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My first course in my master’s program was, “Introduction to Traumatic Brain Injury.” I was eager to be in the course for several reasons. For one, it was my first graduate level course and I had competing levels of excitement and anxiousness. Second, I was enthusiastic to finally focus my study in a field I very much enjoyed working in throughout undergrad. So, while I am not criticizing the course content, per se, my criticism is on the course development and implementation in regards to utilizing the principles of Universal Design for Learning.
It is debatable whether or not the class was not universally designed but universally unprepared. Regardless, here lies the difficulty with UDL, using a quote from former NCAA basketball coach Jon Wooden, saying that, “failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” This was our course: PowerPoint, guest speaker, guest speaker, guest speaker, PowerPoint, and a final guest speaker, for the most part. The methods in which the course was taught included limited interaction, an important part of UDL (in my opinion). There were very few handouts or supplemental materials provided throughout the course. The assessment protocol included one final paper and a short quiz at the beginning of the year. Instructor technology included PowerPoint presentations, and all guest speakers had PowerPoint presentations.
This course was not universally designed whatsoever. Moreover, design of the course limited student engagement and consequently, encouraged student slumber. As aforementioned, this was my first graduate course in a field I love; thankfully things changed in other courses because I thought I was about to be in two years of… well, you get the point. It just goes back to what Professor Zeff said today: preparation is essential! It is perhaps the most important part of UDL… setting up the learning environments to include all students and exclude all barriers before either are present.
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You write “design of the course limited student engagement and consequently, encouraged student slumber” which reminds me of the cause and-effect relationship of teaching and engagement. You can plan and students learn but you can also plan and students sleep or learn in spite of you.
Ugh! I totally feel your pain. Remember that guy at Brain Awareness Week, who pulled out the brain and dropped it on the table in front of the kids? THAT was UDL. I am tempted to send profs my version of a syllabus so they can get an idea of what an engaging class would look like. Way more effective than a class evaluation, in my opinion.