ACTION&EXPRESSION:UniversalDesignforLearningPrinciple
TheCenterforExcellenceinTeachingandLearningQuickNotes
DevelopedbyAmandaNicholsHess,ChristinaMoore,andJudyAbleser,CETL,OaklandUniversity.Page1of2
UniversalDesignforLearning(orUDL)isawayto“improveandoptimizeteachingandlearningforallpeoplebasedonscientificinsightsintohowhumanslearn”(CAST,2015).UDLconsidersthewhy,whatandhowofstudents’learning.
OnewaytointegrateuniversaldesignprinciplesintoyourclassroomistoprovidelearnerswithmultiplemeansofACTION&EXPRESSION.Thisparticularapproachfocusesonofferinglearnersdiversewaystoexpresstheirunderstandingandskilldevelopmentasaresultofcourseexperiences.Byprovidinganumberofwaysforlearnerstodemonstratetheirnewknowledge,youcanhelpthemtomorefullyattaincourseoutcomes.
1.Creatematerialsthatallowlearnerstointeractwiththecontentattheirownpaces(e.g.rewind,fastforward,pause).
• UsevideocontentthroughOULibraries,othereducationalrepositories,orfreelyavailableonlinethatstudentscancontrolplaybackspeed.
• Supplementanyvideocontentwithtextcontent(e.g.transcript,captions).• Includesectionbreaksduringlongbreaks,orindicatestoppingpointsifstudentsneedabreak.
Multiplemeansofactionandexpressioncanhelpdifferentgroupsoflearnersindifferentwayswithoutwateringdownlearningoutcomes.Noteverystrategywillworkineveryclassroom,orforeverysubjectarea—findtheonesthatyouarecomfortablewithandthatworkforyourdisciplineandlearners.
TEACHINGSTRATEGIES
2.Buildopportunitiesforlearnerstocommunicatetheirknowledgeinavarietyofformatswhereappropriateandrelevant.
• Createtasksthatcanbedoneinwritingorthroughpresentation(e.g.in-class/onlinepresentations).• Supplementwritingassignmentswithpresentation-basedtaskswherestudentscandemonstrate
learningthroughspeaking.• Allowstudentstopre-recordpresentationssotheycanrefinetheirwork.
3.Providelearnerswithmanyexamplesofwaystosolveproblemsoraddressissueswithreal-lifeandacademicexamples.
• Beginorendclasssessionswithinstancesofdisciplinaryknowledgebeingusedtosolverealissues.• Poseproblemstostudentandaskthemtoidentifyinnovativewaysothershavesolvedthem.• Sharehowyouapplyyourdisciplinaryknowledgeinauthenticsituations,oraskstudentstowriteor
speakabouttheirexperienceswithcoursecontentoutside oftheclassroom.
4.Givefeedbackindifferentformats.
• UsefreescreencapturetoolslikeJing(techsmith.com/jing)orScreencast-o-matic (screencast-o-matic.com)forscreen- andaudio-recordedfeedback.
• Usefreetools,likeAudacity(audacity.sourceforge.net),togiveaudiofeedback.• OffersynchronoussessionsthroughWebExinMoodletomeetwithstudentstodiscussprogress.
5.Providegraphicorganizersortemplatesthatlearnerscanusetoorganizecoursecontentandinformation.
• Usetemplatesprovidedthroughfreewebsites(studenthandouts.com/graphic-organizers/)tobuildgraphicorganizersforstudentstouseastheyworktowardcourseoutcomes.
• Shareanonymizedstudentwork(withpermission)toillustratetask/courseoutcomes.• Scaffoldstudenttasksatcourseoutsetandgraduallyremovethissupportasthecourseprogresses.
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1.Useonlinediscussiontools. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
2. Havestudentscreatemindmapstostructureunderstanding. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
3.Givetime/effort/difficultyestimates. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
4.Reiterateobjectivesandoutcomesandconnectactivitiestotheselearninggoals. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
5.Promptstudentsto"stopandthink"or"showandexplain." ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
6.Usetechnologythatiscompatiblewithscreenreaders. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
7.Sharealternativekeyboardoptions. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
8.Allow studentstousetechnologytools(text-to-speechsoftware,translationtools). ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
OtherUDLpracticesthatareespeciallyhelpfultolearnergroupsoftenchallengedbytraditionalclassroomstyles.
6.Posequestionstolearnersthataskthemtoreflectandself-monitorprogress.
• Askstudentstoreflectontheirlearningattheendofeachclass(e.g.exitslip,feedbackform).• Atkeypoints,promptstudentstoconsiderhowthey’vemetthecourseoutcomes.• Createataskthatasksstudentstoregularlyreflectontheirlearning,suchasareflectionjournal.
7.Sharechecklistsandguidesfornote-takingwithlearners.
• Providelectureoutlinesinadvanceoforafterclasssessionssostudentscanreviewcontent.• Buildnote-takingabilitiesbyprovidingstudentswithprogressivelyless-structurednoteguides.• Sharenote-takingmethods,suchasCornellNotesforeffectivenote-taking
(coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/cornellnotes.html).
DevelopedbyAmandaNicholsHess,ChristinaMoore,andJudyAbleser,CETL,OaklandUniversity.Page2of2
TheCenterforExcellenceinTeachingandLearningQuickNotes
8.Assessstudentworkusingchecklistsandscoringrubrics,andshareexamplesofannotatedstudentworkwithlearners.
• Createscoringrubricsthatstudentscanusetoworktowardcourseoutcomes.• Aligncourseoutcomeswithallcategoriesontaskrubricsorchecklists.• Offeranonymousexamplesofpaststudents’work(withpermission),andhighlightsuccessfulwork
towardcourseoutcomes.
FromtheNationalCenteronUDL,2014
Broaderprinciplesfrom:NationalCenteronUniversalDesign.(2014).Principle2:Providemultiplemeansofactionandexpression.Retrievedfromhttp://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines/principle2
