Pedagogy and Student Services for Institutional Transformation:

Inclusion for All First-Year Students

Presentation at the 25th Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience

Atlanta, GA

February, 2006

Presenters:

• Jeanne L. Higbee, higbe002@umn.edu

• Mary Ellen Shaw, shawx001@umn.edu

• Dana B. Lundell, lunde010@umn.edu

• David Ghere, ghere001@umn.edu

General College, University of Minnesota, Appleby Hall, 128 Pleasant Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455

Agenda• Brief introduction to Universal Design (UD) and

Universal Instructional Design (UID)

• Why UID? Film clip: “Disclosure” from Uncertain Welcome

• UID as a model for multicultural education

• Implementing UID in advising and first-year experience courses

• Implementing UID in a history course

• Information about PASS IT summer institute on implementing UID

Universal Design

Architectural concept that refers to designing a space to take into consideration the needs of all potential users of that space

Curb-Cuts

Accommodating individuals one at a time

Universal Design: Barrier-free, fewer individual accommodations needed

Universal Design Continuum

Americans with Disabilities Act

Universal Instructional Design(North Carolina State University, 1997; based on Chickering & Gamson, 1987)

• Create a respectful learning environment• Determine essential course components• Establish clear expectations and feedback• Develop natural supports for learning, including

through use of technology• Use multiple teaching strategies• Provide multiple types of opportunities to demonstrate

knowledge

• Encourage contact between students and faculty

Enhancing Classroom Climate• Establish ground rules for class discussion• Avoid singling out students who receive

accommodations• Recognize the authority of personal experience• Attend to physical needs of students• Share your own experiences• Honor diversity and cultural differences• Develop inclusive syllabus statements

Benefits of UID for Students• Eliminates need to be segregated for some

accommodations (e.g., extended time)

• Addresses stigma associated with medical model (disability as deficiency)

• Recognizes individual differences among all learners, including differences in preferred learning styles

• Enables students to demonstrate knowledge in multiple ways

Benefits of UID for Faculty and Staff

• Cost-effective

• Time-efficient

• Enhances student engagement in learning

• Reduces need for last-minute modifications to accommodate students with a variety of needs, including but not limited to students with disabilities

Challenges for Faculty and Staff

• Advance planning/time constraints

• Knowledge of available technologies

• Familiarity with local resources

• Administrative support (for tenure-track faculty, particularly in the form of recognition for excellence in teaching and service as well as in research in the tenure and promotion process)

Why Universal Instructional Design?

Video clip from

Uncertain Welcome(available streamed from CTAD Web site)

Academic Modification Requires Balance Between

Rights of students with disabilities to equal access.

College’s right to maintain academic and technical standards integral to its mission.

Viewing Disability Within the Frameworks of

Diversity and Multiculturalism

Defining Diversity

“Diversity signifies the simple recognition of the existence of

different social group identities.”

(Miksch et al., 2003, p. 5)

Inclusive Definition of Diversity

• race• ethnicity• socioeconomic

class• home language• disability• age

• gender

• religion

• sexual orientation

• recognition of multiple social identities

Defining Multiculturalism

“If diversity is an empirical condition . . .,

multiculturalism names a particular posture towards this

reality.”

(Miksch et al., 2003, p. 6)

Defining Multiculturalism

“an idea, an educational reform movement, and a

process”

(Banks, 2001, p. 2)

James Banks’ 5 Dimensions of Multicultural Education

• content integration

• knowledge construction

• prejudice reduction

• equity pedagogy

• empowering school culture

How can UID serve as a model for multicultural postsecondary

education? (relate to Banks)• Modeling equity pedagogy

• Creating learning environments where no one feels segregated or excluded, where all students feel empowered

• Enabling students to construct knowledge in a manner that recognizes their life experiences and values difference

UID as a model for multicultural postsecondary education (cont.)

• Implementing content integration through consideration of all possible learners when developing course content, selecting textbooks and other course materials, and determining methods of disseminating information and assessing learning

• Reducing prejudice and stereotyping through more inclusive learning environments that encourage intergroup interaction

Universal Design in Student Services

• GC 1086: The First-Year Experience– Curricular features: More, shorter assignments;

exams account for only 20% of course grade; knowledge demonstrated in different ways; content delivery through different formats; study guides created by instructor to focus on development of higher-order thinking skills

– Course structure: Faculty-led lecture; discussion sections taught by assigned adviser for development of a community of learners

Student Services and Instructional Interaction: Aids All Students

• Academic alert system– Individualized electronic messages of concern or praise from

instructor to student at any point of the semester

– Goes to student and adviser as e-mail; available to adviser in aggregate report

• 6-week and 10-week comprehensive reports– Grade to date and individualized statement of progress, with

opportunity to respond with a click of the mouse to objective factors (e.g., #s of absences or missing assignments) & to provide comments

– E-mail to student; aggregate report to adviser

Adviser as “Counselor-Advocate”

• Ongoing training in diversity and disability issues• Proactive, intrusive advising: reaching out when

concerns arise for all students• Developmental approach: fostering growth and

independence over time• Integration of career assessment and exploration• Establishing intimacy and trust: allows hidden

disabilities to be disclosed, undiagnosed disabilities assessed, services obtained

• Advocacy with instructors, within institution

Implementing UID in the Classroom:

What Are Essential Components? The outcomes (skills, knowledge, and attitudes)

all students must demonstrate with or without using accommodations to be evaluated in a nondiscriminatory manner

Outcome, not process

Articulating the essential components of your course allows you to

• treat all students fairly

• feel confident when making course modifications for students who are ill or who have extreme personal circumstances

• determine reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities

To determine the essential components of your course, consider the following:

• The purpose of your course• Whether the course serves as a prerequisite for

subsequent course work• Outcomes absolutely required of all students in the

course, with or without accommodations• Instructional methods that most effectively address

the essential outcomes• Effective measures that allow you to evaluate all

students fairly

Implementing UID in the Classroom:

Dissemination of Knowledge(Variety of Classroom Activities)

• Lecture with questions

• Class discussion: “pregnant pause”

• Detailed explanations of overheads: maps, tables, charts, or graphs

• Conduct analysis of documents or data

• Simulations and role playing questions

Implementing UID in the Classroom:

Dissemination of Knowledge(Using Multiple Formats)

• Review sheets keyed to textbooks

• Online or alternative formats for maps, charts, graphs or lecture outlines

• Handouts – Online or distribute previously

• Electronic – Web sites, white board, chat rooms, and e-mail

Implementing UID in the Classroom:

Assessment of Knowledge (Using Multiple Formats)

• Mixed composition of exams and sets of exam items in different formats

• Essay questions announced in advance

• Unlimited time or generous time limits

• Interactive activities; oral presentations

• Short writing assignments

• Self assessments; peer assessments

Pedagogy and Student Services for Institutional Transformation

(PASS IT)• Current U.S. Department of Education grant,

2005-2008, # P333A050023 ACT #1

• http://www.gen.umn.edu/research/passit

• Online applications now being accepted for PASS IT Summer Institute, 8/2-4/06, for faculty, administrators, & student services

• Web site will be updated as new materials are developed

Curriculum Transformation and Disability (CTAD)

• U.S. Department of Education grant, 1999-2002, #P333A990015

• http://www.gen.umn.edu/research/ctad

• Source for Workshop Facilitator’s Guide: Helping Postsecondary Faculty Make Their Classes More Accessible to All Students

• Source for Uncertain Welcome video

Center for Research on Developmental Education and Urban

Literacy (CRDEUL)

• Affiliate for both CTAD and PASS IT

• http://www.gen.umn.edu/research/crdeul

• Resource for Curriculum Transformation and Disability: Implementing Universal Design in Higher Education, 300+ page book downloadable in pdf format: Click on Publications, then Books

Additional Handouts:• Bibliography

• Legal Resources

• Web Sites

• Assistive Technologies

• “Enhancing the Inclusiveness of First-Year Courses Through Universal Instructional Design” (Higbee, Chung, & Hsu, 2004)

• PASS IT Summer Institute Information

• PASS IT Evaluation--Thank you!