22. UDL - From Disabilities Office to Mainstream Class: How the Tools of a Minority are Addressing the Aspirations of the Student Body at Large

Abstract

Confronted by the increasingly changing and varied nature of disabilities in Higher Education (Bowe, 2000; McGuire & Scott, 2002), Disability Service providers across North America are progressively moving away from targeted remedial assistance focusing on the disabilities of students, to a less frontline role involving the sensitization of faculty around strategies that seek to widen access and develop awareness (Sopko, 2008). Universal Design is hence often the model of choice (Rose, Harbour, Johnston, Daley & Abarbanell, 2006). It incorporates extensive use of technology and seeks the implementation of winning conditions in the classroom space that reduce or eliminate the need for later remedial work with students (Burgstahler, 2006). The hypothesis of this paper is that Universal Design, though conceived as a tool for a specific clientele, may quickly transpire to be the model best suited to serve the needs of the student body at large.The paper attempts to demonstrate how the core values underlying the Universal Design approach in fact meet wider educational aspirations of the 21st century. Not only do its strategies and goals allow wider access to students with Disabilities, but they allow the integration of the ‘millennium learners’, encourage higher student retention, guarantee higher rates of graduation and establish greater equity and respect for diversity. A model, designed to assist the minority, is quickly becoming a tool that has the capacity to open the class and the lecture hall to the diversity of the emerging and metamorphosing High Education learner, even if his/ her idiosyncrasies are still barely known (Howard, 2004).

Implementing Universal Design for Learning in Classrooms with Minorities with Autism

“…UDL strives to make teaching and assessment accessible and inclusive Milton, et al through multiple means of representation and expression which allows materials to be presented in various ways to accommodate different approaches to learning and allows learners to demonstrate their knowledge in individual ways [9]. By focusing on modification to the environment, UDL constitutes a sustainable approach to the management of the diverse needs of learners Harrison [7] Not only do its strategies and goals allow wider access to students with disabilities, but they allow the integration of the "millennium learners", encourage higher student retention, guarantee higher rates of graduation and establish greater equity and respect for diversity Fovet and Mole [5].…”

Access, Universal Design and the Sustainability of Teaching Practices: a Powerful Synchronicity of Concepts at a Crucial Conjuncture for Higher Education

“…It has meant that administrations have increasingly been willing to examine campus service provision (Alshuwaikhat & Bubakar, 2008), and even teaching practices (Sterling, 2001), through the lens of sustainability. When such concerns are voiced in the field of Access and Inclusion, UDL readily appears as an appropriate tool because the change it focuses on is systemic and sustainable, as opposed to retrofitting for individual students which has traditionally been a repeated, consumable process (Mole & Fovet, 2013).…”

Universal Design for Learning Implementation in Higher Education: Survey of Faculty and Instructional Designers

“…One model of inclusive pedagogy is the universal design for learning (UDL) framework, which can be implemented to diminish barriers to learning for diverse student populations (Black et al, 2014). UDL can be used to proactively design instruction for learner variability, improve pedagogy, and diminish barriers for all students in higher education (Bradshaw, 2020;Fovet & Mole, 2013;Schelly et al, 2011;Yang et al, 2024). Postsecondary stakeholders need a better understanding of UDL implementation in higher education from both faculty and instructional designer perspectives to encourage a shared vocabulary and discourse to craft policies and procedures that further UDL adoption and student success.…”

“…needing accommodations without the support of disabilities services, increase awareness among faculty of diverse learner needs, and improve equity and diversity of academic and non-academic services (Fovet & Mole, 2013;Toutain, 2019;van Kraayenoord et al, 2014). Although UDL research in higher education is still in its early stages, evidence suggests that UDL implementation has a positive impact on student perceptions of the course (Davies et al, 2013;Schelly et al, 2011).…”

“…Several studies recommended small UDL changes over time (Evmenova, 2018;Fovet & Mole, 2013;Westine et al, 2019), rather than completely redesigning entire courses or programs during professional development workshops. Follow-up recommendations after UDL training include class observations of UDL implementation (Basham et al, 2020;Rodesiler & McGuire, 2015) and having participants give UDL presentations to colleagues (Hromalik et al, 2020).…”