Spotlight 3

Making Our Courses Accessible:

Universal Design for Learning
As members of the scientific community think more about how to make clas-
ses inclusive and welcoming, there is a growing interest in developing
courses that are accessible for students with varying learning strengths and
needs. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is one framework that can help
instructors develop course materials, activities, and assessments that are
adaptable to student needs. UDL is based on the architectural movement of
Universal Design, which established principles for making spaces usable by
people with varying abilities without the need for accommodation. UDL
embraces a similar approach for teaching, suggesting that courses provide
multiple means for student engagement, content representation, and student
contributions to the class.
CAST describes a set of guidelines that breaks these large categories into
smaller chunks (CAST, 2018). For example, the guidelines suggest that stu-
dents’ engagement is enhanced when instructors provide options for prompt-
ing student interest, sustaining students’ efforts, and fostering students’ self-
regulation. These goals can be met by a variety of approaches that are good
teaching practice for all of our students: emphasizing the relevance and value
of the class, providing students some autonomy in choosing course elements,
fostering collaboration and community, providing goal-directed feedback,
and promoting students’ metacognition. Similarly, varying content represen-
tation involves effective teaching practices such as activating or supplying
background knowledge and highlighting patterns, critical features, and rela-
tionships, as well as offering alternatives for auditory and visual representa-
tion. Finally, providing options for student contributions can involve using
multiple media for instruction and assessment.
There are a couple of core ideas within these guidelines that have the
potential to allow all of our students to do their best work. First, if we pro-
vide students with multiple ways to demonstrate their understanding, we are
more likely to be able to make an authentic judgement about their under-
standing, both to provide feedback and to produce a grade. Some instructors
accomplish this goal by incorporating multiple types of assignments during a
semester, from exams, papers, and presentations to problem sets and

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podcasts, reasoning that all students will have a particular affinity for one or
more of the assignments. Other instructors provide choice within a major
class project, giving students learning objectives that they must accomplish
but leaving the specific topic and the format of project—essay, video,
poster—up to the student. Maryellen Weimer describes an alternative in
which she combines these two approaches, giving students a menu of assign-
ments (each with learning objectives and a strict due date) from which they
can choose to construct their suite of activities in the course. Whatever spe-
cific form this core idea takes in your context, all of our students benefit
when we provide them a chance to demonstrate their knowledge beyond a
standard, timed exam.
A second core idea that cuts across the UDL guidelines involves provid-
ing multiple ways for students to communicate within the course. We all
have students who love to talk in class, offering their responses to every
question we raise. We also, however, have students who are much more
introverted and hesitant to speak out. By offering multiple ways that students
can contribute to course conversations, we foster community and learning
for all of our students. There are several easy ways to do this:
G Use the think pair share approach to soliciting student answers. Pose a
question, ask students to discuss it with their neighbor for a specified
length of time, and then request a volunteer to share their group’s answer
and reasoning. Many students are more able to discuss a question with a
partner than in a large group setting.
G Modify the think pair share to the think write share. Instead of hav-
ing students discuss their response with a colleague, have them instead
write a response. Quieter students who need a moment to collect their
thoughts will be more inclined to respond after writing.
G Use clickers (or other personal response devices). Pose a multiple choice
question, ask students to vote on the answer, show the graph depicting
student responses. Ask for volunteers to share their reasoning. This
approach gives all students a chance to commit to an answer and receive
feedback, and can also be used to prompt small or large group
discussion.
G Use the minute paper. Pose a question, have students spend 1 5 minutes
writing a response, and then collect the responses. In large classes, this
approach can work best at the end of class, while in smaller classes, it
can be used throughout. Because the instructor collects the responses, all
students have a chance to contribute in a way that can inform how the
class proceeds.
G Use online discussion boards and blogs. Some students are more
comfortable sharing their questions and comments electronically, so it
can be useful to supplement in-class activities with opportunities to con-
tribute online.
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G Consider holding online office hours. Many learning management sys-

tems offer a tool for online office hours. Zoom and Skype are alternatives
not associated with an LMS. Not only do online office hours offer stu-
dents an electronic buffer that can be helpful for students with anxiety,
they also provide few accessibility barriers for students who have pro-
blems with mobility.
In short, the UDL framework can help instructors make choices that
enhance accessibility of the course and that align with teaching practices that
promote learning for all students. It can be a powerful tool to help instructors
think through their options for reaching their goals.

REFERENCE
CAST, 2018. Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.2. Retrieved from: ,http://udl-
guidelines.cast.org..