About Top 5 UDL
The Top 5 Universal Design for Learning Strategy Series is a Provost Endorsed series of workshops that assist faculty in designing course materials and implementing instructional strategies that proactively reduce barriers for all learners. The strategies discussed in this series are aligned with pedagogy and the Universal Design for Learning framework, particularly the multiple means of representation and action and expression principles. Equipped with these tools and knowledge, faculty can create inclusive learning environments.
Completing the Endorsement
- To track your progress through the Top 5 UDL Provost Endorsement Program, download and save the Top 5 UDL Provost Endorsement Program Requirements checklist. You will be asked to submit this checklist to be awarded the endorsement.
- Once you have completed the required workshops and teaching circle, write a 1 to 3 page reflective statement documenting the changes you have made to your practice.
- Submit your checklist and reflective statement to the Top 5 UDL Completion form. Please note that this form will ask for your PSU ID (the number that begins with a 9), so that your completion can be tracked in the Learning Resource Network and attached to your Activity Insights.
Core Workshops
You must complete three (3) core required workshops. These workshops cover universal design and pedagogical concepts that all faculty encounter in their classroom. These include reflection on your syllabus, designing in the Canvas learning management system, and the integration of visuals and videos.
Designing Your Syllabus to Support Learner Success
Designing Your Syllabus to Support Learner Success
Universal Design Guideline: Multiple Means of Representation Did you know that the majority of disabled learners in your classroom have invisible disabilities that you can not see? The recommended strategies to reach these disabled learners actually benefit ALL learners in your classroom. This hands-on workshop will focus on strategies that you can use to make your course more universally designed for all learners. During the workshop, you will be able to apply your new skills to your course syllabus.
Upcoming Workshop Dates
- Tuesday, August 13, 2024 from 2 to 3 P.M.
- Monday, August 19, 2024 from 2 to 3 P.M.
- Wednesday, September 25, 2024 from 2 to 3 P.M.
- Tuesday, January 7, 2025 from 1 to 2 P.M.
Please register in advance. Registration: Designing Your Syllabus to Support Learner Success
Designing in Canvas for All Learners, Part 1
Designing in Canvas for All Learners, Part 1
Universal Design Guideline: Multiple Means of Representation, Engagement, & Action and Expression One of the key components of learner success is designing course content that learners can easily consume. By considering the design of course content in Canvas, faculty can significantly affect how successful learners are in a course. This workshop will provide participants with strategies that they can use to create content in Canvas that will reduce barriers for learners.
Upcoming Workshop Dates
- Friday, August 23, 2024 from 10:00 to 11:00 A.M.
- Friday, January 10, 2025 from 11:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M.
Please register in advance. Registration: Designing in Canvas for All Learners, Part 1
Considering the Big Picture When Using Visuals in the Classroom
Considering the Big Picture When Using Visuals in the Classroom
Universal Design Guideline: Multiple Means of Representation They say a picture is worth a thousand words. What if a visual is a complex graphic or map? How do learners know what they should be thinking about when they interpret a visual? What if the learner has low vision or a cognitive processing issue? How does that complicate the ideas they are able to understand from the visual? This workshop will help participants to view visuals as one component in the bigger puzzle of providing content to learners. Strategies for helping learners navigate the visuals in your course will be presented, along with opportunities to apply those skills to your own course content during the workshop session.
Upcoming Workshop Dates
- Wednesday, September 18, 2024 from 1 to 2 P.M.
- Thursday, September 19, 2024 from 11 A.M. to 12 P.M.
- Tuesday, October 1, 2024 from 10 to 11 A.M.
Please register in advance. Registration: Considering the Big Pictures When Using Visuals in the Classroom
Designing Videos to Engage All Learners
Designing Videos to Engage All Learners
Universal Design Guideline: Multiple Means of Representation Using instructional video in your course can certainly increase learner engagement with course material by providing alternative representations of ideas and options for learners. They also can demonstrate the relevance and value of course content. However, all learners cannot consume video content in the traditional ways that some learners do. Articulating the relationship between course video and learning objectives is also key to helping learners engage with video content. This course will help participants to adapt current instructional videos to ensure that learners can fully engage with the ideas represented in those videos. It will also provide best practices for creating new instructional videos with these guidelines in mind. Participants will have time to practice their new skills during the workshop. Strategies for delivering instructional videos in in-person classrooms will also be discussed.
Upcoming Workshops
Please register in advance. Registration: Designing Videos to Engage All Learners
Elective Workshops
You must complete two (2) elective workshops of your choice. These workshops cover universal design and pedagogical concepts that might be more nuanced for a specific discipline or delivery mode. They also might be advanced topics or related to content the faculty is interested in improving.
Universal Design Strategies for the In-Person Classroom
Universal Design Strategies for the In-Person Classroom
Universal Design Guideline: Multiple Means of Representation, Engagement, & Action and Expression When we deliver in-person courses, we often consider what content we need to cover, how we will convey that information to learners, how we will assess learner understanding, and what strategies will help us manage it all. This workshop will provide opportunities to consider the cognitive load of lectures, ways to deliver content in multiple modalities, and strategies and tools to build understanding for all learners.
Upcoming Workshop Dates
Please register in advance. Registration: Universal Design Strategies for the In-Person Classroom
Increasing Learner Success Through Universally Designed Assessments
Increasing Learner Success Through Universally Designed Assessments
Universal Design Guideline: Multiple Means of Engagement and Action & Expression Have you ever struggled with what feels like a disconnect between how some learners perform on assessments and what was taught in the classroom? There are some pedagogical strategies that can help all learners perform better on assessments, such as providing more opportunities for feedback and reflection and allowing learners to demonstrate their learning in varied ways. This workshop will help participants to adapt current instructional processes so that learners are more engaged with content and performance. It will also help participants to consider alternatives to their current assessment strategies, so learners can better demonstrate their understanding.
Upcoming Workshop Dates
Please register in advance. Registration: Increasing Learner Success Through Universally Designed Assessments
Instructional Strategies to Support Invisible Disabilities
Instructional Strategies to Support Invisible Disabilities
Universal Design Guideline: Multiple Means of Representation, Action/Expression, and Engagement What can you do as a faculty member? These disabilities can be unfamiliar, and the scope of supporting them can seem nebulous. Fortunately, many strategies for supporting invisible disabilities are common pedagogical strategies. Implementing them will make your course more universally designed, supportive of all learners, and more proactive than reactive to accommodations. This workshop will discuss:
- Potential characteristics of individuals with invisible disabilities
- Common pedagogical strategies that support all learners in your classroom, including those with invisible disabilities
- Specific strategies you can employ to support specific disabilities, when you are aware of them
Upcoming Workshop Dates
Please register in advance. Registration: Instructional Strategies to Support Invisible Disabilities
Supporting Learner Success in the Humanities Classroom
Supporting Learner Success in the Humanities Classroom
Universal Design Guideline: Multiple Means of Representation, Multiple Means of Engagement, and Action and Expression Humanities and social science course content present a variety of challenges when it comes to universal design. Depending on the course, content can be very specialized and intricate. This is exacerbated when learners potentially have visual, hearing, or cognitive barriers to consuming the content. This workshop will provide participants with strategies to make their content more approachable for all learners. Some of these strategies include writing long descriptions for complex graphics, supporting collaborative activities, integrating external content such as journals and OER, and designing documents to manage cognitive load.
Upcoming Workshops
Please register in advance. Registration: Supporting Learner Success in the Humanities Classroom
Creating STEM Content That All Learners Can Understand
Creating STEM Content that All Learners Can Understand
Universal Design Guideline: Multiple Means of Representation, Multiple Means of Engagement STEM content can be especially difficult for learners to comprehend. This includes content such as math and science equations, complex images, and tables. That difficulty increases when learners have a disability like ADHD or a cognitive processing disorder. This workshop will provide participants with strategies to make STEM content more approachable for all learners. Some of these strategies include writing long descriptions, building accessible equations, and designing complex tables.
Upcoming Workshop Dates
Please register in advance. Registration: Creating STEM Content that All Learners Can Understand
Designing in Canvas for All Learners, Part 2
Designing in Canvas for All Learners, Part 2
Universal Design Guideline: Multiple Means of Representation, Engagement, & Action and Expression A key component of learner success is course content that learners can easily consume. By considering the design of course content in Canvas, faculty can significantly affect how successful learners are in a course. This workshop is a second installment in designing course content in Canvas. It will provide participants with best practices related to developing the Canvas syllabus, assignments and page design, and supporting learners with Canvas tools. These strategies will help you reduce barriers for learners.
Upcoming Workshop Dates
Please register in advance: Registration: Designing in Canvas for All Learners, Part 2
Creating Universally Designed PDF Documents
Creating Universally Designed PDF Documents
Universal Design Guideline: Multiple Means of Representation Do you have PDF documents in your course that are articles from publishers? Have you ever scanned pages from a book to make sure students did not need to buy the entire book? Do you create content in a specialized software program and convert it into a PDF to post in your course? Have you noticed Canvas telling you that PDF documents in your course have issues with them? If any of these questions pertain to you, this workshop is for you. This workshop will discuss how to create an accessible PDF document from a software program. It will also outline some of the common challenges of PDF documents and processes to make them more accessible.
Upcoming Workshop Dates
Please register in advance: Registration: Creating Universally Designed PDF Documents
Cross Campus Universal Design for Learning Teaching Circle
Faculty are expected to attend one Cross Campus Universal Design for Learning Teaching Circle meeting on a topic of their choice. The Commonwealth Campus instructional designers facilitate a variety of teaching circles to support faculty’s pedagogy. One of those teaching circles focused on Universal Design for Learning. The teaching circle meetings for the Fall 2024 semester are listed below. Topics are still being identified and are very much influenced by the faculty that attend them.
Fall 2024
- September 6, 2024, 10 to 11 A.M.
- October 4, 2024, 10 to 11 A.M.
- November 1, 2024, 10 to 11 A.M.
To obtain meeting details, contact Jen Wagner directly at jlw83@psu.edu.
Adaptation of Instructional Practice and Reflective Statement
Faculty should reflect on their practice after participating in workshops and identify some adaptations that they can implement. It will benefit you to start a journal that documents the changes that you make to your course materials or instructional practice related to universal design and/or your participation in this workshop series. When you have completed the required workshops and teaching circle meeting, this journal will assist you in writing your 1 to 3 page reflective statement. Some possible adaptations to your practice, in case you were not sure where to begin, are:
- Introduction of flexible instructional strategies that support all learners (ex. modify absence policy, assessment delivery, tool usage)
- Integration of more formative assessment strategies that enhance a learner’s capacity to monitor progress
- Edit course materials to better support the decoding of text and the processing of information
- Designing a Canvas course space to minimize threats and distractions, optimize tool access, and provide options to customize content