Teaching Fractions in the Intermediate Phase: A Neuroscience Approach

The researchers piloted an observational protocol to examine the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and checkpoint strategies used during daily instruction with a small sample of general and special education teachers. Observational research on UDL has been recommended within the literature. Researchers used the high-leverage practice of explicit instruction as the anchor for the design of the observation protocol. Findings indicate there is alignment between observed UDL principles and strategies employed at the lesson level and teachers’ self-reports of the UDL principles and strategies employed. Findings also suggest that teachers are using several UDL principles within their daily instruction and that there is overlap among UDL checkpoint strategies and aligned UDL principles. Essential UDL principles that pre-service and in-service teachers are expected to deliver at the lesson level can be prioritised to ensure a developmental approach to the implementation of UDL. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to analyze actual application of UDL(universal design for learning) principles in preliminary special education teachers‘ lesson plans applying for elementary school classes including students with visual impairments. The lesson plans were analyzed by Korean UDL Instruction Analysis Checklist and UDL Practical Application Matrix to analyze satisfaction rates and practical application by UDL principle. The results of this study are as follows. First, the satisfaction rate of UDL principles guidelines was 50.80% in 7 lesson plans. Among the 3 UDL principles, the satisfaction rate was the highest at 53.57% in the principle of engagement, followed by 50.00% in the principle of representation and 48.83% in the principle of behavior and expression. Second, preliminary Special Education Teachers used keywords for each UDL principle at 37.26% in the principle of participation, 35.29% in the principle of action and expression, and 27.45% in the principle of representation. At a time when preliminary special education teachers need to develop teaching skills based on UDL for all learners, including the visually impaired, the results of this study can be used as basic data.

Background Educators and researchers have long emphasized the need to engage students in disciplinary thinking in order to develop rich, discipline-specific practices and habits of mind. Yet, these opportunities are often under-nurtured in today's classrooms and are especially limited for students with disabilities. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is one promising avenue for supporting all students to engage in disciplinary thinking (ways of knowing, reasoning, and doing specific to the discipline). This framework for teaching and learning suggests embedding options into curricula in order to expand learning opportunities for students with and without disabilities. Researchers have yet to investigate how UDL and disciplinary thinking can complement one another. Research Question This study explores the following question: How, if at all, do teachers working within a school that explicitly promotes the UDL framework use UDL to prompt students’ disciplinary thinking in English Language Arts (ELA)? Setting The study was conducted in a fifth grade classroom of an inclusive elementary school in an urban district in the northeast United States. Participants Participants included two fifth grade co-teachers and their class of 21 students with and without documented disabilities. Research Design This qualitative case study spanned a 10-week ELA unit. Data were gathered via videotaped observations, collection of instructional materials, interviews with the co-teachers, and collection of student work. CAST is a nonprofit education research and development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals through UDL. The analytic framework joined CAST's UDL Guidelines and common themes distilled from the literature that characterize disciplinary thinking in ELA. This framework was used as a starting place to code the co-teachers’ practice and students’ thinking. An open coding strategy was applied to capture emergent themes. Findings Data reveal that the co-teachers used specific strategies to create opportunities for all students to engage in disciplinary thinking. First, particular UDL guidelines/checkpoints were applied. For example, to support learners in “reading like writers,” the co-teachers applied strategies consistent with Guideline 6: “Provide options for executive functions,” encouraging students to develop the planning and organizational practices of expert readers and writers. Second, particular UDL guidelines/checkpoints were used in ways that are not explicitly suggested in the UDL Guidelines. For example, to support students in “reading for meaning” and “reading like writers,” the co-teachers’ strategies were generally consistent with Guideline 3: “Provide options for comprehension.” Yet, the co-teachers moved beyond “comprehension” by empowering students to construct their own sophisticated, disciplinary analyses. Conclusions The co-teachers’ instructional moves and the richness of students’ thinking offer important implications for future iterations of the UDL Guidelines and suggest that all learners can and should be challenged to engage in discipline-specific practices and habits of mind.

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles suggest that providing learners multiple means for engagement, representation, and action and expression will help learners become purposeful and motivated, resourceful and knowledgeable, and strategic and goal-directed (CAST, 2018). The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges and opportunities of adopting UDL principles for online course design using the decision-making process as the theoretical framework as defined by the Diffusion of Innovation theory (Rogers, 2003). Seven online faculty were interviewed regarding the challenges and opportunities that hindered or helped their decision to adopt the UDL principles in online course design. Additionally, three faculty participants volunteered course materials as examples of how they applied UDL principles. Results highlight ways institutions of higher education can promote faculty adoption of UDL principles for online course design.

A skillful magician always considers the audience’s perspectives, then refines their magic performance to create a sense of wonder in the minds of their audience. Similarly, an effective teacher considers the needs and identities of their students and customizes their pedagogy to the needs of their students. This teacher-educator reflective narrative illuminates our use of magic tricks as a vehicle for pre-service teachers to learn about Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (CSP) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in a middle-grades disciplinary literacies teacher education course in a large research-intensive university in the Southeast United States. The process of learning and doing magic also serves as an analogy to contextualize the student’s learning of CSP and UDL principles. We show other teacher educators how CSP and UDL can be embodied and modeled in teacher education classrooms for all students through magic by (1) illustrating the magic-based learning activities designed collaboratively by the authors, a literacy teacher educator, and a magician, (2) sharing reflections of our PSTs and ourselves in these pedagogical moves, and (3) offering suggestions for how teacher educators can help their students to become creative and empathetic teachers for the myriad forms of diversity of the students they will eventually teach.

The present study analysed the use of active and participatory methodologies in teacher training, exploring inclusive didactic strategies from Universal Design for Learning (UDL), using a mixed methodology. The data were gathered through discussion groups (DG). The main aim was to promote active and participatory methodologies in higher education through the use of inclusive didactic strategies. The sample was constituted by 73 students of the Degree of Primary Education from the Faculty of Education Sciences at the University of Seville (Spain), who were organised in 20 DGs. The research instruments employed were: UDL training session sheet and DG script on inclusive educational strategies and UDL. These instruments were validated by expert judgement. The results were organised by strategy, based on UDL guidelines (quantitative data: frequencies and percentages), and the data obtained from the DG minutes (qualitative data: content analysis) were organised by UDL dimension. The results confirm that the use of different didactic strategies favours reflective and critical thinking and promotes participation, generating shared knowledge and information management in different formats using ICTs, thereby contributing to improving the quality of teacher training.

HyFlex course design is a delivery model that provides students the flexibility to attend face-to-face, online synchronously, or asynchronously. In order to support students in HyFlex college classes, instructors must prepare engaging, accessible, and equitable learning opportunities for all learners. However, it can be difficult for college instructors to create learning environments that help students feel belonging and engagement in HyFlex courses. In this Quick Fix article, we explain how the guidelines for Universal Design for Learning (UDL) overlap with and align with Beatty’s fundamental values of HyFlex learning, specifically in bimodal course design (i.e., online synchronous and face-to-face). UDL allows for diverse learners to participate in learning experiences through multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression. These components are all broadly tied to the HyFlex value of accessibility, which allows access for all learners to diverse modalities of instruction, but UDL and HyFlex can be leveraged to support all students both with and without disabilities. We first expand upon how UDL guidelines and HyFlex values complement each other, and then we give examples of strategies to put into action for using UDL in HyFlex college courses. While there has been much research on each UDL and HyFlex approaches to support college instructors, the merging of the values within these theories is novel, and this pairing has implications for direct practice implementation in the classroom. This paper introduces a concept that can be further elaborated on in other conceptual works and potentially lead to new theoretical frameworks. Additionally, future research could explore how UDL and HyFlex approaches enhance each other in college courses and other areas of education.

The integration of universal design learning principles and methodologies into pedagogical practices has gained significant attention in recent years. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that emphasizes creating accessible and inclusive educational experiences to accommodate all students, including diverse learners. This study explores the implementation of UDL principles in teaching mathematics in inclusive classrooms in Sri Lanka. The aim of this study was to identify how a teacher uses lesson plans according to UDL and to identify the challenges when applying UDL frameworks to make lesson plans. The phenomenological research design, belonging to the qualitative approach was used as the research methodology. The sample was selected under non-random sampling. Observations and interviews were used to collect data. Data analysis was conducted using narrative analysis and thematic analysis. The study highlights that the teacher did her best to represent three core principles of UDL: (1) providing multiple means of representation, (2) providing multiple means of action and expression, and (3) providing multiple means of engagement. Furthermore, the research identifies challenges in adopting UDL practices, including resource constraints, lack of awareness among educators, and limited professional development opportunities. Addressing these barriers is critical to successfully integrating UDL principles into mainstream education systems.

Equity in student learning experiences is a key concern in academic libraries, yet there is a striking lack of literature and frameworks addressing equitable academic library outreach. This gap exists despite the important intersection of library outreach with student learning, success, and wellness across multiple university units. This paper addresses this challenge by examining Universal Design for Learning (UDL)—a standard increasingly accepted in academic libraries for promoting equity in information literacy instruction and pedagogy—for its potential applicability in the domain of library outreach. Although originally intended for instructional contexts, the UDL principles are shown in this paper to be relevant to, and practicable in, library outreach initiatives. The paper reviews a selection of the literature on academic library outreach, accessibility, and equity, highlighting the need for more structured consideration of these critical areas. It also presents a detailed examination of UDL guidelines and checkpoints, providing outreach-related examples and short case studies from the author's own programming and outreach experiences that exemplify the effective application of UDL principles in library outreach. This exploration not only extends the potential use of UDL beyond traditional instructional settings but also serves as a foundation for academic librarians and researchers to further develop and refine practices promoting equity, accessibility, and inclusivity in library outreach efforts.

BackgroundEnsuring equitable access to education is a fundamental goal in health professions training, particularly in simulation-based learning, where realistic clinical scenarios prepare learners for real-world practice. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) offers a robust framework for creating instructional strategies, materials, and environments that are accessible and effective for all learners.Main bodyIn this article, we provide practical guidance and actionable strategies for incorporating UDL principles into simulation-based activities. Engaging in simulation-based education requires a leap of faith and a willingness to embrace vulnerability, as learners must immerse themselves in authentic scenarios. By integrating UDL principles, educators can create a supportive environment that reduces barriers, fosters psychological safety, and ensures that all participants feel empowered to take these risks and fully engage in the learning process. This framework supports opportunities for every learner to partake in meaningful and challenging experiential learning, ultimately preparing them for successful clinical practice.ConclusionFrom scenario design to debriefing techniques, this article offers insights and recommendations grounded in evidence-based practices, thereby empowering educators to optimize the effectiveness and accessibility of their simulation programs. By embracing UDL principles, educators in health professions education can create simulation experiences that cater to the diverse needs of learners, ensuring that all participants have the opportunity to thrive and succeed in their learning journeys.

At the heart of universal design for learning (UDL) is an appreciation of the variability and diversity of learners. This chapter reflects on the experience of embedding the principles of UDL in the context of a large, higher education class comprising 400+ students. The case study examines the deliberate alignment of the multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement pillars of UDL with the curriculum, teaching, learning, and assessment pillars of pedagogy. Creating a variety of avenues to the core concepts addressed the diversity in the group, allowing for deep engagement with some complex ideas. Provision of choice around assessment developed a sense of agency as students could tailor their work to align with their interests and experiences while simultaneously meeting the learning outcomes, thereby enhancing engagement. The principles of embedding UDL in large class pedagogy can be applied across higher education albeit they may need to be adapted for the specific requirements of the content area.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the extent to which publicly available middle school science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) lesson plans address the needs of diverse students through the universal design for learning (UDL) framework. Given the growing demand for STEM competencies and the persistent achievement gaps stemming from insufficient early preparation, this research highlights the need for inclusive and engaging STEM curricula beginning in middle school. Design/methodology/approach This study examined a sample of 6th–8th grade STEM lessons collected from online public databases to assess how well these lessons meet the needs of diverse students. A quantitative content analysis was conducted to study how the components of each lesson either support or hinder the participation and engagement of students with varying needs. Findings The analysis revealed that while some lessons demonstrated elements of UDL, most lacked consistent application across all three UDL principles. The representation principle was particularly underused. Practical implications Teachers and curriculum developers should consider applying UDL principles more intentionally when designing STEM lessons, particularly those intended for free public use. Incorporating these principles may enhance accessibility and engagement for all students. Originality/value This study contributes to the limited research on the intersection of STEM education and UDL at the middle school level. This offers valuable insights for improving instructional design and calls for broader, more inclusive approaches to curriculum development in STEM education.

Much has been done to assure that social justice is achieved by providing equal opportunity for access to education, but less has been done to provide equal opportunity for learning success. This chapter addresses how an organizational trainer/faculty (instructor) may become an Equal Opportunity Instructor for Learning Success (EOILS). In particular, it provides guidance for how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Elements of Learning may be combined in an innovative manner to design and implement classes that will provide equal opportunity for learning success. This is accomplished by presenting the UDL Principles and Elements of Learning while showing how course improvements may be made. There are three examples resulting in the final implementation that incorporates significant use of UDL Principles and Elements of Learning. Faculty and organizational trainers (training and development) around the world would likely benefit from the use of UDL.

This paper addresses one-size-fits-all curricula issue by integrating universal design for learning (UDL) as an innovative pedagogical approach for creating learning spaces for all students in the classroom - regardless of their ability and facilitates instructional adaptations that bring students together as a community of common learners. In this study, digital technologies were incorporated to support three UDL principles (multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement). The quantitative results of this research study revealed that students of Grade 3 exhibited physical engagement after receiving the UDL-infused instructions, but this gain was not significant in comparison to those who received the conventional instructions. Moreover, the gains were not significant in terms of emotional and cognitive engagement. Whereas, the qualitative themes that emerged in this study, under classroom environment and three factors of engagement - cognitive, emotional and physical, indicate that UDL provides teachers with a useful model for creating an enabling environment for all students to learn and engage.

The inclusion of individuals with disabilities in concept and practice is not new to education. However, the attainment of inclusion has been a struggle in most Western countries since the 1980s. The application of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to classroom practices has the promise of making the goal of inclusion more attainable. In this chapter, the authors outline a definition of inclusion as a foundation for the need for Universal Design. Then a description of the important principles of UDL is described, with attention to the research that supports its use and application. Lastly, the authors describe the technology trends that, along with UDL principles, have the greatest impact on education in K-12 classrooms, higher education, virtual settings, and in community settings with adults and seniors.