UDL and Student Wellbeing
The Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning provides some terrific resources. I was especially intrigued by the resource titled Wellbeing in Course Design which starts out stating that “faculty members play an important role in proactively supporting student wellbeing… and can help create the conditions that support wellbeing.” They follow with a list of best practices grouped into four categories:
- Supportive classroom environment
- Valuing meaning and application beyond the classroom
- Flexible course design
- Meaningful assessment
As I read through the list of best practices, I note that many of them are also techniques associated with Universal Design for Learning, such as:
- Make explicit connections that exist between course materials and the real world
- Offer students the option to choose their best two out of three (or four out of five, etc.) grades for individual assignments or quizzes
- Break large assignments/projects into multiple stages and provide timely feedback on each component
- Incorporate multiple methods of assessing student participation in courses where it is a component of students’ final grade
The article also references the Caring for Students Playbook (downloadable PDF). This useful resource is full of detailed inclusive teaching strategies and resources covering topics from syllabus and course content to assessment, communication, institutional supports and self-care.
If you would like assistance with or to discuss implementing these or other inclusive teaching practices, please reach out to the instructional designers in ITS Learning and Applied Innovation (LAI) by filling out the LAI Outreach and Consultation form.
