Students at all levels struggle in written expression. This session presents how one faculty member addressed barriers to written expression in a graduate level education course. 

Session Video Recording
Handout (Word Doc)(PDF)

Today’s learner variability includes an increasing number of first-time collegiate students enrolled in classes. How can the UDL framework help us design K-12 experiences that better prepare students who aspire to postsecondary success? How can higher education institutions use the UDL framework to meet the needs of first-generation students?

We will share how stories from our teaching experience, emerging data from higher education, and research into what really impacts student success rates have convinced us UDL can be a tool to boost first generation student success.

Session Video Recording

Session Resources:

• First Generation Data and Research
  • Academia is often a family business. That’s a barrier for increasing diversity (Science 2021)
  • Stats in Brief: First-Generation and Continuing-Generation College Students: A Comparison of High School and Postsecondary Experiences (USDE 2017)
  • The Unwritten Rules of College (The Chronicle of Higher Education 2015)
• Gould Evans Education Practice
  • Gould Evans Education 
  • Education meet the World of Work
  • Creating spaces for UDL
• The Reading and Writing Lab for International Students at Carroll University
• Interactive Notes Document

To date, UDL implementation in the post-secondary sector has been mostly led by disability service providers. This resource examines: (a) How effective collaboration with social justice partners creates more exposure for UDL implementation and offers more chances for successful implementation on post-secondary campuses; (b) the trajectory of a post-secondary Canadian disability service provider as it completes its 4th year of proactive UDL implementation; and (c) the importance of dynamic and organic relationships and alliances with social justice partners on campus, as part of a disability service provider’s efforts to broaden UDL adoption across campus faculties. It analyses data collected over a three year period to identify key factors that have led to greater UDL awareness and faster adoption of the model beyond its relevance to students with disabilities. The discussion section endeavors to examine how to build these successful partnerships, and how best to frame the UDL model in order to appeal to units such as Teaching and Learning Services, Indigenous groups, international student advocates, and feminist and LGBT lobby groups.

This resource examines: (a) How effective collaboration with social justice partners creates more exposure for UDL implementation and offers more chances for successful implementation on post-secondary campuses; (b) the trajectory of a post-secondary Canadian disability service provider as it completes its 4th year of proactive UDL implementation; and (c) the importance of dynamic and organic relationships and alliances with social justice partners on campus, as part of a disability service provider’s efforts to broaden UDL adoption across campus faculties.