Module 3: Promoting Access for All Learners: Introduction to Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

On this page:

Learner Variability is the Norm
The Jagged Learning Profile
Barriers to Learning
Pause for Reflection: Learning Barriers in Your Teaching Context

Learner Variability is the Norm

"We now understand from scientific research that brains and even genes are highly responsive to their environments. Individual differences in our brains are not innate or fixed but developed and malleable, and context has huge impact. This is the best news yet for educators who have the opportunity to provide environments that facilitate positive growth, or learning, for all students." Anne Meyer, David H. Rose, and David Gordon

Learner variability is the norm. There is no "average" student, and there is no one path to learning. The "one-size-fits-all" design intended for everyone ends up supporting no one.

Watch Todd Rose's TEDxTalk "The Myth of Average" video (18:26). Select "CC" for closed captions. Rose introduces the jagged learning profile and invites instructors to ban the average in education and design to the edges so that we reach every student.

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The Jagged Learning Profile

The jagged learning profile acknowledges the multiple dimensions of student learning. Each student has a different combination of characteristics/skills/levels in memory, language, knowledge, reading, vocabulary, curiosity, perceptual, cognitive, and interest.

Consider how the student learning experience is impacted by the student's intersecting identities (module 2) and jagged learning profile. Students may be marginalized and experience barriers to learning based on their intersecting identities and jagged learning profiles.

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework offers strategies for instructors to design for learners at the edge and welcome learner variability into our learning environments.

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Barriers to Learning

A UDL mindset can help instructors identify learning barriers and design to reduce learning barriers. For every course design decision you make, consider the following three questions:

Who am I centring through my design choices?
Who is marginalized or left out by my design choices?
How do I welcome more learners in my design choices?

For example, an instructor might plan to record their classes and post the recordings online for students who cannot attend every in-person session. Let's consider the three questions listed above and possible responses:

Students who cannot attend every in-person session will benefit from the class recordings.
Students who attend in-person sessions may be concerned about their questions, discussions, and reactions being recorded.
Consider what conversations and guidelines can be established to foster a safer space for learning and clarify expectations about participating in in-person sessions.

Barriers to learning differ based on the teaching context. When applying UDL thinking, consider your specific context to determine what intervention would support the greatest number of students.

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Pause for Reflection: Learning Barriers in Your Teaching Context

In your Course Design Foundations Workbook docx, note down learning barriers in your teaching context. Consider:

What learning barriers have you noticed in your courses?
What learning barriers do you anticipate in your future courses?

As you proceed through the module, you will have the opportunity to identify strategies for reducing learning barriers in your teaching context.

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University of Toronto, Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation