Hello everyone. The purpose of this web
page is to provide you with examples of universal design techniques that
I use in my classroom. You probably already use some of these or
other techniques in your classroom. If you have any examples that
you would like to share, please send them to me and I will post them on
this web page.
Why should I implement universal design
techniques in my classroom? I have
a. different types of learners (visual,
auditory, tactile, etc.) in my classroom.
b. identified students with "disabilities" in my
classroom.
c. unidentified students with "disabilities" in my
classroom.
d. diverse students in my classroom with a variety of strengths
and weaknesses.
e. all of the above and then some.
The purpose of universal design is to reach the
maximum number of students in our classrooms. We all know that we
have students with different types of learning styles in our
classes. We also know that we have students who have identified
"disabilities" and need some assistance in order for them to
excel in class. But, we also have many students who do not want to
identify themselves as someone with a "disability" for diverse
reasons; reasons perhaps we cannot understand. And, of course, we
have students that come from a variety of backgrounds. All of our
students can benefit from universal design because it is, well,
universal. Utilizing these principles in our classrooms maximizes
our reach.
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Implementation of Universal Design:
Our syllabi are pretty good already. Just
remember that the syllabus is like a contract between you and your
students. Provide all course information in a nice readable
format.
Try to schedule office hours before and after
your classes. If you arrange your office hour schedule like this
for all of your classes, then it is unlikely that a student could not
see you during your office hours. Also, inform students that they
can make an appointment to see you if they cannot see you during your
office hours.
In the class room:
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At the beginning of the semester, I ask each
student to fill out an information card that includes their major,
career goals, number of hours worked per week, class expectations, hobbies, and ANY information they want me to know about
them.*** You would be surprised at what many students reveal
to you.
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Use multiple teaching techniques to maximize
your reach and engage as many students as possible.
For example, I predominantly use a feedback lecture technique
punctuated with a lot of questions about the material.
Students complete a number of active learning activities in my
classroom, usually in pairs, and instead of grading all of them,
students put the activities in a separate notebook that they turn in
at the end of the semester. They receive extra credit for
their notebooks, the amount of which is based on the percentage of
activities they completed in class.
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Students also complete several graded
activities in and out of class, so that I'm not only assessing them
on their ability to take exams. Examples of these include:
informed critical debate and position papers on controversial
subjects such as stem cell research, service learning projects, the
construction of graphical models using free modeling software.
Often these activities are completed in teams. Because
students can be uncomfortable with group work due to the possibility
of slackers in their group, peer evaluation is a significant
component of their project grade (20-30%). Groups are assigned
based on work schedules (see info cards above), so typically
scheduling is not an issue.
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I support my lectures in class with
PowerPoint slides. I try to utilize good design techniques
such as: topic headings -sometimes in the form of a question, using
no more than 5-7 bullets per slide introducing one at a time, using
plain backgrounds with contrasting colors, etc. Like many, I
utilize graphics and short introductory videos. I do not read
from my slides, but refer to them and move around while
lecturing/asking questions. I wait until 98% of my students
have finished writing their notes before moving on. Of course,
students are allowed to tape lectures. My slides are posted on
the course web site after class in both ppt and rtf
formats.
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For some historically tough topics, I write
worksheets and post them on the course web site. Vocabulary
lists are also posted for students. While vocabulary lists may
seem silly, this helps students realize that they need to do more
than memorize a list of words and their definitions to do well in
class. Also, it frees up time in class as the onus is on the
student to learn vocabulary, while class time is for developing a
deeper understanding of the topic at hand.
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Classes are supported via a course web site
that is constructed using accessible web design. Please see
the accessible web page with
examples for more information.
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