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Kara R. McNish
Professor Michele Daly
EDTC 620
4 August 2015
Universal Instructional Design is something is a concept that was created in order to
minimize the learning barriers in education; not only ones that I will discuss but, all of the
barriers that exist in the different classrooms today. By minimizing these barriers, you can
maximize learning for all students, no matter their disability. By incorporating Universal
Instructional Design, we can give all of our students the optimal learning opportunity that they
deserve.
A widespread problem in the public education system today is the size of the classes. In
my experience, large class sizes in education are one of the most hindering factors in the success
of a child in the classroom. Students are thrown into already overcrowded classes and teachers
aren’t given adequate resources to provide all students with the help and support they require.
This becomes even worse when the class is fully or mixed with students that have any type of
learning disability (physical, mental, emotional, etc.). Large class sizes don’t only have an
impact on the learning process but, the overall morale of the teacher, the students, and the
classroom environment. The larger the class and the more they pack students into classes, the
less one on one time the teacher can have with each student; getting to know them, how they
learn, what they struggle with, and what they excel in.
According to a study done by the Johns Hopkins School of Education’s, “New Horizon’s
for Learning” program, large class sizes are a huge factor in how well students perform in school
and on standardized tests. An optimal class size consists of about 15-20 students, a class of this
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size revealed that the students improved distinctly not only in the classroom but, on standardized
state testing. Also, according to the University of Washington, they suggest one of the best
accommodations for students with Autism/Autism spectrum disorder, ADD and ADHD is
smaller class sizes. Speak with any teacher and I’m sure they would tell you the same
information, even without the evidence of the results of the study; class size is a huge factor in
everything from the learning success of the students to the overall morale of the classroom.
Large class sizes are a huge learning barrier not only in my district but, many districts.
Another learning barrier that exists in my work setting is the lack of motivation. Teaching
at the high school level, it can be expected that a lot of teenagers don’t enjoy school. A lot of
them lack the motivation to learn, complete homework and assignments in a timely fashion,
participate in class discussions, and even come to school prepared. It is all a part of the teenage
angst morale. It is a problem in many high school environments for all types of learners from
students with disabilities, middle of the road to advanced students, most teenagers will
experience a lack of motivation at some point in their high school career and it can be a huge
learning barrier in the classroom.
Finding a way to present the topic you are teaching in an interesting and captivating way
for teenagers can be difficult. Not all subjects and topics are fun and lively but, providing a
teacher with different resources may it be technology, lab equipment, facilities, sports apparatus,
etc. can help the teacher break the motivation learning barrier. Often, talking to students about
which classes and subjects they love, you’ll find they enjoy the classes based on the teacher’s
delivery and the way in which they introduce topics, create relevant assignments, and treat the
students fairly and with respect. All of these factors can help break down the lack of motivation
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barrier but, don’t always work, teenagers are difficult to motivate and each of them have
different things that drive them.
There are numerous ways in which I can incorporate principles from the Universal
Instructional Design into my work setting. These principles will not only enhance my student’s
access to learning but, augment my skills as a teacher. The first principle that I could implement
would be providing my students with different options to view or display the information I give
to them. Learning is impossible if the student cannot perceive the information given to them.
Providing students with different options of displaying the notes, projects, assignments, and
announcements can be very beneficial in helping maximize learning for all students. Using
different visuals, on top of regular text notes, such as charts and graphs will help enhance the
learning for certain learners who may understand a concept better through displaying it in a
chart or graph format. Giving students the access to devices where they can open documents and
links directly on their computer rather than attempting to read from the Smart Board, will also
benefit many of them. Providing students with options for language and symbols through
incorporating different types of media to enhance lessons such as videos and/or sound clips for
blind students, and videos with captions or text equivalents for deaf or hearing impaired students
will also help maximize learning for all students, and using subtitles or text equivalents in the
native language of an English Language Learner will help all students be able to understand the
concepts presented. Incorporating a lot of technology in all different aspects will not only help
enhance and enrich the lesson for all students but, will help provide various options of perception
for students with different disabilities.
Another principle from the Universal Instructional Design that I can incorporate into my
work setting in order to enhance my students access to learning would be, providing students
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with multiple options for physical action. Being a Business Teacher, all of my classes are in a
computer lab where each student has access to a desktop computer. There are many different
options for technologies that can aide in the means of navigation, physical response, and provide
different options access options. Utilizing assistive technologies such as different mice, talk to
text devices, on screen keyboards, camera mouse (a program where you can control the mouse
with your head through screen instead of a mouse), AIM navigator (where students can different
audio and text formats from Braille to large print and electronic text) and so many more can help
all of my students succeed in my class.
Furthermore, another principle that I can incorporate from the Universal Instructional
Design would be providing different options in order to successfully recruit interest and sustain
effort. This would also help eliminate one of the learning barriers that I had previously
mentioned; lack of motivation. Providing students with lessons and coinciding assignments that
are appropriate to their age and the time they live in will help them in turn become more
motivated. Infusing socially and culturally relevant activities and sources of information for
examples can help students better conceptualize concepts and lessons. Updating the curriculum
on a consistent basis and making it overall more relevant to the changing times, backgrounds,
lives, and minds of the students of today would help teachers like myself, better recruit interest
and sustain effort in the classroom.
One class I teach that I feel like I can easily implements parts of the Universal
Instructional Design best would be Personal Finance. A particular lesson I had in mind is a
lesson on budgeting. In this class we are giving the students the background knowledge for them
to be able to make smart financial decisions when they leave high school. It is now a state
mandated class. In my lesson on budget, I usually start with a YouTube video on budgeting that
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is a little bit silly but grabs their attention. Then we go into the short lecture on the concept of
budgeting, parts of a budget, standard percentages for parts of a budget, paying yourself first and
so on. After giving students notes, we create a simulated budget together as a class on the
computer using Excel, based on a teacher given budget scenario. We create the budget in Excel
utilizing formulas and creating graphs and charts with the finished budgets then, analyzed the
budget together. We utilized this as a working example and then the students broke off into
groups, picked from a box to reveal their budget scenario, and worked as a group to complete
their budget the same way we did it in Excel and analyze it based on the questions provided by
the teacher.
How can I make this lesson universal? Providing students with different formats of the
notes from just printing them, printing them with larger font, giving them access to the document
on the computer so they can change the color, size, layout etc., providing students with software
that can read the notes from the computer to them, or providing a note taking device or a person
to scribe. Another thing I can do is provide captions on the video I used in class, provide
subtitles, printed text from the video, and giving students access to the videos on their own
computers. Using groups to work on the assignment will help accommodate to a lot of student’s
specialized needs. Also, setting up my classroom to provide certain students with preferential
seating (i.e. closer to the teacher, projector, door, and more personal space) is an easy
accommodation that can be made to help students. Additionally, providing my students with
different assistive technologies as different mice, talk to text devices, on screen keyboards,
camera mouse, AIM navigator will benefit them greatly. Lastly, in order to recruit more interest
in this lesson, creating budget scenarios that can be current and relatable to the students will help
recruit more interest and keep them interested throughout the entirety of the lesson. All of these
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implementations can help make a wide range of student more comfortable and successful in my
classroom thus, making it more universal. Making these changes in this particular lesson, I
would be accommodating many disabilities including: blindness, low vision, deaf, hard of
hearing, mobility impairments, attention deficits, health impairments, learning impairments and
overall students with special needs.
Making changes to a curriculum to adopt a new concept is going to be hard but, what I
think would be the hardest strategies to adopt are: purchasing the assistive technology programs,
layout of the classroom, and getting any type of extra manpower (scribe, para educator, etc.).
Purchasing anything in a school district is quite the challenge between budget cuts and dividing
the money up equally, it seems like we never have enough money for the budget but, purchasing
assistive technology would be even more difficult than the norm. It would be more difficult
mainly because it is so expensive. One way to help would be to research and apply for specific
grants for special education and assistive technology in the classroom; these are a great way to
aide in paying for the assistive technology. Changing the layout of the classroom to better
accommodate for certain students needs sounds like an easy task but, being that I am in a
computer lab that makes the task much harder. We have access points and lots of cords and
wires, making it difficult to really change the layout of the classroom. Once these access points
and Wi-fi hubs are put in, we don’t really have much of a choice on where to put the desks and
computers. Lastly, extra manpower from scribes or para educators is very difficult. Not only are
positions cut and we have less and less help but, being that I am an elective teacher, it is not
required for the students to have para educators in my class.
With all that being said, I think there are some adoptions that would be easier to make.
Utilizing technology to help students format text to be able to better interpret it is very easy for
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me because I am in a computer lab environment and they always have access to the computers.
Providing students with different forms (printed, electronic, etc.) of notes or any supplemental
materials is also very simple. Lastly, teaching Business classes makes it a little easier to make
topics and lessons relevant to the students and have the assignments relate to them, which can
help recruit interest and sustain effort. Our content area is more relatable to them and their lives
outside of school; it is also more practical and we can help them visualize and conceptualize how
they will use it once they are out of school or even right now in their personal life. These are the
implementation strategies that I would find to be the easiest to adopt in my particular classroom
environment and district.
All in all, Universal Instructional Design is a great concept and one that can do wonders
for our education system. I believe that in the state we are in, in New Jersey, with overcrowded
classrooms, budget cuts, and no respect from our local government officials, we would have a
hard time implementing this concept efficiently and effectively. It is a shame that it isn’t easier to
do because, it does minimize barriers and maximize learning for all different types of students,
disabilities or not, and, that should always be the main goal.
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Works Cited
Access STEM. 2015. http://www.washington.edu/doit/health-impairments. July 2015.
CAST. n.d. http://www.cast.org/our-work/about-udl.html#.Vb-7M_lVhBc. July 2015.
National Center on Universal Design for Learning . 2012. http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl. July 2015.
Rios, Robert J. "Johns Hopkins School of Education." July 1998. New Horizons For Learning.
http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Transforming%20Education/Articles/Class%20Size/.
July 2015.
Sousa, David A. How The Special Needs Brain Learns. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press, 2007.