Audio Podcast

Universal Design for Learning Guidelines

UDL at a Glance Video

Embracing Learner Variability in Schools

The Myth of Average: Todd Rose at TEDxSonomaCounty

Text Transcript

Heidi Burgiel: Welcome back to the Teaching and Learning at Lasell podcast with Matt and Heidi from the TLC. Hello again! We're here today with Liz Hartmann, Associate Professor of Education. Welcome Liz!

Matthew Boyle: Yes, welcome Liz!

Liz Hartmann: Thanks so much Matt and Heidi for having me here today. I'm really happy to be part of this podcast. I've certainly enjoyed listening to all the episodes.

Defining Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Heidi Burgiel: Thank you. So Liz, we've heard a lot about universal design for learning. Can you explain for our audience what that is?

Liz Hartmann: Sure, I love talking about universal design for learning. I think most people know that. So, we call it UDL for short. And at its kind of basics it's a framework that helps us to better design teaching and learning for all. This could be little kids all the way up to college learners or even people in the workforce. And it's based on neuroscience and the research into how humans learn. And I have to say I love it, because it helps me every day with my curriculum design. It helps me, really pushes me to make sure I'm designing my educational experiences or environments to be inclusive of all the learners I have in front of me.

UDL, Variable Learners, and Pandemic Barriers

Matthew Boyle: Thank you. So, how has your experience with UDL helped you weather the pandemic?

Liz Hartmann: That's a great question. So one of the big ideas with UDL is that each learner is unique like we can think of how we learn as being unique as our fingerprints. And so, therefore, like, our instruction... as professors or instructors here at Lasell, we really need to make sure that we're designing learning experiences so that they're flexible enough to meet the variability of all the students in front of us. And this can be a little bit overwhelming when you think "okay each, you know, student is coming to me, and they learn in a different way." You know what fires up one will be different than the other; how one takes in information will be different than the one sitting next to them; and how they show what they know will be so different as well. And then you layer on top of that.

But much of how we teach in higher ed. still is pretty traditional, and it assumes that all learners kind of will go through the course and learn in the same way. And when they don't, we often will blame that on the student rather than actually looking at how we've designed our curriculum and saying oh, okay that's where the barrier is.

So, in terms of the pandemic, I feel like it was, you know, an important moment for UDL because suddenly you could just see the learner variability everywhere. It was in front of us. We, you know, started asking ourselves questions like how can I teach students who don't have you know, access to books or laptops? Or you can see students suddenly in their home, you can see some who have more resources and some who don't; some struggling with engagement, others they couldn't even get on to Zoom or turn their cameras on. And so, you know, I really had to lean on UDL. And in particular it helped me to really get laser focused on, you know, what is my goal for my course now? What... what are the most important things I want my students to know, what do they need to be able to do leaving the course, and, you know, what kinds of mindsets do I want to make sure that I'm developing through my instruction.

So really starting from that place of, like, "what's most important" and then thinking about all this learner variability. And in kind of thinking really critically about my curriculum -- and when I say my curriculum I mean, you know, my instruction: what's on Canvas, my textbook, my assignments. You know, anything that I use to, you know, facilitate learning. I start to think Okay, what are the barriers that are inherent in you know, those materials that I'm using or the instruction for my course. And then by really thinking about those barriers being in the design of the learning experience rather than the student, it helps me to then be in this very creative proactive problem solving place where, then I can begin to start to think about how I can better meet the needs of all of the learners in front of me.

Adapting to Learner Variability; Examples from Courses

So, like a good, for example, is that you know, one of the great gifts I think of the pandemic and just being in being on Zoom is that it really challenged me to think about how I use the time of my course. So in the past, I would you know, be very motivated to use the entire class. So if I had a class that was an hour and 15 minutes, you know, I would start class on time and I would make sure all the activities and maybe a mini lecture and, you know, some opportunities for the students to have small group work that... that would fill the entire hour and 15 minutes. And I would think to myself "oh wow, aren't I a great instructor, you know, using every minute of my class!"

And what I saw online is that my students are not staying engaged, and I was losing some of them. So, then I began to see, okay, this assumption that I am directing this whole hour and 15 minutes is a barrier and I can see it, because some students are able to do fine and others are not. That's that learner variability. So, you know, if that's a barrier, then how can I problem solve it? So what I began to do is it's like okay, you know I'm actually... my course is not going, or my class session isn't going to be An hour and 15 minutes. It's actually going to be an hour. And I'm going to use 15 minutes as flex time. I'm going to invite students for one on one conversations, or I'm going to pull for students who need maybe a little extra support. So that kind of shows how it was really focused on identifying barriers, not in my students, but really seeing it in the design of my course.

And then, how that led me to come up with some more creative ways that in the end it really helped all of us. And I felt like by the end of the course we all... we had grown a community because we were... we really expected us all to be there and be engaged. Just because of that simple shift of having that 15 minutes of flexible time that we could use in whatever way we needed.

Heidi Burgiel: Thank you! So that's a really great example of one way to adapt to learner variability. Do you have other examples from your courses?

Liz Hartmann: Yes, I do and I have to say I don't want to give examples from my own instruction, I really want to highlight there's been just fantastic work among the Lasell faculty and instructors. Many of these examples that I'm... that are coming to mind came out of sessions that both of you have led -- the TLC has facilitated -- so thank you so much for that.

You know, I think where I'm seeing this idea of UDL where without it like being called out directly, is in some of the trainings we've seen on trauma informed pedagogy and thinking about Karen Raye's excellent PD session that she ran last spring. Like that really to me spoke to this idea of learner variability because she was really informing us of all the different ways that students experienced trauma and bring that trauma into the classroom and how it affects learning. Which is so important for us to know, and to think about because once we understand that, we won't expect all students to come into our classroom ready to learn in the same ways.

I'm also thinking about Jesse Tauriac in his fantastic DEI trainings that he's been facilitating -- both the synchronous and asynchronous ones -- also like this...these approaches, they're really looking at our Lasell learners from a very respectful way. And it views they're variability or even the diversity of these learners as an asset or a strength, rather than something that we need to fear or dread because we don't know how to respond to it.

So you know, I think that's another really powerful idea behind UDL is that, you know, these differences, even if we're not used to them, is actually an opportunity for us to get really creative and think about our design of our instruction. So the more we kind of embrace this learner variability, the better we become at teaching our courses, which I think is a goal for all of us.

Designing for the Margins; Best Practices

Matthew Boyle: Thank you, Liz. So, what do you think Lasell is doing right now to help faculty design for the margins in our courses that is most effective?

Liz Hartmann: Well, one: I'll say our I think renewed emphasis on equitable instruction in particular after the experiences of the COVID lockdown. And now, you know, as we are making our way through the pandemic, we see learner variability in front of us, we see how many of the traditional ways we've been approaching higher education at Lasell are just not equitable for all students.

So in addition to the PD that I mentioned before, I think there's just a lot going on at Lasell in terms of rethinking the... the core, and I know we have a new revamped SOC104 course that's coming out that really approaches this view of thinking about Liz: better understanding issues of equity. And this this real idea that I think resonates very closely with UDL, which is: when we get really intentional and proactive about better educating the students who we traditionally marginalized, we're actually improving instruction in education for all learners at Lasell. And, whereas I feel like you know, maybe 15 years ago there was a little bit of tension there I don't I don't feel that anymore at lasell. Like, I really get the sense that we all see this and we understand it. We're ready to move on it. And you know, different PDs, and in particular UDL is... is that solution to help us get there.

Prioritizing Learning Goals when Addressing Learner Variability

Matthew Boyle: So when it comes to meeting variability in student learning, do you mean in how you present the materials to students, or in how you allow students to show what they know?

Liz Hartmann: yeah I don't want to get too much into the weeds with UDL but it is based on neuroscience in the learning sciences. And so, basically, we can best understand learner variability in three ways: there's a lot of variability and how we take in information, there's a lot of variability in how we act on information or show what we know, and then there's also variability in terms of our emotional or affective responses to learning.

And I think a misconception with UDL is that "oh, you know, this variability exists, so that means, like, I need to have a textbook and video and podcasts and you know text to speech and YouTube" and then you, like, cram your class full of all these different representations. But I think that actually isn't helping you because having too much in your class in terms of options is overwhelming. And I always like to think of like, you know, when you go to Costco. You know, sometimes you walk in, you see all those options of things that you can buy: you can buy toilet paper in like 24 or like even bigger packs. It's like, oh my God, I have too much choice here! Right?

So that's not what you do. It's about... it's not about, you know, putting so many different things into your course so that every individual student has exactly their particular individualized way of learning what is best. Instead it's like this process of: okay, what's my goal? okay, knowing my students and their variability what are like the really big barriers that I keep seeing come up in my course over and over? Either every semester, or every time I hold class. And in then saying Okay, I see that that's a barrier I'm not going to think about that as a problem in my student. Because their variability exists. I should be pretty... you know this is predictable and I should just know that the... this is a problem with my curriculum. So how can I very intentionally and proactively solve for it? And that's where the UDL framework kind of helps us with that problem solving.

Want to Learn More? Professional Development Opportunities

So I know if you're new to UDL that can seem a little bit overwhelming, but I will say that rolling out next semester [Spring 2022] we are going to have opportunities for faculty in instructors to have an opportunity to go through this UDL process, and a PD that we're going to offer that will include some ongoing coaching and some really nice faculty discussion. So if this is interesting to you just know that there'll be some more PD offerings that you might enjoy engaging with.

Matthew Boyle: Nice that sounds really exciting. Yeah, I get what you're saying about how too much choice can be paralyzing, more cumbersome, and like that really. The idea about just looking at your goals; what are your goals? What are those recurring barriers? And figuring out how to intentionally design things to help the students succeed.

So, I'm really looking forward to hearing more about that professional development opportunity you mentioned. And yeah, thanks so much for joining us today Liz!

Liz Hartmann: Oh, thanks Heidi, Matt; I really appreciate it.