Universal Design for Learning
Although Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is not specifically targeted to supporting students with learning disabilities in high school science, it is such a major force in developing educational environments and curricula to meet the needs of all students that we include it here.
Universal Design for Learning is based on the architectural model of universal design, defined as follows on the Universal Design Web site: http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/about_ud/about_ud.htm.
“Universal design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design…. The intent of universal design is to simplify life for everyone by making products, communications, and the built environment more usable by as many people as possible at little or no extra cost. Universal design benefits people of all ages and abilities.”
The application of universal design to education, called Universal Design for Learning (UDL), was developed at the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) in the early 1990s. The idea of universal design can be applied to physical environments (e.g., school buildings), instructional environments (as described in the conversation below) and the design of the curriculum itself.
What does UDL in the classroom look like?
In a conversation with Grace Meo, director of professional development at CAST (reproduced in the November/December 2005 Harvard Education Letter, “Curriculum access for all: How teachers can use Universal Design for Learning to individualize instruction”), Meo describes examples of teaching strategies used in a UDL classroom:
“The key to a UDL classroom is maximizing options for both students and teachers in order to enable students to learn in the most effective way. So teachers don’t limit their presentations to lectures and printed materials, since those will not engage all students or be accessible to all. They might use concept maps or graphics to enhance and illustrate concepts. Students might be encouraged to use alternate means for note-taking, such as audio recordings, depending on what works best for them. Students can also demonstrate what they know in multiple ways—for some, that means creating a diorama or writing a story. A UDL classroom might have cooperative groups where students take on different roles, share resources, and support each other’s learning.” (p. 4)
Technology plays a big part in UDL classrooms, in that it offers the ability to customize learning support to meet individual students’ needs.
“For example, a student with a learning disability may be able to see the text clearly, but because of his disability may struggle to identify the main points in a text and may need prompts and model answers to scaffold his understanding. He may be easily distracted if he has to leave his seat to access background knowledge and vocabulary help—something a technology tool can offer on the spot. Highlighting and underlining tools can also help that student stay on track and digest the text.….students with a learning disability such as dyslexia may benefit from text-to-speech or synchronized highlighting features that can help the reader track words on a page and associate the way a word looks with the way it sounds” (p. 5).
The kinds of technology tools to which Meo refers (concept mapping, text- to-speech) and many others are described in Technology Tools for Students.
Meo also makes the distinction between assistive technologies (like Braille), and UDL: “UDL is compatible with assistive technology, not in competition with it. …Universal Design for Learning grew out of CAST’s research and development of assistive technologies. We realized at one point that assistive technology placed an emphasis on fixing the student—retrofitting the child to accommodate inaccessible curriculum. With UDL we shifted our focus to fixing the curriculum” (p. 6).
The CAST Web site provides information on and links to research and development, publications, products, policy and practice, and professional development on UDL. http://www.cast.org/index.html
A recent article in The Science Teacher, authored by Cynthia Curry, Libby Cohen, and Nancy Lightbody (whose work is highlighted in Key Researchers in the Field) also describes how UDL works in the classroom.
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