Universal Design for Learning

According to the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, Universal Design for Learning
(UDL) is defined as “a scientifically valid framework for guiding education practice that:
provides flexibility in the ways information is presented, in the ways students respond or
demonstrate knowledge and skill, and in the ways students are engage; and reduces barriers
in instruction, provides appropriate accommodations, supports, and challenges, and
maintains high achievement expectations for all students, including students with disabilities
and students who are limited English proficient.”
The idea behind this educational framework is that there is no “imaginary average” student in the classroom. In
fact, when curriculum and instruction is designed to meet the needs of this imaginary average student, they end up
failing to meet the needs of most students in the classroom and end up not addressing learner variability. UDL was
created to abolish this idea of an “inflexible, one-size-fits-all curricula. It strives to help educators create and
implement educational curriculum that is designed to the meet the needs of all learners.
UDL helps educators reach all their students through the use of three principles. These three principles guide
educators to reach all students through diverse methods of representation, action and expression, and engagement.
By presenting education in carious form within the classroom, educators are able to connect with more students
and ensure that learning is taking place.
The goal of UDL is to help educators produce expert learners. These expert learners are resourceful and
knowledgeable, strategic and goal directed, and purposeful and motivated. They are masters of the learning process
and take that mastery to every arena of their lives. They are enthusiastic life-long learners.

All Source Material for this document:

CAST (2011). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.0. Wakefield, MA: David H. Rose and Jenna Gravel.
http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines
NATIONAL CENTER ON UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING, AT CAST
 Principle I: Provide Multiple Means of Representation
Not all learners take in information in the same way. They require information to be presented in different approaches, forms, and
mediums. It is also beneficial to present information materials in various forms to help students make their own connections to the
content, thus ensuring the transfer of learning.

Guideline 1: Provide options for
perception
Educators should present the same
information to students but through
various modalities and in forms that can
be adjusted by the learners.
Checkpoint 1.1- offer ways of customizing
the display of information
Checkpoint 1.2- Offer alternatives for
auditory information
Checkpoint 1.3- Offer alternatives for
visual information
Examples:
Provide Transcripts of videos, Provide
PowerPoint Presentation of text with
visuals, Provide audio diction of text
Guideline 2: Provide options for
language, mathematical expressions,
and symbols
Educators should present multiple
examples of both linguistic and non-
linguistic content to ensure clarity and
comprehensibility within their learners.
Checkpoint 2.1- Clarify vocabulary and
symbols
Checkpoint 2.2- Clarify syntax and
structure
Checkpoint 2.3- Support decoding of text,
mathematical notation, and symbols
Checkpoint 2.4- Promote understanding
across languages
Checkpoing 2.5- Illustrate through
multiple media
Guideline 3: Provide options for
comprehension
Learners need to make active connections
to new material. Educators should use the
scaffolding approach to education to help
students connect the new material to
information already learned.
Checkpoint 3.1- Activate or supply
background knowledge
Checkpoint 3.2- Highlight patterns,
critical features, big ideas, and
relationships
Checkpoint 3.3- Guide information
processing, visualization, and
manipulation
Checkpoint 3.4 Maximize transfer and
generalization

Examples:
Provide images with all written
vocabulary, define all images
All Source Material for this document:
Examples:
Recap previous unit at beginning of new
unit, emphasize pervious material that
returns to new unit, create graphic
organizers for students to fill out

CAST (2011). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.0. Wakefield, MA: David H. Rose and Jenna Gravel.
http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines
NATIONAL CENTER ON UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING, AT CAST
 Principle I: Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression
Not all learners can express the information they have learned in the same way. Some learners are better able to share their
knowledge on paper, while others can better convey the content through speech. Educators should allow learners to multiple arenas
to express their knowledge so as to be able to fully understand how much learning has taken place.
Guideline 4: Provide options for Guideline 5: Provide options for Guideline 6: Provide options for
physical action expression and communication executive functions

Teachers should provide all learners with
the same information, however, they
should allow students to obtain it through
different forms of interactions.
Checkpoint 4.1 Vary the methods for
response and navigation
Checkpoint 4.2- Optimize access to tools
and assistive technologies
Examples:
Provide alternative keyboards to students,
use voice to talk for learners with special
needs, Provide longer timelines for
students for projects
Educators should provide different
modalities in the classroom for learners to
express themselves.
Checkpoint 5.1- use multiple media for
communication
Checkpoint 5.2- Use multiple tools for
construction and composition
Checkpoint 5.3- Build fluencies with
graduated levels of support for practice
and performance
Examples:
Include different mediums in classroom
instruction, incorporate online resources
to enhance textbook curriculum, allow
students different ways to present
understanding: filmed presentation, word
document, PowerPoint Presentation,
animation
Educators should not only scaffold lower
level learning, but also higher level
learning as well. This will help students
grasp and process more information.
Checkpoint 6.1- Guide appropriate goal-
setting
Checkpoint 6.2- support planning and
strategy development
Checkpoint 6.3 Faciliate managing
information and resources
Checkpoint 6.4- Enhance capacity for
monitoring progress.
Examples:
Present students with unit expectations
and objectives, provide rubrics for all
assignments, utilize formative
assessments to monitor student
progression

All Source Material for this document:

CAST (2011). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.0. Wakefield, MA: David H. Rose and Jenna Gravel.
http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines
NATIONAL CENTER ON UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING, AT CAST
 Principle I: Provide Multiple Means of Engagement
Not all learners are comfortable engaging in learning in the same manner. Some students thrive with the social sharing of
knowledge, while other students best learn through private study. When creating curriculum and classroom instruction, educators
must present different levels of engagement that supports individual student learning.
Guideline 7: Provide options for Guideline 8: Provide for sustaining Guideline 9: Provide options for self-
recruiting interest effort and persistence regulation

Student interest not only varies between
students, but also varies through time.
Educators must continue to incorporate
different methods to capture the student’s
interest.
Checkpoint 7.1- Optimize individual
choice and autonomy
Checkpoint 7.2- Optimize relevance,
values, and authenticity
Checkpoint 7.3- Minimize threats and
distractions
Examples:
Incorporate numerous forms of mediums
for presentations, connect with students
interests of today, re-evaluate graphics
and pop culture every year, incorporate
student ideas and viewpoints in to
instruction
Not all students cannot regulate their self-
interest for the same amount of time.
Educators should continuously look for
ways to help students stay focused.
Checkpoint 8.1- Heighten salience of
goals and objectives
Checkpoint 8.2- Vary demands and
resources to optimize challenge
Checkpoint 8.3- Foster collaboration and
community
Checkpoint 8.4- Increase master-
orientated feedback
Examples:
Explicitly go over unit objectives at the
beginning, post unit timeline for students
to see, mix in assessments for grades and
assessments for personal review/reflection
It is not just important to keep student
interest, but rather, it is also important to
help students learn to self-regulate their
behavior and interest. Educators should
provide students will different modeling
and prompting examples.
Checkpoint 9.1- Promote expectations and
beliefs that optimize motivation
Checkpoint 9.2- Facilitate personal
coping skills and strategies
Checkpoint 9.3- Develop self-awareness
and reflection
Examples:
Explicitly go over unit objectives at the
beginning, provide detailed rubrics of
expectations, incorporating peer review,
mix in assessments for grades and
assessments for personal review/reflection

All Source Material for this document:

CAST (2011). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.0. Wakefield, MA: David H. Rose and Jenna Gravel.
http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines
NATIONAL CENTER ON UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING, AT CAST