UDL Teaching Resources

External Links

The resources linked on this page fall under these categories:

• I. Neuroscience and Learning
• II. Environment and Learning
• III. Teaching Strategies and Course Design
• IV. UDL in Higher Education
• V. UDL Research Centers
• VI. Disability Research Centers
• VII. Web Accesibility

1. Neuroscience and Learning

   Book chapter: Why Don't Students Like School? - Because the Mind Is Not Designed for Thinking. Dr. Daniel T. Washington, Professor of Cognitive Psychology at the University of Virginia explores this question in a 10 page exerpt from his book “Why Don’t Students Like School?”

2. Environment and Learning

   Journal article: Childhood poverty, chronic stress, and adult working memory - This article focuses how chronic stress inhibits thinking specifically lessening of strategic, problem solving capacity in middle adolescence. From a UDL perspective, this article is helpful to a faculty member who would like an understanding from a basic science perspective about why certain students might not be able to use their working memories to put information together in new and different ways. It is most interesting to note that the subjects of this study come from a rural white population sample.

Web site: Student-Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) Project - Do large numbers of students in a class mean professors have to revert to 90 minutes of lecture? Absolutely not. Take a look at how one University designed a “large numbers classroom” for maximum engagement: student to student, professor to student, and professor and student to content. Look at the video on the Scale-Up web site (http://scaleup.ncsu.edu/) and notice the way the professor structures student thinking. She expects students to do the lower level work before they come to class so they are ready to contribute to their group discussions.

3. Teaching Strategies and Course Design

   Web site: Equity and Excellence in Higher Education: Universal Course Design.
   Video case study: Merlot Elixar - Sharing Faculty Stories about Exemplary Teaching.
   Video case study: Merlot Elixar - Universal Design for Learning in English Education
   Web site: Periodic Table of Visualization Methods: Ross Peterson-Veatch, PhD, Goshen College
   Welcome to The IRIS Center
   PDF download: Tips to Reach All Students with a Universally Designed Syllabus
   Suggestions for choosing language when referring to or about people with disabilities: PDF or Web
   PDF download: Bb Quick Start Guide: Universal Design

4. UDL in Higher Education

   Web site: UDL and UD Provisions in the Higher Education Opportunity Act (Public Law 110-315) (HEOA)

   PDF Download:Ten Propositions for New Directions For the Second Decade of UDL

   Web article: Digital Students, Industrial-Era Universities - by Arthur Levine - Inside Higher Ed June 14, 2010

   Web article: The Wired Campus - College Bookstores Hope to Turn Their Web Sites Into E-Book Portals

5. UDL Research Centers

   Web site: CAST: Center for Applied Special Technology: CAST is a nonprofit research and development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals, especially those with disabilities, through Universal Design for Learning.

   Web site: UDL’s Cast Channel: A collect of youtube videos made by CAST about Universal Design.

   Web site: National Center On Universal Design for Learning - The UDL Center is a program of CAST and made possible by the generous support of the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

   Web site: Center for Universal Design NCSU: The Center for Universal Design (CUD) is a national information, technical assistance, and research center that evaluates, develops, and promotes accessible and universal design in housing, commercial and public facilities, outdoor environments, and products.

6. Disability Research Centers

   Web site: Association on Higher Education and Disability: 2,500 member based organization, linked with 30 Regional Affiliates and numerous other professional organizations working to advance equity in higher education for people with disabilities.

   web site: National Center for the Study of Postsecondary Educational Supports (NCSPES) is a University of Hawaii’s Board of Regents recognized Center focused upon development and conduct of interdisciplinary education/training, research/demonstration and evaluation, and university and community service.

   Web site: University of Washington, Center on Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology - DO-IT serves to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities in challenging academic programs and careers. It promotes the use of computer and networking technologies to increase independence, productivity, and participation in education and employment.

   Web site: Webstandards, Accessibility and Usability at Penn State This is Penn State’s home for information on Web standards, usability and accessibility.

7. Web Accesibility:

   Web site: WebAIM: Web Accessibility in Mind - Expanding the web's potential for people with disabilities

   Web site: HiSoftware Compliance Sheriff Accessibility Module - Compliance Software to Meet Global Accessibility Requirements and Increase Market Share

   Web site: The HiSoftware Cynthia Says portal - The HiSoftware Cynthia Says portal is a web content accessibility validation solution. It is designed to identify errors in your content related to Section 508 standards and/or the WCAG guidelines.

   PDF download: The Blackboard Learn Screen Reader TutorialThe Blackboard Learn Screen Reader Tutorial - Provides users that access the Blackboard Learning System through a screen reader with information to help them use Blackboard Learn successfully. have pdf to download

   Web site: Educators - Universities Bookshare - The Bookshare™ community is a valuable resource for universities working to meet the needs of students with print disabilities. As a central repository for college textbooks, Bookshare can greatly reduce the nationwide challenge of providing accessible materials.