Reaching All Students with Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning recognizes that variability exists in student populations along many spectra. It guides the design of learning experiences with the goal of ensuring all learners reach their potential.

What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?

Let’s start with universal design

An Oxo Good Grips vegetable peeler

A Universal Design approach aims for full use and enjoyment of products or items, recognizing the great variability in the human population along many spectra and due to many different circumstances, whether situational or permanent. A simple way to think about this sort of design is “necessary for some, beneficial for all.” The term Universal Design was originally defined in 1988 at NC State University by Ron Mace and colleagues, who defined it as “usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design”. To learn more, visit the RL Mace Universal Design Institute webpage, including a summary of Universal Design principles.

Mark Wilson (2018) offers a great example of Universal Design in the form of the OXO Good Grips vegetable peeler in a 2018 article from Fast Company.

As the story goes, in 1990 housewares entrepreneur and businessperson Sam Farber was cooking with his wife Betsey, whose mild arthritis was making it difficult to operate her vegetable peeler. According to Wilson, Sam was inspired to design a new vegetable peeler that 

“…had to work for people with arthritis, but it had to work for everybody. This was a hard and fast rule. We couldn’t design something for people just with special needs, because it would have to be in a special catalog, and no one is able to have access to those products. It had to work for everybody, so it could be at a decent price for everyone… 

…With inclusive design, you never know when you might have the need for a product like this. You could injure your hand playing sports, or your grandmother could be dropping in for a visit. Just this idea of making a product that was better for anybody, and be for everybody!”

What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) takes the principles of Universal Design into an educational setting. When we recognize that variability exists in student populations along many spectra, we strive to design learning experiences that are flexible and adaptable to a multitude of situations. The goal of UDL is learner agency that is purposeful and reflective, resourceful and authentic, and strategic and action-oriented.

Many aspects of digital accessibility are included in part of the UDL guidelines. These include offering content in multiple formats, providing captions and transcripts, and ensuring learners have control over things like speed of videos and the ability to zoom into images. By designing with UDL, accessibility features are being built into a course from the start, meaning fewer revisions or accommodations will need to be made if a student registered with the Disability Resource Office enrolls in the course.

Other aspects of the UDL guidelines like consider learner interests, sense of self, personal connections, community and collaboration, all of which influence learners’ sense of agency and ownership over their own educational journey.

How can you apply the UDL guidelines to help your learners succeed?

One of the premiere proponents of Universal Design for Learning is CAST.org. CAST has developed Universal Design for Learning Guidelines which build on principles of Universal Design, particularly the principles of equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, and perceptible information. Each guideline targets different networks of learning.

Guideline 1: Design for multiple means of engagement

The first of CAST’s guidelines targets the “Why” of learning and focuses on recognizing that different students are motivated to engage by different things. Applying this principle means adding flexibility and choice for students, particularly if you find that there is content your students not engaging with as much as they should, or showing less motivation for or less buy-in for?

Considering whether different design choices might increase engagement can result in the following questions, as a start:

  • Can any learner, regardless of disability or cognitive difference, fully do what you are asking them to do?
  • Do you help learners see the relevance of this content or task to their lives and goals?
  • Do you encourage learners to bring their own perspectives, ideas and experiences to the course?
  • Have you ensured that your content represents a wide range of perspectives on a topic?
  • Are you offering learners choice and opportunities for agency?
  • Are you using strategies to encourage collaboration?

Visit the Teaching Resources Page on Boosting Motivation with UDL to learn more about providing multiple means of engagement and boosting learner motivation.

Guideline 2: Design for multiple means of representation

The second of CAST’s guidelines targets the “What” of learning and focuses on designing for multiple means of representation of content. Enacting this principle ensures that all students have the opportunity to interact with and comprehend your course content in the most effective way.

To identify aspects of your course that might benefit from this guideline, you might identify instructional content that learners seem to struggle with or have more questions about. Are there any pieces that just seem hard for your learners to comprehend, or places where they seem to get overwhelmed more than others?

Considering whether expanding the ways that you present that content might make it easier for students to success can result in the following questions, as a start:

  • Can you provide the content in an additional format, such as audio, text, video, etc.?
  • Can you offer learners options or choices for how they access that content?
  • Would providing optional background information for students to reference help?
  • Can you help learners by highlighting patterns, critical features, big ideas and relationships more clearly?
  • Are there places where you can simplify language and wording of the material for clarity?

Visit the Teaching Resources Page on Elevating Your Content with UDL to learn more about widening the path to perception and comprehension of instructional materials.

Guideline 3: Design for multiple means of action and expression

The third of CAST’s guidelines targets the “How” of learning and focuses on designing multiple means of action and expression. Enacting this principle ensures that learners can express their thoughts, communicate their knowledge and perform in a way that accurately demonstrates their learning and their facilitates their success in a course.

To identify aspects of your course that might benefit from this guideline, you might identify assessments or activities that some students seem to struggle with, particularly if you or they are surprised that their performance was not better.

Considering whether designing for more flexibility and choice can improve performance and learner agency can result in the following questions, as a start:

  • Can you provide another option for how learners demonstrate their achievement of the learning objective?
  • Can you provide more time or more flexible timing for an assessment?
  • Can you allow learners choose some aspects of how they communicate or interact?
  • Can you ensure that your assessments don’t somehow disadvantage students who come from a different geographical region, have a different first language, or don’t have the same cultural knowledge as others?

Visit the Teaching Resources Page on Optimizing Student Performance with UDL to learn more about providing multiple means of expression and thus optimizing student performance.

Workshop Information

Applying Universal Design Principles to Teaching

If no workshops are available, you can request an instructional consultation(opens in new window)   from LearnTech about this topic.

Resources

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