scholarly journals A practice-based intervention to prepare preservice teachers for inclusion using universal design for learning

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mary Elizabeth Decker
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
General Education ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Diverse Learners ◽  
Fundamental Knowledge ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
The Impact

General education pre-service teachers are expected to teach diverse learners, including those with disabilities, in the general education settings. Yet many are not adequately prepared to teach all students. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework to increase inclusive practices, however, it is unknown how to best teach this to pre-service teachers. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of using a practice-based approach to teach UDL as compared to a lecture-based approach to teach UDL to better prepare general education pre-service teachers. Constructs of interest include pre-service teachers' fundamental knowledge including UDL, self-efficacy and UDL application. A mixed methods triangulation design was employed. While pre-service teachers from both groups had significant gains in their foundational knowledge, reported self-efficacy, reported UDL knowledge and ability to apply UDL ideas, participants in the practice-based group did have some advantages, specifically in the area of UDL application.

scholarly journals Filipino Science Teachers’ Evaluation on Webinars’ Alignments to Universal Design for Learning and Their Relation to Self-Efficacy amidst the Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-451
Author(s):  
Mary Dane F. Leonardo ◽  
Jeongho Cha
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Perceptions ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has led teachers in the Philippines to rely on technology to provide and support continued education for K-12 students. However, it is not only technology, but also the interactive online learning environments crafted by teachers that impact student science learning. To support teachers to cope with pandemic teaching, the government provided professional development in the form of teacher-training webinars. This study evaluated the webinars using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to understand the impact these professional development sessions had on science teachers’ self-efficacy for delivering science instruction during the pandemic. The study found that webinars including UDL design elements improved science teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching science and there were no significant differences in teacher perceptions relative to gender or teaching experience. Implications for the use of UDL to design long-term professional development offerings beyond the pandemic are discussed.

Practicing What We Preach

2019 ◽  
pp. 230-260
Author(s):  
Stephen D. Kroeger ◽  
Susan A. Gregson ◽  
Michelle A. Duda ◽  
Anna DeJarnette ◽  
Jonathan M. Breiner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
General Education ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Implementation Team ◽  
Midwestern University ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
K 12

Creating inclusive classrooms is a challenge in general education. To prepare new teachers for diverse K-12 classrooms, faculty at one Midwestern university redesigned their education program to prepare preservice teachers for dual licensure in general and special education. The redesign required middle childhood faculty to learn more about complex conceptual frameworks that are prioritized in school districts across the country. One of these, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), became a non-negotiable component of the new program. An essential learning outcome became preparing pre-service teachers to utilize UDL. After the program was approved, content-area faculty questioned whether they were prepared to implement the framework. Having varied expertise in UDL, faculty wondered if they were teaching UDL effectively, and questioned whether they were modeling UDL concepts with fidelity in their own teaching. Thus, the Dual Licensure Implementation Team (DLIT) was born. This case study describes the process and product of the team's effort to implement UDL with fidelity.

Practicing What We Preach

2022 ◽  
pp. 841-864
Author(s):  
Stephen D. Kroeger ◽  
Susan A. Gregson ◽  
Michelle A. Duda ◽  
Anna DeJarnette ◽  
Jonathan M. Breiner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
General Education ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Implementation Team ◽  
Midwestern University ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
K 12

Creating inclusive classrooms is a challenge in general education. To prepare new teachers for diverse K-12 classrooms, faculty at one Midwestern university redesigned their education program to prepare preservice teachers for dual licensure in general and special education. The redesign required middle childhood faculty to learn more about complex conceptual frameworks that are prioritized in school districts across the country. One of these, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), became a non-negotiable component of the new program. An essential learning outcome became preparing pre-service teachers to utilize UDL. After the program was approved, content-area faculty questioned whether they were prepared to implement the framework. Having varied expertise in UDL, faculty wondered if they were teaching UDL effectively, and questioned whether they were modeling UDL concepts with fidelity in their own teaching. Thus, the Dual Licensure Implementation Team (DLIT) was born. This case study describes the process and product of the team's effort to implement UDL with fidelity.

Engaging Preservice Teachers in Universal Design for Learning Lesson Planning

Inclusion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-23
Author(s):  
Ruby L. Owiny ◽  
Aleksandra Hollingshead ◽  
Brenda Barrio ◽  
Katlyn Stoneman
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Lesson Plans ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Before And After

Abstract General education teachers often feel unprepared to serve the needs of students with disabilities, including those with intellectual disability, because many teacher preparation programs do not adequately prepare teachers for the diverse classrooms they will encounter. With the increase of inclusion for students with disabilities, it is imperative that teachers develop the necessary skills for engaging all students, including those with intellectual disability, in meaningful instruction. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can assist teachers in designing instruction that meets the needs of their diverse learners. The current study consisted of two parts. First, researchers surveyed preservice teachers on their perceptions of including students with disabilities in their future classrooms before and after instruction in UDL. Second, researchers analyzed preservice teachers' ability to design lessons using the principles of UDL. Results indicated perceptions of inclusion were positive prior to intervention and did not significantly change after the intervention. Lesson plans improved significantly in the use of UDL principles from baseline to postintervention, but there was no significant difference between the postintervention lesson plans and the end-of-semester lesson plans.

scholarly journals The Goal of the Universal Design for Learning: Development of All to Expert Learners

2021 ◽  
pp. 23-57
Author(s):  
Julita Navaitienė ◽  
Eglė Stasiūnaitienė
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
General Education Curriculum ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Learning Development

AbstractOver the past 10 years, every learner’s ability to achieve the highest level of learning success has become quite an important topic. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) sets a goal to allow all learners to achieve their optimal learning experience that matches inclusive education. Learners who can assess their own learning needs set their personal learning goals, and monitor their progress are termed the expert learners (McDowell. Developing expert learners: a roadmap for growing confident and competent students. Corwin, 2019). This chapter focuses on theoretical backgrounds for expert learners’ paradigm. It starts from fundamental constructivist theories and moves towards the theory of self-regulation and cognitive neuroscience approach. It concentrates on the theory of self-determination, which, in our opinion, validates in the best way the nature of the expert learners’ development. Implementation of the Universal Design for Learning allows all learners to access, participate in, and progress in the general-education curriculum. This chapter presents the specific profile of the expert learners covering their main characteristics and qualities and revealing the essence of the UDL framework. Educators could use the profile as the educational guidelines conductive to understand how the process of becoming the expert learner proceeds.

scholarly journals Universal Design for Learning to Support Access to the General Education Curriculum for Students with Intellectual Disabilities

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adnan Nasser Al Hazmi ◽  
Aznan Che Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Intellectually Disabled ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
Disabled Students ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
General Education Curriculum ◽  
Design For Learning

The issue concerned with enhancing support to the intellectually disabled students for enabling them to access thegeneral education has gained significant importance in the recent years all over the world. The intellectually disabledstudents suffer from neurodevelopmental disorders that acts as a barrier to the normal functioning of the brain andslow down the learning abilities and proper development of an individual. The presence of intellectual disabilitiesaffects both the mental and physical well-being of the students by causing issues for them to understand, thinklogically, speak, remembering things, and find solutions to the problems. Many research studies are conducted acrossthe world for finding the ways and designing innovative models that can help in increasing the access to generaleducation for these students with special needs. The universal design for learning framework also aims at providingsupport to the intellectually disabled students for gaining access to general education by enhancing their intellectualfunctioning and ability to adapt.

scholarly journals Extending Universal Design for Learning through Concurrent Enrollment: Algebra Teachers’ Perspectives

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Staats ◽  
Lori Laster
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
School Teacher ◽  
Concurrent Enrollment ◽  
University Education ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
The Impact

Concurrent enrollment refers to partnerships between postsecondary institutions and schools through which secondary school students can complete a university class taught by a qualifying secondary school teacher at their secondary school. We propose that concurrent enrollment programs are an under-recognized tool for extending the impact of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The context of our study is an equity-focused university course in algebraic mathematical modeling that is also offered through concurrent enrollment in over 30 secondary schools to over 800 secondary students annually in our state of Minnesota, U.S.A. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of secondary school teachers’ experiences implementing the inquiry pedagogy and the equity goals of the course. Several results are important for UDL. Teachers (1) describe equity in social terms of race, ethnicity, income, immigration, and language status in addition to measures of academic success; (2) perceive improvements in students’ attitudes towards mathematics, school, and university education; (3) perceive student academic growth through mathematical writing; and (4) report close relationships with students. If higher education faculty design their on-campus classes to incorporate UDL principles, concurrent enrollment offers the potential to improve inclusive pathways from secondary schools to universities.

Barriers With Implementing a Universal Design for Learning Framework

Inclusion ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 274-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
LaRon A. Scott
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Administrative Support ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Education Teacher ◽  
General Education Teacher ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Service Training

Abstract Inclusion of students with disabilities in general education settings is often contingent on teachers' liberties to use inclusive instructional strategies. The current qualitative investigation used focus group, observation, and interviews of 9 special education teachers to understand their attitudes and beliefs concerning challenges with implementing the universal design for learning (UDL) framework to meet the needs of students with and without disabilities. A constant comparative analysis method was used to categorize the data into the following themes that emerged as barriers for implementing the UDL framework: (a) general education teacher support for inclusion, (b) need for administrative support, (c) need for improving general education teacher knowledge of UDL, (d) additional preservice field-based training on UDL, and (e) additional in-service training on UDL. Although the teachers in the study continued to indicate a passion for implementing the UDL framework, the need to address the barriers faced by teachers, and future research and implications significant to moving UDL forward as an inclusive teaching framework are underlined for discussion in the study.

Toward More Inclusive Education: An Empirical Test of the Universal Design for Learning Conceptual Model Among Preservice Teachers

2020 ◽  
pp. 002248712096552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Júlia Griful-Freixenet ◽  
Katrien Struyven ◽  
Wendelien Vantieghem
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Growth Mindset ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
Design For Learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) holds considerable promise to create inclusive educational environments. Nevertheless, the most recent theoretical UDL model, which includes both teachers’ philosophy and praxis of teaching, has never been tested empirically. Therefore, this study aims to validate the UDL model as a “whole” among preservice teachers. Results show that the three philosophical constructs of UDL predict the performance of preservice teachers’ practices associated with UDL. These constructs are growth mindset about learning, self-efficacy to implement inclusion, and self-regulation and motivation for teaching. Results also show that preservice teachers think and reason about UDL not as three separate principles (i.e., engagement, representation, action, and expression) but in an interrelated way as the analysis shows them to be a unidimensional factor. Finally, this article discusses the implications of a validated model on UDL for teacher-educators, practitioners, and researchers.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document