Universal Instructional Design & Kemptville College

Presented by Jaellayna Palmer

with Assistance from Bré Wick

May 13, 2003

Before Universal Instructional Design…

• Physical spaces

• Architecture

• Ergonomics

• City planning

• Interior design

• Engineering

…there was Universal Design.

Formalized Study

Some examples of Universal Design

And NowUniversal Instructional Design

Students, regardless of disabilities, personal learning style, age or background should have access to education.

The premise within UID is that a course designed to accommodate diverse learners will lead to greater success for all students, including those with disabilities.

Universal

While serving the needs of individual students, a UID course maintains academic rigour even while offering options and alternatives for delivery of the curriculum.

Instructional

A methodical approach to course design and delivery, UID integrates all parts of the curriculum. As the very word “design” implies, is a planned, purposeful, deliberate approach to optimizing all of the resources to serve the students and instructors alike.

Design

Why Universal Instructional Design?

• Reducing barriers to receiving an education

• Varied needs and capabilities as the basis for inclusion rather than exclusion

• Anticipating and encouraging diversity

And if those are not enough reasons…

• Legalities in Canada• Compliance issues

Remember: Designing for accessibility usually means better design overall for everyone

UID Seven Principles

Instructional materials and activities should…

1.be accessible and fair.

2.provide flexibility in use, participation and presentation.

3.be straightforward and consistent.

4.be explicitly presented and readily perceived.

5.provide a supportive learning environment.

6.minimize unnecessary physical effort or requirements.

7.ensure a learning space that accommodates both students and instructional methods.

People in Our UID

Project

Linda YuvalResearch Assistant

Ins truc to rs T A s S um m er S tuden ts

8 P ro jec ts5 R edes igns

3 E nhancem en ts

A ll o f T S S S ta ffa range o f spec ia lities

N e il LaC hape lle , Vo lun teerC om m un ity C oo rdina tor

O the r C ontrac tors , for exam p le:T echnica l Illus tra tor

P rog ram m ersS em ina r Leade rs

Jae llayna P a lm erP ro ject M anager

Ins truc tiona l Des igner

A ldo C apu to , M anagerLea rn ing T echno logy and C oursew are Innova tion

Adrienne DeSchutterUniversity of Guelph-Humber

UID “Advisory Group”Including Students

Centre for Students With Disabilities

Learning Commons

Our Funded Projects

• First Year Chemistry• French Tutorials• Diploma in Agriculture,

Applied Mathematics• Foodservice Operations

Management

• Biomedicine• Extended Media• Diploma in Agriculture,

Agricultural Mechanization

• Advanced Nutrition

Wide Range of Course Elements

• Lectures• Quizzes• Audio / Video• Course and lab

manuals

• Group activities• Electronic conferencing• Graphics and

animations• Presentation

techniques

• This course is part of a 2-year Diploma in Agriculture currently offered at 4 campuses (University of Guelph, Kemptville College, Ridgetown College, and College D'Alfred).

• Many students enter this program with substantial, related life-experiences, while this is entirely new material to others.

• Currently there are many variations in course content, delivery and equipment across the 4 campuses.

• After identifying core content and skills, this UID project will design and create practical activities-based labs and support materials in paper and electronic format.

DAGR 1350, Agricultural MechanicsDr. Ben Hawkins et al.

…course is taught in the Ag diploma programs at the regional colleges and at Guelph. Laboratory facilities vary across the locations as do the learning objectives and outcomes…the Provincial Diploma Committee has requested a laboratory manual of about 25 possible laboratory classes be complied. WebCT…to provide an interactive and independent learning component to each session. The project would strengthen the delivery of the hands-on learning in the course and address the University objective of learner-centredness.

1)     an interactive pre-lab on Web CT complimented by a lab manual (text),

2)     followed by in class practical lab sessions using either demonstration or practical hands-on assignments,

3)      followed by on-line laboratory reports using Web CT, with opportunities to create a portfolio of lab assignments in the lab manual.

(Extracted from the Original Proposal)

Issue/Problem/Opportunity, DAGR 1350

What We Are Working on, DAGR 1350

• Reaching consensus among the campuses as to the overall course objectives and priorities

• Creating activities (demonstrations and hands-on) with on-line resource materials

• Course website offering links to readings and resources

• Re-formatting of written materials per UID guidelines

• All course notes in html and pdf (for viewing) and .rtf and .txt for editing

• Template for Lab Manuals

• Word

• HTML

• PDF

DAGR 1600, Applied MathematicsTheo Hunter, M.Sc. et al.

• This course is part of a 2-year Diploma in Agriculture currently offered at 4 campuses (University of Guelph, Kemptville College, Ridgetown College, and College D'Alfred).

• Mastery of math fundamentals is essential to many courses within the diploma program.

• Many students have a difficult time transitioning from high school math to this course.

• This UID project offers an opportunity to boost problem-solving skills through various learning and instructional media.

Issue/Problem/Opportunity, DAGR 1600

…a core course for all diploma students in Agriculture, Equine, Food and Nutrition Management and Horticulture at Alfred, Guelph, Kemptville and Ridgetown Colleges. Huge variation in math and problem-solving skill levels poses challenges to the instructors of this course at all four sites. Another challenge is the diverse demographics of the students in the class related to age, agricultural, horticultural and foods background as well as English second language and learning disabilities.

The math skills level of the students also impacts upon their self-confidence and desire to learn math. Many teaching strategies are used at the four sites by Math Instructors to address the learning issues mentioned. This course redesign would give staff and students the opportunity to try different or combinations of the successful teaching methods to address the different skill levels, different learning styles (creative vs. logical), and Adult vs. High School Learner (desire to learn) now present and probably continuing into the future.

(Extracted from the Original Proposal)

What We Are Working on, DAGR 1600

• Reaching consensus as to the overall course objectives and priorities

• Documenting Best Practices among the various instructors

• Course website offering links to readings and resources

• Active learning such as problem-solving, small group discussion, games, demonstrations as well as varying the teaching/learning approach throughout the class time

• Use of electronic conferencing

• Web-based practice/study questions designed to enhance problem-solving skills

• Enhanced feedback from assignments, problems and tests

• All course notes in html and pdf (for viewing) and .rtf and .txt (for editing)

• Re-formatting of written materials per UID guidelines

• More description of the background to know before sections

Accessible and Fair

Putting essential materials on-line for use with screen reading software such as “Jaws”.

Straightforward and Consistent

Consistency guides learning by providing visual and cognitive clues, i.e. predicting meaning and actions. Are the orange arrows (exaggerated in this screen snap) bullets or hyperlinks?

Provide Flexibility in Use,Participation and Presentation

Jeff maintains in fact that “Inflexibility impedes innovation”.

Be Explicitly Presentedand Readily Perceived

It is one thing to offer students alternative file formats and quite another to tell them WHY and HOW to use them.

Provide a SupportiveLearning Environment

Being supportive includes encouragement to try and making it ok not to succeed at first.

A large lecture and small group work – just two of the many learning environments.

Ensure a Learning Space that Accommodates Both Students and

Instructional Methods

Students appreciated the information but found this particular layout requires too much vertical scrolling.

Minimize Unnecessary PhysicalEffort or Requirements

Supporting Faculty Development

• Instructional planning• Course delivery• Assessment• Learning technologies

…all from a UID perspective

Assessment and Research

• Creating exemplar courses

• Application to future courses

• Faculty that understand UID and relate it to other faculty

• Research about what works or doesn’t work

• General guides and information

• Reducing the need for special accommodation

Increased success for all students

What They’re Telling UsTeaching Assistants

…they do seem so obvious and you say “Well, of course the material should be explicit and of course it should be flexible!” but the point is that the courses are not designed that way and that’s why we’re here…

…I think it will probably always be in my mind a little bit more so than before, just in whatever I’m doing, trying to meet the principles…just thinking about flexibility and the best way to do it - are there other ways?

…I think just being aware of it is what really makes a difference.

What They’re Telling Us

Ben Hawkins, Agricultural Mechanization

I would say probably in the past we never gave too much thought to different methods of presentation or alternate methods...it [UID] opened up our eyes and we started looking more towards the students' perspective ... definitely I'll be talking to the other instructors and trying to promote some of this.

What They’re Telling UsTheo Hunter, Applied Mathematics

We have had a number [of disabled students] over the years, certainly with learning disabilities as opposed to physical…We know about open learning, we know about courses on the Web, but it seemed like a far-away thing that this is something you have to have money to do and certainly you have to have time to do and maybe some help to do...And so this has opened up the doors.

Resources

http://www.tss.uoguelph.ca/uid

Jaellayna Palmer palmerj@uoguelph.ca

Interested in our listserv UID-forum ???