Within the UDL Principle of Engagement, educators should provide options for Self-regulation to motivate learners. One option to do this is to develop self-assessment and reflection activities. In order to develop better capacity for self-regulation, learners should learn to monitor their emotions and reactivity carefully and accurately. This tool identifies different self-assessment techniques and scaffold for educators to present to learners.

Module Link

This resource was originally developed with resources from the College STAR grant. That grant has ended and the College STAR modules will now permanently reside at the East Carolina University Office for Faculty Excellence.

Module Introduction

Web 2.0 tools are free digital programs that can be used for creating and sharing student-generated projects and products. They are interactive, multi-purpose, easy-to-use digital platforms that encourage students to collaborate with each other or create and share individualized response products.

Web 2.0 tools provide engaging ways students can interact with, and most importantly, learn from course material. They are particularly helpful when aligned to teaching and assessment exercises meant to increase student engagement, require students to summarize information, or verbalize insight into their conceptual understanding through means other than traditional writing exercises.

Web 2.0 tools also provide students an opportunity to interact with others as they share their knowledge. Students can collaborate with classmates to create response products, or they can share completed products with peers in their class, students in other sections, or other learners around the world. Web 2.0 tools create opportunities for students to share what they are learning with a wider audience.

Support for this Module

Original development of this module was made possible by the College STAR (Supporting Transition Access and Retention) initiative.  College STAR was a grant-funded project focused on partnering postsecondary educational professionals and students to learn ways for helping postsecondary campuses become more welcoming of students with learning and attention differences. Much of this work was made possible by generous funding from the Oak Foundation.

Module Link

This resource was originally developed with resources from the College STAR grant. That grant has ended and the College STAR modules will now permanently reside at the East Carolina University Office for Faculty Excellence.

Module Introduction

Part of the challenge for engaging students in the learning process requires understanding how and why teaching methods designed to enhance engagement impact student learning.  In this case study, the theoretical context of engagement and practical basis for the implementation of team-based learning (TBL) in a general chemistry course taught by Dr. Rosa Bell at East Carolina University are addressed.  Students’ perceptions of engagement, instructional practices, and learning in the chemistry course are also discussed.

Support for this Module

Original development of this module was made possible by the College STAR (Supporting Transition Access and Retention) initiative.  College STAR was a grant-funded project focused on partnering postsecondary educational professionals and students to learn ways for helping postsecondary campuses become more welcoming of students with learning and attention differences. Much of this work was made possible by generous funding from the Oak Foundation.

Module Link

This resource was originally developed with resources from the College STAR grant. That grant has ended and the College STAR modules will now permanently reside at the East Carolina University Office for Faculty Excellence.

Module Introduction

Service-learning is a pedagogical practice with unique benefits: increasing community connectedness, broadening student perspectives, providing novel skill sets to students, creating a culture of service, assisting local organizations, and broadening the impact of the university on the surrounding community (1, 2). Service-learning is a form of experiential learning where students engage in structured service activities for course credit. The core of service-learning is the process of thoughtful reflection upon experiences fulfilling a community need (1). Unlike traditional volunteer work, service-learning focuses on experience, thoughtful reflection, and alignment with course content. This process of experience, reflection, and development are rooted in the four elements of Kolb’s experiential learning model: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation (3).

When developing a successful service-learning program, a few crucial components include establishing the community-campus partnership, making clear expectations of student outcomes, selecting relevant content for the course, planning course activities including reflection, implementing a course evaluation, building course infrastructure, sustaining the course, practicing cultural humility, and encouraging community-engaged scholarship (4).

This case study describes the process of developing a service-learning component within the structure of a nutrition course, Community Nutrition. The case study will walk through the program development, evaluation, lessons learned from the first iteration of the course, and provide useful and modifiable tools for implementing service-learning programs in similar courses. While this case study details a nutrition course, service-learning can be adapted to many disciplines.

Support for this Module

Original development of this module was made possible by the College STAR (Supporting Transition Access and Retention) initiative.  College STAR was a grant-funded project focused on partnering postsecondary educational professionals and students to learn ways for helping postsecondary campuses become more welcoming of students with learning and attention differences. Much of this work was made possible by generous funding from the Oak Foundation.

Module Link 

This resource was originally developed with resources from the College STAR grant. That grant has ended and the College STAR modules will now permanently reside at the East Carolina University Office for Faculty Excellence.

Module Introduction

At Appalachian State University (ASU), Mr. Jeff Goodman uses a model known as the 5E Instructional Model to introduce scientific concepts to his students. This model helps frame instructional practices for teaching course content in the following sequence: engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation.

He describes his rationale in using the method:

In terms of outcomes, I want my students to be people who are more curious than they were at the beginning, who think that the content that I thought is inherently fun and accessible, that they can hold onto and know at some level.

Mr. Goodman has been ASU for 20 years, and is currently teaching in the College of Education. He took one year to teach high school, and spends one day a week in his wife’s middle school classroom “trying to see if this stuff actually pans out – and it’s hard!”

Support for this Module

Original development of this module was made possible by the College STAR (Supporting Transition Access and Retention) initiative.  College STAR was a grant-funded project focused on partnering postsecondary educational professionals and students to learn ways for helping postsecondary campuses become more welcoming of students with learning and attention differences. Much of this work was made possible by generous funding from the Oak Foundation.

Module Link

This resource was originally developed with resources from the College STAR grant. That grant has ended and the College STAR modules will now permanently reside at the East Carolina University Office for Faculty Excellence. 

About this module

This case study outlines a 90-minute lesson on the topic of social media, which can be used in a computer, English, or elective course. The activities have been designed to include options for engagement, representation, and action & expression. There are five overall aspects to the lesson: an introduction using PowerPoint, a paired activity called, “Exchange, Observe, Share,” and directed small group discussions. Entry and exit tickets are used at the start and finish. Readers will learn about the lesson activities and how to achieve the primary goal to help students assess and analyze the multiple impacts social media has on their lives. A special focus on the UDL principle of engagement is highlighted. Educators viewing this content will also be offered suggestions as to how they might adapt this lesson for their own needs, and clearly identify the “why, what, and how” of this lesson as a powerful learning experience for students.

Support for this Module

Original development of this module was made possible by the College STAR (Supporting Transition Access and Retention) initiative.  College STAR was a grant-funded project focused on partnering postsecondary educational professionals and students to learn ways for helping postsecondary campuses become more welcoming of students with learning and attention differences. Much of this work was made possible by generous funding from the Oak Foundation.

The implementation of UDL in higher education provides students in all areas of study engaging, accessible, and flexible learning. This breaks the mold of how higher education has traditionally looked. Moreover, teacher preparation programs have the additional responsibility to equip their graduates with the appropriate knowledge and practices to go into the profession and provide accessible and engaging instruction for all students in K-12. This session will share the vision of one college in threading UDL throughout the entire teacher preparation program. Explicitly teaching and modeling of the UDL principles, guidelines, and checkpoints for conceptual understanding to develop skill acquisition. Additionally, providing multiple opportunities for students to apply the knowledge when they are conducting field work in local schools. Through this process, we pass on the torch of UDL practices used in college classes to K-12 classrooms.

Session Video Recording
Interactive Notes Document

The aim of this presentation is to unveil how through multiple means of representation, ELS students with fixed mindset and high level of frustration can reach the eureka moment in the learning pit. 

“Affect represents a crucial element to learning, and learners differ markedly in the ways in which they can be engaged or motivated to learn. There are a variety of sources that can influence individual variations in affect including neurology, culture, personal relevance, subjectivity, and background knowledge, along with a variety of other factors.”

UDL Guidelines, CAST

Minimizing threats and distractions, teaching self- regulation and growth mindset, ESL teachers con provide students fundamental tools to achieve their goals.

Session Video Recording
Seesaw Activity
Session Scenarios

Audience members will learn about a co-design method developed as part of a four-year, U.S. Department of Education-funded research study that employs Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to create engaging, equitable, and inclusive classroom science assessments that can support instructional decision-making. These assessments are designed to evaluate students at deeper levels of knowledge and skill than traditional assessments. With assistance from the presenters, audience members will try out the co-design process.

Session Video Recording
Interactive Notes Document

Participants will Identify potential barriers to student engagement, then consider and design engagement strategies to support student learning.

To access the interactive learning module, click on the Interactive link above or select this link: Got a Minute? Barriers to Engagement Module.