Today‘s college students, who are often referred to as ―Millennials‖, are entering college with different expectations for learning than students born before 1982 (Howe & Strauss, 2000). They expect to be able to access information instantly with their smart phones or laptop computers. At the same time, increasing numbers of students entering higher education have a disability of some kind. Some of these are observable disabilities that require specific accommodations to learning materials and the learning environment, such as ramps for students using wheelchairs and interpreters for students with hearing impairment. Students with learning disabilities represent a kind of ―invisible‖ disability in that their challenges may not be readily observable by faculty members, but must be accommodated through changes to curriculum materials and instructional approaches. One of the greatest challenges to meeting the needs of all students is the perception of negative faculty attitudes toward students with disabilities, and the subsequent choice made by many students not to disclose a hidden disability (Getzel & Wehman, 2005; Madaus, Scott, & McGuire, 2003; National Center for the Study of Postsecondary Educational Supports (NCSPES), 2000). Within the last 10 years, a new way of designing learning for K-12 students has emerged to address the needs of all the learners in the classroom. This framework for design is called Universal Design for Learning (Rose & Meyer, 2002). More recently, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has begun to be introduced to faculty in higher education as a framework for course design that meets the needs of an increasingly diverse student body. This mixed methods study explored the promise of the UDL at a small New England research university where a faculty professional development model was implemented to enhance the use of UDL practices among faculty members. A baseline study of faculty attitudes was conducted in the fall of 2010. One hundred ninety-two faculty members responded to the survey, yielding a 30% return. In addition, four faculty who had participated in the UDL grant consultation team model and who taught classes of 65 students or more were interviewed for the purpose of gathering information on their perceptions of the effectiveness of the model. Results of the volunteer faculty survey revealed positive attitudes from the majority of respondents, with at least 60% indicating that they ―strongly agreed‖ with four of the five questions related to the provision of learning accommodations for students with disabilities. In contrast, less than 30% of respondents indicated they ―strongly agreed‖ with statements demonstrating their general knowledge of disabilities and/or knowledge of disability policy and law. Four main themes emerged from the data analysis of the faculty interviews. These themes addressed faculty members‘ descriptions of general course modifications made as a result of the UDL consultation team work, description of their course, reflections about the UDL consultation team model, and the processes through which faculty members chose to refer themselves for course design assistance from the UDL consultation team. Overall, results of the study suggest promising practices for professional development designed to increase use of UDL approaches in higher education. Further research is needed to determine the transferability of this model among a larger range of faculty and higher education institutions.

With a growing population of culturally and academically diverse student populations in K -12 education, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has the potential to improve the quality of teaching and learning for all students. However, there is a lack of research on UDL teacher in-service training to determine whether teachers are more effective at implementing UDL once they receive adequate training. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine changes in teachers' lesson plans following UDL professional training. Seventeen teachers from 5 school districts in the state of Mississippi participated in the study. Teachers' lesson plans were evaluated at 3 time points using a valid UDL lesson plan rubric from a previous study. Data were collected before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and 2 months after the intervention was administered. A within-subjects MANOVA with repeated measurement was conducted comparing pretreatment and post-treatment scores for each of the 4 dependent variables (total score and representation, expression, and engagement scores) to examine the changes in lesson planning following UDL professional training. The results showed a significant difference in teachers' lesson plans between conditions for each of the 4 dependent variables. The social change objective for this study was to improve the quality of teaching and learning in mixed-ability classrooms.

Syftet med denna studie är att ta reda på hur lärare upplever att arbeta enligt modellen Universal Design for Learning och hur det blir synligt i deras klassrum. Vi vill utforska vilka förtjänster och fallgropar lärarna kan se med UDL som modell för en tillgängliggörande lärmiljö som gynnar elever med olika förutsättningar, däribland elever i läs- och skrivsvårigheter. I studien nämns också hur arbetet med UDL påverkar tankesättet för lärare och på vilket sätt deras arbete förändrats i och med UDL. Studien är en kvalitativ undersökning. Den utgår ifrån sex intervjuer med erfarna lärare som associeras och arbetar med metoden UDL för tillgängliggörande av lärmiljö i sitt arbete. Resultatet visar att alla de lärare som deltagit i undersökningen över lag anser att UDL är en fungerande väg till tillgänglig lärmiljö. Lärarna menar att ramverket i UDL uppmanar till engagemang, tydliga målbilder, strukturer, olika representationsformer och ett elevanpassat uttrycksätt och att detta gynnar elever med olika förutsättningar och bakgrund. Studien kan påvisa att lärarna upplever många förtjänster med modellen men också mer utmanande punkter som man behöver vara medveten om och arbeta kring. En av dessa utmanande punkter är formen för lästräning med elever i läs- och skrivsvårigheter. Studiens resultat analyseras och diskuteras med basen i ett relationellt perspektiv samt med utgångspunkt i tidigare forskning om inkluderande lärmiljöer och UDL.

Outcomes related to academic and social engagement for boys identified by their teachers as being disengaged and requiring tier two instructional supports were investigated when the Three Block Model of Universal Design for Learning (Katz, 2012a) was implemented. The mixed-methods study involved twelve grade 3 boys and their teachers in a rural school division in Manitoba, who were divided into treatment and control groups. Students were assessed pre and post intervention for the development of general self-esteem, academic self-esteem, liking of school, enjoyment of school, and engaged behaviour. Ecobehavioral measures of task assigned, groupings, and interactions were also taken. Data were collected and analyzed using both thematic analysis for qualitative data and a MANCOVA for quantitative analysis. The intervention significantly increased students’ engaged behaviour, particularly active engagement and promoted social engagement through increased peer interactions, student autonomy, and inclusivity.

Outcomes related to students’ reading comprehension and higher-order critical thinking skills, and students’ academic and intellectual engagement following the implementation of a Three-Block Model of UDL-based literature circles pedagogical model were investigated. Fifty-nine (59) students attending three suburban public middle schools took part in the study. The study adopted a mixed-design approach to data collection and analysis, with quantitative data collected from all students, and qualitative data collected from a purposively selected sub-sample of 24 students (12 in each of treatment and control classes). Intervention and control groups were assessed pre and post for measures of reading comprehension using classroom-based assessments, which were triangulated by qualitative data from pre and post semi-structured student interviews to explore students’ academic and intellectual engagement. Quantitative data were analyzed using repeated measures MANOVA’s to determine treatment effects for both groups while qualitative data were transcribed and analyzed thematically using a case study approach. Quantitative results showed a small but significant increase in reading comprehension outcomes for proficient and typical readers in treatment groups compared to their counterparts in control classes, and showed a significantly greater increase in reading comprehension outcomes for students in treatment classes who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) and struggling readers. These findings were corroborated by the qualitative results, which showed that students’ academic and intellectual engagement increased in the treatment classes both for proficient readers and struggling readers.

Outcomes related to academic and social engagement for boys identified by their teachers as being disengaged and requiring tier two instructional supports were investigated when the Three Block Model of Universal Design for Learning (Katz, 2012a) was implemented. The mixed-methods study involved twelve grade 3 boys and their teachers in a rural school division in Manitoba, who were divided into treatment and control groups. Students were assessed pre and post intervention for the development of general self-esteem, academic self-esteem, liking of school, enjoyment of school, and engaged behaviour. Ecobehavioral measures of task assigned, groupings, and interactions were also taken. Data were collected and analyzed using both thematic analysis for qualitative data and a MANCOVA for quantitative analysis. The intervention significantly increased students’ engaged behaviour, particularly active engagement and promoted social engagement through increased peer interactions, student autonomy, and inclusivity.

A significant achievement gap between students with disabilities and their peers without disabilities has led to increased inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom. Assistive technology (AT) has the potential to improve access to the curriculum for students with high-incidence disabilities. Teachers are challenged with learning about, recommending, and implementing AT; yet little is known about how teachers in New Hampshire use AT or the needs for professional development (PD) in AT utilization. The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to understand how teachers in small rural New Hampshire schools utilized AT with students with high-incidence disabilities and teachers' needs for PD in AT use. Data were collected via semistructured interviews of 5 general and 5 special education teachers from 6 small rural middle and high schools. Using levels of AT literacy as a conceptual framework, data were coded and analyzed to identify common themes. Findings showed that teacher awareness and working knowledge of AT varied. Independent use of AT in reading and writing provided access to the general curriculum, allowing students to be included with their peers. Teachers reported wanting to learn more about the AT available and how to universally integrate AT into the general classroom. Findings informed the design of PD workshops and a learning network created to improve teacher knowledge and skills in AT integration. This study has the potential to decrease the achievement gap by improving access to the general curriculum for students with disabilities through improved teacher use of AT.

This case study examined learning components and outcomes of the UDL Virtual Classroom project, a web-based professional development program that was a collaboration between educators in the United States and Jamaica. The study applied the HPL lens (NRC, 2000) in order to understand the ways that Jamaican educator-participants perceived the integration of learner-centered learning, knowledge-centered learning, assessment-centered learning, and community-centered learning in the program itself, and also examined the impact of these components, despite numerous hurdles, on teachers’ mindsets and practices and the engagement and performance of students in their schools and classrooms. The researcher’s intent was to address the contextual nature of teacher learning, which must contend with the challenges of meeting the needs of individual teacher-learners, as well as obstacles and real-world situations impacting the implementation of theories and strategies. A multi-case study design was used to gather data through observations, interviews, group meetings, and surveys. Findings were analyzed using qualitative methods, focusing on the experiences of participants both as adult-learners in the professional development program and as educators themselves as they returned to their own educational contexts to implement what they had learned. This study provided insights about strengths and challenges of hybrid learning, international resource-sharing, and long-term impacts of teacher learning.

No description available.

I kemiundervisning på gymnasiet sker bedömning traditionellt via skriftliga prov. Som varierad undervisning har laborationsrapporter ett inlärningssyfte och är samtidigt bedömningsunderlag. När undervisning behöver anpassas, erbjuds ofta muntliga istället för skriftliga examinationer. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur likvärdigt muntliga och skriftliga laborationsrapporter i kemi kan bedömas. Kunskapsbedömning görs utifrån SOLO-taxonomi och jämförs mot en kvantifiering av använda nyckelbegrepp, för att avgöra bedömningars likvärdighet. Bedömningar av rapporter jämförs även mot bedömningar av prov för att undersöka samband mellan dessa. Studien visar att muntliga och skriftliga laborationsrapporter kan bedömas likvärdigt. Sambanden mellan elevers laborationsrapporter och provresultat visar att elever som gjort muntliga och skriftliga rapporter i lika stor utsträckning når samma provresultat. Däremot får skriftliga rapporter ofta högre bedömningar än vad motsvarande elever får på prov, vilket inte gäller elever som gjort muntliga rapporter. Studien ger stöd för att använda muntliga laborationsrapporter som anpassning av kemiundervisning.