Creating Welcoming Learning Environment: Supporting Universal

Design in Learning

Jon Howe Doctoral Candidate, Department of Special Education, University of Arizona.

Adjunct Instructor, Pima Community College, NW

Diedre Lamb

Curricular Access Manager, Disability Resource Center University of Arizona

Objective

To be able to increase accessibility for students with disabilities in the educational environment

through your areas of influence.

Areas of Influence

Advising Instruction

Physical Plant

Educational Environment

Why Does it Matter? • 45% of disabled vs. 73% of non-disabled attend college

• 16% of disabled vs. 25% of non-disabled graduate

• 15 to 37% of disabled vs. 57 to 66% of non-disabled use career counseling services (NCES)

• Retention and graduation rates are declining and literature in the area has begun to find that strategies that are successful in supporting students with disabilities benefit other at risk students as well (Reiff, 1997)

• Advising services on college campuses are one of the most important aspects of student academic experiences (DO-IT, 2011)

Two Ways of Looking at Disability

• A disability is a result of a problem that a student has.

• A disability is a result of attitudes and the design of the environment.

Relative Participation by Department

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

Disabled All students

Almost one-third of college graduates with a variety of disabilities reported

being discouraged from pursuing their preferred major.

(Silver, Strehorn, and Bourke, 1997 from Aune, 2000).

Different Disabilities and Why Does it Matter? (NCES, 2010)

Learning Disability

Mobility

Health

Emotional

Hearing

Vision

Speech

Other

Most Common Accommodations

• Alternate exam formats

• Extended exam time

• Tutors

• Readers, classroom note takers, or scribes

• Registration assistance

• Adaptive equipment or technology

• Textbooks on tape

• Course substitutions or waivers – (NCES, 1999)

Inclusive Educational Environment: Not Fragmented by Disability

Vision for Universal Design

• An emphasis on provision of effective services and teaching instead of legally mandated accommodations.

• Everyone takes advantage of the same product and are included right away

• Alternate formats will be standard • People with disabilities will not need to continually

advocate for their needs • Approval for accommodations will be unnecessary • Disability has significant representation in faculty, staff

and students (Scott, Loewen, Funckes & Kroeger, 2008)

Principals of Universal Design (Burgstahler, 2008)

Equitable use

Flexibility in use

Simple and Intuitive

Perceptible information

Tolerance for error

Ideas for Implementing Universal Design in Advising and Teaching

• Ensure physical space is accessible to all

• Ensure communication methods accessible to all: online, in person, hand-outs and forms

• Provide information prior to meeting with student

• Be a facilitator for student instead of a helper

• Continually check for understanding

Question 1

• What do you already do in your practice that you think might be aligned with UD?

Question 2

What student struggles do faculty talk to you about?

Question 3

• How have you responded to concerns from faculty identified in question 2?

Model for UD Development from Program in 15 Community Colleges in Massachusetts

(Behling & Hart, 2004)

• Core Team members pick at least one area to become an expert in: – Course curriculum – Instruction – Assessment – The environment

• Core Team – Create local expertise – Build trust and support networks – Become mentors

• Important Considerations – Initiate UD from within – Listen to the participants' needs – Emphasize the benefits to all students – Gain administrative support – Development a network of peer mentors

Positive attitudes toward disability are not enough there must be actual

concrete support (Aune, 1997).

References

Aune. B. (2000). Career and Academic Advising. New Directions for Student Services, 91, Jossey-Bass Publishers 55-66. Behling, K. & Hart. D. (2008). Universal Course Design: A Model for Professional Development. In Universal Design in Higher Education From Principles to Practice. Burgstahler, S.E. & , R.C. Ed. Boston, Harvard Education Press. Burgstahler, S.E. (2008). Universal in Higher Education. In Universal Design in Higher Education From Principles to Practice. Burgstahler, S.E. & , R.C. Ed. Boston, Harvard Education Press. BDO-IT : A Project to Help Postsecondary Campus Services Administrators Work Successfully with Students Who Have Disabilities : http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Academics/admin.html Harding, B & Miller, M. 2011, Academic Advising for Student Retention and Persistence: Webinar Handout. NACADA http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/ McGuire, J. &. Scott, S. (2006). Universal Design for Instruction: Extending the Universal Design Paradigm to College Instruction. Journal of Post secondary Education and disability, 19(2) 125- NCES. (2010). National Center for Educational Statistics. National Center for Educational Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=59 retrieved 9/9/10 Reiff. H.B. (1997).Academic advising: An approach from learning disability research. Journal of Counseling and development 75, 433-441 Scott, S., Loewen, G., Funckes, C., Kroeger, K. (2008). Universal Design in Higher Education: Moving Beyond the Built Environment. A report developed by the Universal Design Think Tank Hosted by the Association on Higher Education and Disability. Silver, P., Strehorn, K. C., and Bouke, A. (1997). The 1993 Employment Follow-Up Study of Selected Graduates with Disabilities. Journal of College Student Development. 38( 520–526. Stevenson, M (2010). If they Can’t Stand the Heat …’: Supporting the Academic Development of Higher Education Students with Anxiety and Depression Disorders The Open Rehabilitation Journal, 2010, 3, 41-46 University of Arizona web site: http://drc.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/Annual08-09.pdf.

Handouts

• Aune. B. (2000). Career and Academic Advising. New Directions for Student Services, 91, Jossey-Bass Publishers 55-66.

• NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising: http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Webinars/recordings/documents/W36ResourcesHandout.pdf

• DO-IT : A Project to Help Postsecondary Campus Services Administrators Work Successfully with Students Who Have Disabilities: http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Academics/admin.html

• Behling, K. & Hart. D. (2008). Universal Course Design: A Model for Professional Development. In Universal Design in Higher Education From Principles to Practice. Burgstahler, S.E. & , R.C. Ed. Boston, Harvard Education Press.