Elevate your Content with Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) recognizes that learners vary along many spectra, some of which might create barriers to learning when students are only given one way to do things. UDL guides the design of learning experiences that present as few barriers to success as possible. For background on the Universal Design for Learning framework, see the Teaching Resources Page Reaching All Students with Universal Design for Learning.

This article addresses one of the Guidelines from CAST.org, the leading proponent of UDL: Design multiple Means of Representation.

UDL and Course Content

Applying UDL to the presentation of a course and of its content requires considering how learners perceive what is presented and then comprehend what is there. Learners must be able to see, hear or otherwise access the letters, symbols, images and words in content. Then, they must be able to understand the author’s style, vocabulary and message conveyed with those words and symbols. Finally, they need to be able to comprehend the content by linking it to previous knowledge.

Barriers to these processes might exist due to learners’ characteristics (E.g. some sort of disability, background knowledge, native language) or due to environmental and situational factors. Applying UDL does not require being fully aware of each student’s characteristics or situations. UDL is often described as designing for the edge cases knowing that the middle of the different spectra will be taken care of as well.

Widening the Path to Perception with UDL

To designing content for universal perception, ensure that sure no content requires full functioning of just one sense to perceive it. Designing multiple means of representation is necessary for learners with low vision/blindness or who are hard of hearing/deaf. Many such learners register with the Disability Resources Office (DRO) and receive accommodations, but proactively designing multiple means of representation means that additional accommodations may not needed. Proactive UDL design also means that learners who have temporary or situational needs and preferences also benefit. 

Factors that might make visual content difficult to perceive

  • Low vision or blindness
  • Colorblindness
  • Life demands like commuting, cooking for a family, and household chores that are incompatible with viewing visual content
  • Technology difficulties like broken images 
  • Small screens or low-resolution displays
  • Some forms of neurodiversity
  • Text features like color contrast, typeface, size, etc.

Factors that might make audio content difficult to perceive

  • Being hard of hearing or deaf
  • Illness, ear infection, or injury to the eardrum causing temporary hearing loss
  • Needing to be quiet, like if there is a sleeping child nearby
  • Being in a noisy environment where media is hard to distinguish from other sounds.
  • Some forms of neurodiversity
  • A native language other than the one used in the audio
  • Poor quality or unclear audio that can exist for a variety of reasons

To present content in a way that is perceivable by multiple senses:

  • Provide textual representations of all images and other purely visual content, so that it can be converted to audio by screen reading software, and
  • Providing text that matches any audio content so that learners can read what the audio content contains.

For detailed information, support and detailed instructions for making content perceivable to all, refer to DELTA’s Digital Accessibility Guide.

Widening the Path to Comprehension with UDL

Once learners perceive course content, they must be able to fully make sense of it. There is a distinction here between the complexity of course content and how clearly and universally it is described and explained. Learners should be able to focus their energy on the actual disciplinary content, rather than decoding or deciphering its presentation. To widen the path the comprehension:

Use “plain language”

Plain language is “clear, concise, organized, and appropriate for the intended audience.” A reader can make sense of the writing with minimal effort. The writing is clear, relevant, coherent and cohesive. The message is effective and appropriate for its purpose, is broken down into steps or key points, and it achieves the objective. Tools and resources available that may be helpful in writing in plain language include:

Avoid using culturally specific references and jargon

Jargon, acronyms, and idioms can impact comprehension. Idioms are especially challenging for learners from cultures where references may be unfamiliar, or with native language other than the instructor’s. The true meaning of an idiom is often different from the direct translation. 

Provide vocabulary support

Even if a course goal is to familiarize students with new vocabulary or acronyms from a discipline, it is important to still provide context and support for learning them.  Provide definitions, a glossary or external links to help learners who need additional support with new vocabulary. Pre-teaching new vocabulary is also helpful. At the start of a new module or lecture, allocate some time to defining key or new terminology. The Glossary activity in Moodle is one tool that can be helpful. An instructor can set up and a Moodle Glossary, or ask learners to collaborate to create it. Learn more from the Moodle Doc for Glossary Activity.

Provide background knowledge

The background knowledge learners come into a course impacts on how they understand, internalize, and then generalize the new information in a course. Many learners fulfill course prerequisites through a high school AP course, at another college, or with a different course instructor. Thus, it’s impossible to know exactly what they learned or how well they remember it. Sometimes there are unwritten prerequisites or expectations that students have been exposed to certain concepts or topics.

  • Offer resources where learners can refresh or solidify background knowledge they need to be successful. These resources might be optional readings or modules learners can complete if they feel like they need to brush up on their skills in a certain area.
  • Activate prior knowledge that has not been used in a while so feels a bit “rusty,” perhaps by asking learners to recall previous experiences they’ve had and how that relates to what they’re doing now
  • Incorporating KWL activities where students list what they Know, what they Want to know and later what they have Learned about a topic. Learn more and download a KWL template.
  • Have learners create concept maps or brainstorm before a lesson to organize their previous understanding of a topic.
  • Provide reflection prompts at the beginning and end of a lesson to help students understand how previous knowledge fits with new knowledge.
  • Use examples and make real world connectionsthat can help learners connect the new information to information they already have.

Guide information processing

Help students know how to approach learning a concept or completing an assignment. Break down a task into into smaller parts to guide learners through the thought process. Isolate certain aspects of a task to make sure learners are on the right track. Provide aids or organizational tools like tables or models for how to solve a mathematical equation, graphic organizers, checklists, reminders, templates or guided note-taking templates.

Think like a novice

An expert blind spot can exist when one has a high level of expertise on something and does not think much about the years it took to build the conceptual framework for the discipline. Essentially, it’s very hard to remember what it was like to be a novice in one’s field of expertise, or to know what reasonable expectations are for a novice. To learn more, read the article “Beware the Expert Blind Spot” by Julia Phelan, Ph.D. (8 min read). Reflect on where this might be happening for you in your instruction, and then try to slow down. Expect to have to repeat information multiple times. Provide additional resources for your students, and realize that it might take more explaining and more repetition than you think it should for them to really get it.

You might even get an outside opinion from someone you know who is a novice. A previous student who succeeded in your course as a novice could be a wealth of information on how they worked to build their knowledge. Peer tutors can also be a great resource for students, since they only very recently learned your course’s content and it’s easier for them to remember learning it for the first time.

Reinforce key information

Novices may not be able to discern what is key information versus less critical points. Emphasize what is really important to help guide learners toward meeting learning objectives. Preview key information by providing outlines, overviews, or summaries before a lesson to help prepare students to learn. Include cues and prompts or use graphics, diagrams, or formulas to reinforce a concept and make connections between previous and new information. Support generalization and transfer, and use examples (and non-examples) to help learners understand the big picture as much as possible.

Resources

For further reading about this topic:

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