Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a research-based teaching approach that offers suggestions for creating environments that support, engage, and accommodate all students. Research shows that utilizing UDL methods have a positive affect on students' engagement and retention. By using the UDL framework, your course can be more accessible and inclusive to students whilst optimizing your teaching methods. Explore the UDL framework to learn how you can truly transform your course!

Framework

The UDL Framework can be applied anywhere to ensure learners can participate in a meaningful way and allows learners the freedom of learning according to their needs and learning style.
  • Engagement

    A learners' motivations and enthusiam for learning come from their ability to bring authenticity and connection into their learning environment. As instructors, it is important to know that all learners' motivations greatly differ, so it is essential to keep all learning interested, motivated, and engaged. In doing so, you can implement multiple means of engagement. For instance, use various activities and sources that are culturally relevent, socially relevent, and contexualized to the student's lives.

    Learn more about Designing with Multiple Means of Engagement.

  • Representation

    The way learners perceive information can greatly vary due to disability, culture, language, etc. It is important to consider the various individual identities that you may encounter as an instructor. With that, it is important to create multiple means of representation the optimize the learning of all students. This allows students to create connections with course concepts. For instance, you can provide a video, textbook, infographics, and PowerPoints for lecture content. This allows students to choose a format that best suites their academic needs.

    Learn more about Designing with Multiple Means of Representation.

  • Action and Expression

    The way learners nagivate learning and express their knowledge also differs. As an instructor, you can strategically organize learning tasks that honor the various ways students can learn and express their knowledge. For example, some students may be able to express their knowledge better in an essay than a PowerPoint, vice versa. Alternatively, some students may be able to perform better with a physical quiz (pen and paper) than an online quiz.

    Learn more about Designing with Multiple Means of Action and Expression.