Lesson 3 – How do we teach when there is so much variability?
Even though our students have various strengths and needs, there are guidelines we can use to help us meet our students’ needs for flexibility. This is important so all students can “participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities” (CAST, 2024). When our lessons, learning tasks, and assessment methods are flexible, students can focus on the course learning outcomes rather than navigating barriers. We can’t eliminate all barriers, but we can do a lot to make learning more accessible to all students.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that uses information about the science of learning to teach us how to create inclusive, equitable learning environments (CAST, 2024). In his work on the science of teaching and learning in higher education, Joshua R. Eyler explains that “curiosity, sociality, emotion, authenticity, and failure” are foundational themes in Higher Ed (Eyler, 2018). The UDL framework includes these components as exemplary inclusive teaching practices.
We can use the UDL Guidelines to develop and deliver courses that optimize teaching and learning for all students (CAST, 2024). The guidelines help us proactively consider the various learning profiles of our students to create flexible lessons and assignments, and reduce barriers to learning.
“The UDL Guidelines help educators address the diversity in learning in three main categories:
- Engagement (the why of learning): recruiting interest, sustaining effort and persistence, and self-regulation.
- Representation (the what of learning): perception, language and symbols, and comprehension.
- Action & Expression (the how of learning): physical action, expression and communication, and executive function.”
(CAST, 2024).
Reflection
Pausing to reflect on our current practice prepares us to consider our lessons from a universal design for learning perspective. These questions guide us to think about the why, what, and how of learning within the greater context of who is learning in our classes.
Let’s pause for a few moments. Think about your teaching practice. How would you answer the following questions? Click on (select) each question to reveal additional prompts.
You can download a list of all reflection prompts for this course from Modules 1-5.