Educational Psychology / Unit 8 EDP 0748 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Universal Design for Learning
The idea
Universal Design for Learning, developed by the organization CAST, designs lessons for diversity from the outset rather than retrofitting them for individual students. It rests on three principles. Multiple means of representation address the what of learning: presenting information in more than one form. Multiple means of action and expression address the how: letting students show what they know in more than one way. Multiple means of engagement address the why: offering more than one way to become and stay interested.
In practice
Worked example: a science lesson on the water cycle offers a diagram, a captioned video and a text, which is representation. Students may explain the cycle in writing, a labeled drawing or a recorded talk, which is action and expression. They choose a local example of the cycle to investigate, which is engagement.
Where people slip
UDL varies presentation for every learner; it is not teaching to diagnosed learning styles, which research does not support. Designing in advance means fewer lessons must be retrofitted for one student.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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