Having students with diverse learning needs is a reality every instructor knows. Designing the course with learner variability in mind, Dr. Ashley Woodman, Senior Lecturer in Psychological and Brain Sciences, used principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to create multiple pathways for students to engage with the content and demonstrate their learning, such as providing audio versions for reading materials, allowing students to choose between submitting written, audio or video reflections, or engaging students in small groups in-class with reviewing exams and allowing retakes.
What does Universal Design for Learning (UDL) mean to you?
For me, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is about offering multiple pathways for students to engage with course material and demonstrate their learning. We know that only approximately half of students with disabilities are officially registered with disability services. So, designing courses with UDL in mind means expanding access to a wider range of students than just those with formal accommodations.
What motivated you to design your course and lessons applying UDL principles?
I expanded the enrollment of my Psychology 387 course to 45 students and recognized that a larger class size would likely result in diverse learning needs. This led me to be more intentional about remote and asynchronous access options. For the first time, one of my students required formal accommodation in the form of audio versions for reading materials. While I have previously provided accessible PDFs and noted the availability of audio versions of reading materials, this was the first time I generated audio files for the benefit of the entire class. Many students preferred the audio versions.
Can you share specific examples of UDL in action in your course?
Multimodal Assignments: Instead of submitting written reflection papers, students have the choice to submit audio or video reflections via VoiceThread. To gauge the equivalent length of a two-page written reflection, after a quick online search I settled on a 6–8-minute time frame for audio/video submissions. Out of 45 students, about 4-5 opted for audio/video for each of the four reflections. I sensed that students really appreciated having this choice. I felt the audio/video versions were more personal and allowed me to better get to know the students.
Choice of Assessment: For assigned readings, students could either complete a short 10-item quiz or contribute a discussion question. The quiz could be retaken until an 80% score was achieved for full credit. All discussion questions that met the established criteria also received full credit, and I incorporated them into class discussions. My primary aim was to provide a low-stakes opportunity for students to engage with the reading material prior to class. Most students chose the quiz option and I discovered that a small subset of students appeared to take the quiz without doing the reading (scoring around 50%) and just kept repeating it to get to 80%. As I reflected on this, I realized that I clearly made the activity about “getting the points” and not learning the material. In the future, I am considering alternatives to this quiz option - perhaps a live reading quiz in the first few minutes of class (graded on completion) or the online quiz with the expectation that students reflect on their scores.
Self-generated audio versions of course materials: Creating audio versions of the course materials involved a thoughtful exploration of various available tools. I landed on Speechify because of the range of narrators for students to choose from (Snoop Dogg!!) and its user-friendly feature that allows the skipping of in-text citations, particularly important for research articles. Many students took advantage of these audio versions, and I personally found them valuable for reviewing materials in a flexible manner, whether I was in the car or taking a walk!
Open untimed online exams: This is the only course in which I have exams - but they follow an unconventional format. Each of the course's three exams is made available online for one week, giving students the flexibility to choose when to take it in the learning management system. The exams are untimed but must be completed in a single sitting. Given that they are online, I assume students have access to all their notes and materials, and I adjust the question difficulty accordingly.
Small group exam review and exam retake option: After the one-week window closes, students get together in small groups in class to discuss their answers. From my observation, rather than merely reaching a consensus on the correct answers and moving on, students had meaningful conversations and really learned from each other. Through this process, I learned that some exam questions were poorly worded, prompting me to revise them. Students are then given another three days to retake the exam if they choose. For the first exam, I counted their best score; but for subsequent exams, I counted the average score of the original and retake exam to encourage students to take the first exam seriously.
Diverse course materials: The course curriculum features a diverse array of materials, including empirical journal articles, book chapters, memoirs written by autistic authors, and documentary films. I noticed that students were much more emotionally invested in material that centered autistic voices.
What kind of feedback have you received from students about how your UDL strategies impacted their learning?
As part of their mid semester feedback, students shared how much they appreciated the "variety of different teaching styles," stating that it is “very accommodating for students with disabilities” while also being "beneficial for everyone who has different needs when learning". Students said that the options for "different ways of completing homeworks," such as choosing between quizzes or discussion posts, enable them to "stay on top of [their] work and get the most out of different readings". Some students noted that they even went beyond requirements, completing "both" the reading quiz and discussion question, which they find deepens their "understanding of the material". Students also said that the mix of readings, videos/films and guest speakers deepened their understanding.
What considerations or tips do you have for other faculty who would like to enhance their diverse students’ learning by applying UDL principles to their course and lesson design?
First, creating audio versions of course materials is enlightening; it illuminates just how labor-intensive the task can be for students, even when they are provided with accessible PDFs. Second, don't hesitate to offer remote or asynchronous options as most students will still want to be in class even if they cannot attend in person. It adds a bit of work for the instructor, but it meant that my students experiencing health crises throughout the semester did not have to withdraw or take an incomplete. Third, students greatly appreciate choice and flexibility, so I would encourage faculty to reconsider strict attendance and late policies. Most students do their best to show up and turn assignments in on time.