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Design Exercise Course Development COURSE NAME:

Overarching Goal / Ultimate Learning Objective

Specific Learning / Development Objectives:

Strategies to Assess Participant Learning

Teaching/Learning Strategies to Achieve Objectives

What changes based on the scenarios?

Personal Reflection: Refer to Backwards Planning Reflection Questions Course Development What level(s) of understanding am I attempting to reach?

Objective Development * Given my objectives, learners and multiple ways of / necessary to learning, what can I do to provoke learning across this diverse range of learners (Universal Design)? * Do the teaching/learning or assessment strategies linked to my learning outcomes result in excluding different learners?

Assessment Plan(ning) What artificial constraints might be contained my assessment plan, i.e. is time truly essential? Is my assessment plan flexible to allow for adjustments without difficulty? Do my assessment and feedback strategies include expectations, guidelines, a rubric?

Teaching and Learning Strategies Will these activities achieve my objectives? Do they minimize the need for later adjustment? Do these activities support my assessment plan or are they a good idea or activity that Im trying to make "fit" the whole class.

Before instruction / Homework / Active Reading Assignments What course materials will I make available to students to support them in development of course assignments & activities and in which formats / on what platforms?

After Instruction / Follow Up InClass/Homework (next steps-reflection-extending ideas) Where can I include opportunities for self-assessment, for revision or extending of ideas through follow up assignments (without creating busy work or burdens in responding)?

Classroom Scenarios for Incorporating Universal Design Principles


1. New to This Educational Culture In the department, you overhear a colleague talking about the international students who were in her 1000-level course last fall. Because many of them were freshmen who were new to the U.S., she found herself spending more time than usual with them after class and during office hours answering questions about the material and clarifying expectations for the assignments and exams. Their academic performance was on par with their local peers, but she lamented the amount of extra help these students seemed to need. Upon hearing this, you look more closely at your class list and find that this fall you will have several international students who appear to be students in their first semester at the U. Given that they will be adjusting to a new educational culture, as well as perhaps adjusting to learning in a second language, what can you do given these factors to maximize their learning in ways that will benefit all your students?

2. Formal Accommodations Request It is the first week of the semester and you receive an email (excerpted below) from a student in your class (John). He is transmitting a Disability Services letter which notes accommodations that the student will need; you have not yet met this student in person. On reading the email, you wonder, what can you do in light of this situation to maximize this students learning in ways that will benefit all your students?
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This student is registered with Disability Services and has a documented disability that impacts vision. Therefore, I recommend that the student meet with you to discuss the following accommodations: Classroom Accommodations Note taking assistance provided by a peer note taker. Please assist John in finding a student in the class to provide copies of his/her notes. John will provide an announcement for you to read to the class explaining this process. Preferred seating. Please allow John to choose seating in the classroom. Audio recorder, provided by student, for lectures. Coursework Adaptation Accommodations Class handouts provided in large print: 20 pt font. Bold, sans serif Recommended Best Practices/Universal Design Instructor provides verbal description of all visual materials shown in the classroom. Instructor provides presentation slides to the student prior to the class. Testing Accommodations Extended time for all exams: double time Alternate format testing materials provided by Disability Services: Print in 20 pt font. Use of computer to provide large print display.

3. A Textbook Case Youve made your syllabus available to students ahead of the semester you know from past experience that a number of students like to start collecting and reviewing course readings during the couple of weeks before classes begin. This year a number of students have emailed or dropped by to ask whether they might buy an earlier edition of the textbook since its nearly $75 less expensive than one they could order online (which costs less than the text at the local campus bookstore). Cuts in grants, student loans and increased tuition, some say is impacting their textbook budget. One first generation student who is an engaged student in your department thinks she might have to shift her classes in order to balance out the book costs. Classes start next week and you wonder, what can you do about this situation to maximize their learning in ways that will benefit all your students?

4. The Topic of the Day Is _____________. Discuss. A colleague who's taught this course before has shared with you the student feedback on a pre- and post-class assessment focused on students' perceptions of and comforts with discussion. You learn from this write up that about half the students came into the class assuming that the teacher would do all talking, with the other half thinking that they'd be invited to discuss in class some expecting to be called on by the teacher to answer questions, others pairs or small groups about lecture ideas, and others whole group talking about big questions. Also, at the beginning of the semester most students reported that they would not easily volunteer to speak in class, nor did they like being called on for a variety of reasons language, learning preference, working through an interpreter, shyness, being afraid of peer or teacher responses, not wanting to answer follow up questions. But by the end of the course, students loved discussion whether in pairs, small groups or as a whole class. They report that discussion them to understand ideas more clearly and that they steadily gained comfort speaking because of in and out of class activities. When you ask your colleague why it worked and what she did, she responded by saying, "I don't really remember." Classes start next week and you wonder how can you incorporate some elements of discussion to maximize their learning in ways that will benefit all your students?

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