Video Link

Marina Walker, East Carolina University Physics Faculty Member, discusses a “Tic Tac Toe” assignment that she uses to teach her large classrooms.

Transcript

Hi, I’m Marian Walker; I’m a physics teacher here at ECU. And I wanted to share with you an Idea that I had for an assignment. So, I teach some really large classes, 180 students in one class. And I wanted to come up with a different way to assess the students besides testing them. So, one thing I came up with is this tutorial assignment that is a Tic Tac Toe assignment. So, this is what it looks like. I got the idea from Michael Kocher, he’s a UDL specialist here.

Basically, the idea for this assignment is they pick which problems that they want to complete. There are Tic Tac Toe lines - so they have to pick three across, or three down… something like that. And for each problem that they pick they need to solve the problem and really explain their answer. What I like about this assignment is that it gives the students many, many options. First of all, when they explain their answer - which really shows me they understand what they’re doing, they have a choice they can write down all of their explanations or they can do a video showing what they are doing on the video. 

Then, another thing that I added to this assignment even though I’m teaching so may students I’m giving them the chance to get feedback on the assignment if they turn it in early. So, each problem has a deadline depending on the unit and if they turn it in by that deadline then I’ll give them feedback and I’ll give them a grade. If they don’t like the grade they have, they can resubmit it again. 

Another thing I did with this assignment, because I didn’t want to make it impossible for me to grade with so many students, so I did give the option to students if they wanted to work by them selves or work in a group or if I could place them in a group if they didn’t know anyone. And Canvas, that I’m using, makes this very easy to do. So, that’s really it about my assignment.

So far the result have been great. It’s hard to contribute them exactly to this assignment because I have changed a few other things in the course. But on the first test, the average has gone up by five points. So, I’m really happy with this assignment and I think that by working on the problems this way and really having to explain their work; that it really actually helps them prepare for the test and perform better in the class.

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.

Video Link 

Director Elizabeth Coghill of the Pirate Academic Success Center discusses “Micro Moments,” short videos that provide just in time information to students.

Transcript

Hi, I’m Elizabeth Coghill, and I’m the Director of the Pirate Academic Success Center at East Carolina University. We started our UDL journey in 2012 and have worked really hard to be able to change the way we do things - tutoring and learning supports with in our learning center at ECU. One of the most recent efforts that we’re doing is called “micro moments.” This is a process of taking some of the basic things that ECU students need to know and do during their academic year and creating a new way for them to look and learn that content.

Typically, what we do - like with find your banner id - That’s usually done through a website and just in a narrative format. What we’re doing is creating short videos, similar to what we’re doing right now, and those videos are going to help our students be able navigate all year long the different processes that they need to do in order to be a successful student. Those little micro moments will be sent to them as the semester rolls out. So when it’s time for registration, they’ll get some registration information not only through narrative content, but they’ll also get it through those micro moments. We’ll be hosting those on our website, the PASC website, and also on a YouTube channel for their support.

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.

Video Link 

Tom Thibodeau discusses how he uses videos in his classroom.

Transcript

Hello, i am Tom Thibodeau i teach online courses on the implementation on the universal design for learning. With video it helped me bridge the distance but it can also be used in online classes by bringing the rest of the world in the class. I use video to introduce lessons record, tutorials, provide many lectures, do synchronous video conferences, and deliver feedback and assessment. The feedback i receive from my students is positive and they often model the videos in their succeeding submissions. Using video is a easy way to integrate UDL into your instruction by providing an additional mean of representation, action and expression, and engagement, and according to  Myram Rose, and Gordan  Digital technology has always been a corner stone in theory of practice in UDL. It can help UDL possible in your classroom, here's why. First off it has gotten very easy and inexpensive, to create find, deliver, play but anyone with a smart, tablet, or computer, it cab be played paused rewinded, rewound  re- played as many times as the viewer needs until they get it.

It used to be you needed special equipment  to produce or play it, but since it all happens on our personal technology, and its built into all our apps that everyone uses its everywhere. Youtube has billions of them to use for free. Because of the low cost of all the choices, it can be used personally. Students can create or find videos as an option of an assignment, communication or assessment. And faculty can use it as an option for feedback, lesson delivery and office hours, via video conference. Second it can be chucked or divided into smaller parts to concentrate on deeper learning or to integrate it into a lesson surrounded by other activities or choices.  The chunking can be done with easy editing apps or just managed the old fashioned way with time checks. Videos by different producers on the same topics can be offed as  different perspectives.  They can also be made available through variety of means. You can place links in word docs, and learning management systems, or social media or QR codes, the choices seem endless.  Third, video can be layered with closed captioning, alternate audio tracks, additional graphics and be made accessible to a wide variety of learners. They can be produced or created at different levels for and by different learners for very specific users, because video can be edited so easily now, on all of your devices with those free apps. And as a student project, creating video requires problem solving, creative thinking , teamwork, and persistence to complete. If aren't quite sure on what I have said in this video, please rewind and view it again.

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.

Video Link

Sarah Brightman discusses redesigning her courses.

Transcript

So in the fall of 2015 i redesigned a victimology course that i implemented in spring 2016 and fortunately using that experience i have done a race class and gender course for the fall of 2016. In a general sense i always like to have a very student oriented type of classroom, and so with implementing team based learning, using the udl principles, I’ve really been very intentional with the design teams. Im making the class activities really focus on that team and group learning. Having them prepare ahead of time so that they’re able to discuss the activities in the classrooms, then sometimes i spring fun activities on them that they're not expecting but they have to figure out how to solve problems.

So for the multiple means of engagement i've really tried to use the team based learning as a focus of that approach so that students’ develop the community orientation with their teams and in a sense it makes them accountable to each other on a weekly basis. So that they know that when they’re given  an assignment it's not only their grade, but when they come together as a team if they weren't prepared for that class period then they’re letting down their teammates as well. So it really encourages participation, preparing themselves ahead of time, showing up to all the class periods, and really recognizing they have this group interest in the classroom.

 So in that class I have a lot of journaling, so you know i'll ask  them questions about relating to what they’re studying, so what they're studying in history,  or rock music to music today or new ideas today, you know?  This gets to broader cultural elements of this music. So i'll ask them to think about race issues in American history and how music relates to that.

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.

Video Link 

Lindsay Masland discusses using Pre-class Menus as a form of Multiple Means of Representation in her classroom.

Transcript

In terms of multiple means of representation. For example, I have pre-class activities - pretty much all professors have that. In a lot of traditional environments that means read the textbook, right? Well for me, what I do is pre-class menus so each kind of mini unit within the bigger units are accompanied by a set of questions. That by the time you're done with this little mini unit you should know the answer to these four things, and it’s different for every unit. Then I give them a menu of ways that they can learn that information. So in the menu is the textbook pages that cover that content. There's also if I can find it, or if I created it, a video of either me or an expert talking the exact thing relates back to those four questions that they need to know the answer to.

There's also a web guide or webquest where they can click through a whole bunch of different websites that if they look at them they can get also get the answer to those questions - and sometimes if it’s appropriate some original sources. So higher level stuff, the original research that these principles that were learning about came from. Then I just say to them, the students, consult as few or as many of the things on the menu as you want to or need such as that you know the answers to these questions.

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.

Video Link

Rosa Bell discusses using the Readiness Assurance Process (RAP) as a part of Team-Based Learning.

Transcript

A feature of team-based learning that I really like is called the Readiness Assurance Process. So students are supposed to become already familiar with the content, and the first thing that we do in class and they take an individual quiz, very simple, all of the basic concepts, it’s multiple choice and they get to answer those questions using clickers. Then they assemble into their teams, and the teams range from 6 - 8 students.

They get to take the same quiz, answer the same questions but this they get hard copies of the quizzes. 3 copies per team, and they have to discuss the questions, read the question , come up with a consensus regarding the answer to each question which requires for them to to be able to, 1. listen to somebody else's viewpoint or interpretation of the concept, and also being able to articulate the fault. Oh 1 more thing that I wanna share in this case is that once they get consensus of the answer of the question they get to, select the answer on this card. This is called a, i guess the immediate feedback assessment technique card or the scratch off card and the students love it. They feel like that it is a game, they are learning while they are having fun, so i think that the team based learning has really really  made it easy for me to incorporate different ways and opportunities for them to express themselves and they can still self evaluate right there “am i understanding this” or “Do i need more help from the instructor, or do i need help from my peers?”.

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.

Link Video 

Grant Gardner discusses showing faculty how to be more deliberate in making their classrooms more accessible to their students.

Transcript

Hello my name is Grant Gardner, and I am an Assistant Professor of Biology Education at Middle Tennessee State University. I had the opportunity to work on the UDL project as a faculty member at ECU. So one of the things I do that I like to think about in my research is faculty development. So one of the things that I help faculty do is think about how they can make their classes more accessible to students in fields like Biology or other STEM fields. We've been thinking a lot in my research team about how we can take things that faculty are already doing - such as things like peer instruction. I’m going to provide this model here of what peer instruction is if i can hold it up. This is a model of using deliberate step by step methods of asking students questions that would represent on a overhead display.

We’ve taken some of these methods that faculty are already using like peer instruction and other acts of learning methods and tried to get them to think a little more deliberately about how and what they're already doing in their classroom might fit into the UDL guidelines. So for example, something like peer instruction that I just showed you. The guidelines up here that many of you have seen might align with many aspects of benchmarks of the Universal Design of Learning framework anyway. For examples, using multiple media for communication, fostering collaboration, and so these are all aspects that we try to help faculty understand. So in conclusion, essentially we have faculty doing great things in the classrooms and think that their classrooms aren't accessible  - were trying to help them think about ways more deliberately that they’re classrooms are accessible for diverse students. 

Thanks.

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.

Video Link

Eileen Angelini discusses using note cards to prompt class discussions with her students at East Carolina University.

Transcript

Multiple Means of Expression, what does that mean for students and what does that mean for instructor? One method that I use is to ask students to create two pertinent or relevant discussion questions and write them down on a 3x5 index card. The students prepare these questions based on an outside reading or an outside class assignment such as an film viewing or a lecture and then when they come to class I collect the cards, I shuffle them, and after shuffling them I pick at random a card and ask the question off the card. This method protects those students that are reticent, maybe a little nervous, shy-- unsure of the relevance of their question and everyone is more engaged.

What really comes out for the students as well as for the instructor is when there is overlap with the questions and the students will readily say, “well we already discussed that, remember when we said a + b = c. This time we’re saying b + a = c.” So this is pointing out to the students that there are different perspectives or different ways to get the same conclusion. It also is helpful for the instructor because they see what is salient or what is jumping out at students or the most important aspect for them. So the class discussion becomes student centered rather than teacher centered. Although there are times when the discussion tends to stray a little of into the abstract, the teacher can refocus the discussion and bring the students back into the discussion based on the questions on the cards that the students have provided.

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.

Video Link

Heidi Bonner discusses the use of course preparation assignments, "CPAs" to help her students better prepare for class.

Transcript

I am Heidi Bonner from the Department of Criminal Justice at East Carolina University and something that I have struggled with since flipping my undergraduate courses is student preparation. It's not that my students come to class completely unprepared but they're not as prepared as I'd like them to be for the activities I have planned for the day.  So one strategy that I’ve learned about that I've started employing in my undergraduate classes is CPAs, or course preparation assignments.

CPAs are reading assignments that are accompanied by informal writing assignments that consist of six to ten questions and the questions serve as a guide to the students for the reading so they know what really to focus in on and what material is most important, then, as a basis for class discussion and activities in the face-to-face meeting that follows. They're great as a pass/fail, so basically, did the student make a good-faith effort to address the questions in class. I use CPAs as a starting point for for our time together just reviewing what students have answered, is there any additional clarification that is needed, and then I tell them how it relates to what were we doing in class that day.

I also pulled information from CPAs into exams just to show students again and highlight the importance of using this as a preparation too, not just for the class activities but the rest of the course assignments as well. Now, the trick with CPAs is to use it with a definitional grading system; a definitional grading system provides two categories of work and students must meet or exceed the standards for both separately. So, in my class, one category would be CPAs and the other would be exams and assignments and whatever else might contribute to the course grade. These two categories are not added together for final grades again they're independent of one another. Whatever category, whatever the lowest grade is, in the categories and that is the grade that the student earns for the course. So, as an example, if a student earns a B in the category for exams and assignment but does not do very many of the CPAs and there's a D for that category, then he or she is gonna earn a D for the course.

I found that using both the CPA and the definitional grading system means that students are more prepared for class because they take the preparation seriously and they have an incentive to do so. This strategy really does support the UDL principle of engagement, particularly sustaining effort and persistence and self-regulation. It requires students to take ownership of their own learning and I have found that it really does, the majority my students really give rise to the occasion both in and out of class.

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.

Video Link

Lillian Nave discusses using an infographic syllabus in her classroom.

Transcript

Hi! This is Lillian Nave and I'm from College STAR and Appalachian State University and I want to tell you about an infographic syllabus. I use the free web application called Piktochart and you'll see that I have arranged some of the most important information for my students on a visually interesting syllabus template for my first-year seminar class. So, I've given them, the students, the goals in a variety of different ways and I tell them exactly what the assignments are that we do in our class that correlate to our particular learning goals. So this is a way that I minimize distractions I recruit interests in the class and I heighten the importance of these goals by displaying them in several formats. I also customize this information so the students know exactly why we're doing the things that we're doing.

So I help the students to understand our different modes of inquiry and how the grading system works and also explain our timeline, how we'll be going through the semester, when we're gathering information, when we're analyzing and synthesizing that information, and when they are producing knowledge for each other which are the documentary films that they'll be producing after they've learned about our subject matter. So I also tell them what our required texts are, they learn a little bit about me, and finally, I do answer some of their frequently asked questions. So although they do have a full linear syllabus, that's a lot of text that has all of the things that are required by our University. This visually maps out only the most important things that they need to know in our course. So I hope this is helpful for you and thanks very much.

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.