Accreditation & Assessment Resources: Journal articles

This design case details the design and development of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Academy, a two-phase training to guide community college faculty in applying the UDL framework to their instruction. This article focuses on the first phase, in which faculty were trained in UDL. The authors of this paper, who were the creators and instructional designers of the UDL Academy, guided faculty as they analyzed their instructional practices through the lens of the UDL framework and designed revisions to their courses. Based on faculty participant responses to the first UDL Academy post-training questionnaire, changes were made to the training when it was offered a second time. Participant responses to a questionnaire after the second UDL Academy indicated these changes improved the training. Suggestions for implementing a similar training at other institutions are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universal design for learning (UDL) offers an educational framework for a college instructor that can maximize the design and delivery of course instruction by emphasizing multiple representations of materials, varied means for student expression, content and knowledge, and multiple ways to motivate and engage student learning. Through a UDL lens, learner variability is anticipated and considered as a strength in the instructional planning process. The present study examined the reflective practice of one faculty member as she applied the UDL framework to her graduate class. Study participants were engaged in action research that both explored the faculty's use of the UDL framework to design and deliver an introductory graduate research methods course and, student perspectives of the application of this approach. Both faculty and student responses were favorable towards the implementation of the UDL instructional practice. Results suggest that when faculty use the UDL framework to help design courses, goals are more clearly aligned with instructional practices; there is a positive relationship to student interest and engagement; and students are positively engaged in the course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developed at the North Carolina State University College of Design in the 1980s, a group of architects, product designers, engineers, authors and environmental design researchers, collaborated to establish the Principles of Universal Design to guide a wide range of design disciplines including environments, products, and communications [1]. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a research-based set of principles intended to guide the design of learning environments that are accessible and effective for all. First articulated by CAST (Center for Applied Science and Technology) in the 1990s and now the leading framework in an international reform movement, UDL informs all of our work in educational research and development, capacity building, and professional learning. UDL is based on cognitive neuroscience and is intended to guide the development of flexible learning environments that can accommodate individual learning differences [2]. UDL asks educators to create curricula that provide: multiple means of representation, multiple means of expression and multiple means of engagement, while motivating all students to learn and succeed [3]. Greensboro College is unique in higher education in that it has committed to fully embracing UDL. Greensboro College uses UDL as a framework for successful academic and student development at a small, private, Methodist-affiliated, liberal arts college. Greensboro College has initiated its transformation to an institution that values and facilitates UDL across its curriculum. As The Mission Statement of Greensboro College points out, we as a college believe "Universal Design for Learning, at its core is a comprehensive educational framework that removes barriers to student learning and academic success. The principles of UDL recognize that variance in learning ability and style among individuals is the norm and not the exception. Therefore, curricula should be adaptable to individual learning differences rather than the other way around" [4]. Greensboro College has taken its first steps towards providing a learning environment for all students, which can be used as a model for launching a UDL initiative at a small, liberal arts, private college [5].

With the increasing availability of high-quality longitudinal data on students in higher education, scholars' interest in how students proceed through higher education has risen. So far, the research field is diverse in theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches. Thus, based on 27 studies published in (higher) education research journals during the past two decades, this literature review provides an overview of the theoretical concepts, methodologies and main empirical findings in the study of students' trajectories in higher education. The results depict a US dominated research field. Most theoretical frameworks are based on student's decision-making. Across different country contexts and research designs—ranging from descriptions of student trajectories to studies predicting who engages in which types of trajectories to sequential trajectory reconstruction—we found that historically disadvantaged groups in higher education such as students from low social origin follow less linear and less smooth higher education trajectories. However, while the field of comparative education is growing steadily and may significantly contribute to explaining the link between the realization of students' opportunities and the way how higher education is designed and implemented both on the national and local level, there were no cross-country comparison studies on higher education trajectories.