Universal Design Learning for the Online Classroom
Trent University’s Centre for Teaching and Learning supports two new projects through the Wickerson Fund
The Centre for Teaching and Learning has announced the recipients of the 2020 Wickerson Foundation Fund for Educational Leadership and Universal Design.
The Wickerson Fund supports projects that align with the principles of Universal Design Learning (UDL). UDL principles ensure that students experience multiple means of engaging, acting, and demonstrating learning outcomes.
Once again this year, the Centre for Teaching & Learning is supporting two projects that promise to positively impact student engagement and success as Trent continues teaching and learning now in the virtual classroom:
Professors Robin Quantick & David Newhouse, Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies
Fostering Enwaayang in the ICR Classroom: Bringing Indigenous Knowledge and Universal Design together
Utilizing UDL principles coupled with Indigenous pedagogical approaches, this project will study the interconnected design and delivery outcomes of the course INDG 1001H, Foundations of Reconciliation, which is one of Trent University’s largest Indigenous Credit Requirement (ICR) courses.
Professors Quantick and Newhouse note that in this classroom environment they strive ““to help students learn in a pedagogy that is based more upon individual sensemaking and understanding of material through storytelling than content presentation and recall.” A thorough assessment of the connection between UDL and Indigenous pedagogy as well as their effectiveness as applied to this course redesign will be achieved through careful research, collaboration, and reporting.
Professor Emily Bruusgaard, Department of English Literature
Reimagining the online lecture: Transforming teaching practices for students with disabilities
This project will reimagine online video lectures in English 2609H “Contagion,” for a spectrum of learners with different needs, including those with ADD/ADHD, central auditory processing disorders, and those on the autism spectrum. This research and experience will be used to design online learning modules on accessible online teaching for Trent faculty. As Professor Bruusgaard puts it, “The three principles of UDL are multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation, and multiple means of action and expression. In other words, if we are to fully unlock students’ potential, and to truly implement multiple means of expression asone of the three principles of UDL, we must create multiple pathways to information in the digital learning environment. We must present main course concepts in more than one way. We must recognize and allow students to engage in the style of learning that suits them best.”
In 2019, Trent’s Centre for Teaching & Learning was proud to introduce the Wickerson Foundation Fund for Educational Leadership and Universal Design. Sponsored by a generous donation from the Wickerson Foundation, this internal grant supports faculty-led projects that make learning more inclusive by removing or minimizing barriers that might otherwise keep students from reaching their potential as learners.
Learn more about the Wickerson Fund and other initiatives of the Centre for Teaching and Learning.