Think UDL

In this engaging conversation, Meghan Donnelly, an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Austin College, shares her innovative use of conversational quizzes to enhance student learning. She discusses how these low-stakes assessments improve classroom dynamics and showcase students’ diverse strengths. Meghan also reveals practical tips for simplifying assignment instructions using the Hemingway App and highlights the benefits of integrating oral assessments alongside traditional formats. Her insights offer creative solutions for fostering inclusive classroom environments.

Welcome to Episode 150 of the Think UDL podcast: Programmatic UDL in Professional Studies with Erin Lewis. Dr. Erin Lewis is the Director of Professional Studies at Appalachian State University and a trusted colleague on our newly opened Hickory campus. She is also one of the only women I actually feel short around since she and I are right around 6 feet tall and she can still rock the high heels that i gave up on in my youth! For that, and for many other ways she is a dynamo on our campus and for our university, she has attained hero status in my eyes. The professional Studies major is available to all students (traditional and non-traditional, in-person and online) at App State in Boone, Hickory and online. In this episode we will discuss the ways that this major and program have adopted many UDL design aspects to lower barriers for students both on the macro level to degree completion, and in the micro level in some of the courses that comprise the major. It is a discussion of how a university can lower barriers to learning without reducing rigor and by providing a path for learner agency to degree completion and student success. I think you’ll really enjoy listening to the success stories at the end of our discussion as well!

Welcome to Episode 149 of the Think UDL podcast: Advancing Learning with Nicole Parsons. Dr. Nicole Parsons is an Associate Professor and the Co-Director of the Program for Advancement of Learning or PAL at Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts. I was impressed by the PAL program when I heard about it at a recent conference and also the important UDL research they are doing to advance learning for their students. If you want to learn more about UDL interventions in statistics classes, listen to episode 148 of this podcast: Students Tell Us What Works in Statistics with Jen McNally and Laura Callis. In today’s episode, Nicole Parsons and I discuss the program for advancement of learning (PAL) in general and how this brings down barriers for students at Curry College.

Jen McNally, a Professor at Curry College, and Laura Callis, an Associate Professor, dive into inclusive statistics education through their DISCUS-IS project. They explore how students themselves drive better learning outcomes, sharing creative teaching methods like simulation-based inference using engaging examples such as coin flips and dolphins. Their research shows promising results in closing achievement gaps and increasing student engagement. They also discuss strategies to decode complex statistics language and involve neurodivergent students in meaningful ways.

Welcome to Episode 147 of the Think UDL podcast: Nursing Education with John Gilmore and Freda Browne. Dr. John P Gilmore (RGN FHEA) is an Assistant Professor and Head of Subject - Adult General Nursing, and Dr. Freda Browne, is an Assistant Professor and Program Director of the BS General Nursing, University College, Dublin School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems. I met with these lovely scholars in Dublin at a UDL conference and wanted them to share what they are doing to bring Universal Design for Learning in nursing education to Think UDL listeners, as folks still ask me often about UDL in STEM fields. Today we will discuss how John and Freda infuse UDL into their nursing education program including how they incorporate student collaborators throughout their program. You can find resources associated with today’s conversation on the thinkUDL.org website.

Welcome to Episode 146 of the Think UDL podcast: Futureproofing with Adam Davison and Clare Squires. Adam Davison is the Lead Specialist Autism Mentor and Clare Squires is the Disability Officer for Autism both at De Montfort University in Leicester, United Kingdom. I met Clare and Adam at the AHEAD conference in Dublin, Ireland, and was intrigued by the programs they have created to help Autistic students transition out of university and into the working world. We have many college and university programs that help students transition into college, but Clare and Adam saw a need for programs to help students think through life after college and confront and prepare for the challenges outside of the university that do not necessarily have to do with academic life. In today’s episode, we discuss the need for these programs and what De Montfort University has to offer, and also the many successes of these programs. You can read more about “Future Proofing” in this episodes resources on thinkUDL.org website and thank you for listening to the Think UDL podcast.

Welcome to Episode 145 of the Think UDL podcast: Intentional Workshop Design with Tolu Noah. Dr. Tolu Noah is the Instructional Learning Spaces Coordinator at California State University, Long Beach and is a gifted speaker, facilitator and presenter. Every time I get the chance to talk with Tolu I learn something new, inventive, and helpful for my own teaching and presenting. I am very happy to get a chance to talk to her about her upcoming book, Designing and Facilitating Workshops with Intentionality: A Guide to Crafting Engaging Professional Learning Experiences in Higher Education. I had the chance to be a pre-reader for the book and am so excited to see this out in the world and help so many of us who teach in so many contexts. It is an incredibly thoughtful and helpful guide. You can find out more about her book and how to pre-order on the resource section for this episode at ThinkUDL.org. And you can pre-order the book June 4-24 before its release date of June 25th. Today’s conversation delves into how UDL is such an important part and guiding principle of Tolu’s practice and her book and how UDL can help design really fantastic learning opportunities in the workshop format!

Welcome to Episode 144 of the Think UDL podcast: Accessible Workplaces with Connor Duignan. Connor Duignan is a Technical Software Developer at Innopharma Education. I met Connor at the AHEAD (Association On Higher Education and Disability) conference in Dublin, Ireland. His talk “Tertiary Education as Accessible Workplaces” beautifully summarized what accommodations and structures we have in higher education could also be transferred to the workplace to make a better working environment for all involved. In our conversation, we discuss principles that should be in place to make the workplace more flexible and accessible. This episode hits on the major ideas of Connor’s thesis with some excellent talking points for employers and employees to follow. Additionally, we had a wonderful time talking about the Irish language and its renaissance in Ireland, and why language itself is so important to a people and a culture. This is important to identity, culture, and individuality which is also linked to learner variability, and why we need to have places where everyone can bring their best selves in any environment, from higher ed to the workplace and everywhere else.

Welcome to Episode 143 of the Think UDL podcast: Accessible HOUSE with Trevor Boland. Trevor Boland is an Assistive Technology Officer at the DLSS (Disability and Learning Support Service) at Dublin City University in Dublin, Ireland. I had the good fortune to meet Trevor at the AHEAD (Association for Higher Education Accessibility and Disability) conference in Dublin recently and wanted to bring his great ideas about how we all can make our classes and workplaces more accessible, and how it isn’t just the instructor’s job to do so either. In today’s episode, we talk about a very entry level acronym for accessibility called HOUSE that you can share with your students as well as the Marrakesh Treaty, lots of accessibility resources, and what to do to start this process in your area. If you want to learn more you can find Trevor’s contact information along with the resources mentioned in today’s episode on the ThinkUDL.org website under resources just before the transcript for this episode. 

Welcome to Episode 142 of the Think UDL podcast: Empathetic Design with Jimena Vergara Sanz. Jimena is an Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. A teaching and learning college of mine introduced me to Jimena’s work, so I’d like to thank Derek Eggers in our Center for Teaching and Learning for Student Success for this fantastic connection. In today’s episode, we discuss empathetic design, human-centered design, adaptive design versus universal design, and of course, universal design for learning. I learned so much from the exercises Professor Jimena Vergara Sanz has introduced to her students and so have her students and also, so has she as we will discuss. We talk about her interesting journey as a professor in a foreign context, that is being an international professor teaching in the United States, and also how having a physical disability informs her teaching practice. And we end with hope. So much hope! And how we need empathy in the world and how empathetic design makes the world so much better–not just in education, but in politics, the medical and medical insurance field, and just everywhere. I am so excited to bring this conversation to you and if you want to learn more you can find Jimena’s contact information along with the articles mentioned in today’s episode on the ThinkUDL.org website resources just before the transcript for this episode.