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) by going to its origination in the field of architecture—the Universal Design, in order to illustrate the inclusive nature of UDL, 2) to shed light on one of the most important aspects of UDL—collaboration. The UDL framework provides teachers with a unified framework to collaborate on the development of an accessible and inclusive curriculum through flexible pedagogy and tool use. Developed for all students, the UDL framework aims to expand all teachers’ expertise in teaching diverse learners and depends on collaboration for success.

The traditional "one-size-fits-all" approach to curriculum denies the vast individual differences in learning strengths, challenges, and interests. The focus of this article is a novel approach, called Universal Design for Learning, to addressing the challenge of individual learner differences. Cognitive science research suggests the joint action of three broad sets of neural networks in cognition and learning: one that recognizes patterns, one that plans and generates patterns, and one that determines which patterns are important.

This paper describes the results of the data collection phase of a faculty action-research project that grew from a core group of university faculty members' concerns about how best to support students with disabilities on campus. A survey was used to identify faculty members' stages of concern about and use of nine Universal Design for Learning guidelines in their classes.

To prepare teacher candidates for the growing number of online learners they will encounter in their professional practice, it is important that they have the opportunity to experience quality online learning themselves. This paper reports a case study of an online teacher education course that was designed based on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. Drawing from survey results and statistics collected through the online learning management system, 24 teacher candidates' online learning experiences were shared.

The article explains the roots of UDL in cognitive neuroscience, and the three principles of UDL: multiple means of representing information, multiple means of expressing knowledge, and multiple means of engagement in learning. The authors also examine the ways UDL has influenced their course goals and objectives, media and materials, teaching methods, and assessment techniques, including discussion groups, lectures, textbooks, and the course website. The authors emphasize the ongoing developmental nature of the course and UDL principles as tools or guidelines for postsecondary faculty, rather than a set of definitive rules. UDL is proposed as a way to address diversity and disabilities as constructs of individuals and their environment in higher education classrooms.

Based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL focuses on the learner) and Universal Design for Instruction (UDI focuses on instruction), the purposes of this study were to determine if faculty were incorporating UDI/UDL into their instruction, and their attitudes toward students with disabilities, as these could be barriers to learning.

This study's findings illustrate how students perceive individual interventions anchored by three key UDL principles--multiple ways of representing course content, multiple options for student expression and control, and multiple options for engagement and motivation. These individual interventions were used in standard-diploma track high school algebra and biology classes.