Goodwin Teaches: Universal Design for Learning Stories in Higher Education

Professor Cynthia Murphy, Director of English and Philosophy at Goodwin University shares her UDL journey and practice. Professor Murphy reflects on her career as an educator and Ph.D. candidate to discuss how UDL has shaped her practice. In addition, she shares best practices for incorporating peer review, technology, and UDL design in the classroom.

To connect with Professor Murphy: CMurphy@goodwin.edu

Additional Resources:

UDL...

Professor Annjanette Bennar shares her UDL experiences both in the college classroom and in professional development training. As a teaching fellow, she has implemented the UDL curriculum into her college classroom and curriculum. In addition, she serves as the UDL trainer for faculty. In this episode, she shares both of these experiences and how UDL has been transformative on college campuses.

To contact Professor Bennar: abenna...

Dr. Kim McGinnis, Dean of Students at Goodwin University shares her UDL journey in the area of student affairs and support services. She shares how her UDL journey transformed the New Student Orientation at Goodwin University to become more engaging, increase attendance, and effectively share a lot of information about college in meaningful ways.

To contact Dr. McGinnis: kmcginnis@goodwin.edu

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Big Imp...

With twenty-year’s experience in K-12 special education, Dr. LeGary shares his experience with bridging personalized learning with K-12 students to the UDL approach with graduate students. He describes how the M.Ed. program has been designed intentionally with UDL principles woven throughout the learning outcomes, teaching methods and materials, and assignments, including the culminating action research capstone project. Dr. LeGary...

Trained as an occupational therapist, Dr. Fanelli subscribes to a holistic approach to her clinical work and applies it to the classroom setting informed by the UDL framework. She explains her approach to designing learning outcomes, teaching methods and materials, and student assignments. Dr. Fanelli embeds the UDL guidelines and checkpoints into the courses she has developed and taught during her time at Goodwin University. In pa...

Dr. Coyne-Gilbert reviewed her twenty years in higher education, focusing on career development and helping disenfranchised populations, especially the neurodiverse. Dr. Coyne-Gilbert adopted UDL to understand student differences, and to see things through other students’ experiences. UDL at the graduate level is about balance and finding ways for students to express themselves in ways outside of just writing. UDL demanded Dr. Coyn...

Professor Campbell discusses his start as an instructor from his student days to his attraction to learning more about Universal Design for Learning (UDL).  Professor Campbell posits that the terminology used in manufacturing such as “continuous improvement” and his pursuit to understand student struggles through a “non-obvious barrier” mirrors UDL principles.  He expands upon the reciprocal relationship between instructor and stud...

As a nurse educator with over 30 years in nursing, Professor Young-Cournoyer shares that it is okay to take a chance on engagement strategies while listening to student feedback and adjusting accordingly. For Young-Cournoyer, UDL provides multiple, flexible options to engage learners and make the content meaningful and relevant. Promoting inclusive and supportive classroom environments, Professor Young-Cournoyer explains how she ha...

Dr. Swider began by providing information on how her start in UDL is rooted in her middle school teaching experience in moving away from lectures to engaging activities at the college level. UDL at the college level has enhanced Dr. Swider’s creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking with a focus on students’ needs. Dr. Swider describes an engaging final assignment of building a curated thematic exhibition for a Humanities ...

Dr. Randy Laist sees teaching English as an opportunity to help students tell their stories from their hearts, to learn and grow. Teaching secondary school, Dr. Laist saw working with a diverse group of students as challenging and that held true at the university.  UDL is a framework that helps instructors design inclusive curriculum, so all students learn. UDL gave Dr. Laist a language to describe what was happening in his classro...

Dr. John Kania began with an overview of his career having taught every grade level from Preschool through Graduate School.   He currently teaches introductory English courses and specializes in working with ESL, first-generation students, or any student considered at-risk.  He works on building Executive Function and his adoption of UDL is as a framework for minimizing barriers in the environment to adjust the learning environment...

In this episode, Professor Morin shares her professional experiences working with students and faculty by removing learning barriers and providing +1 UDL solutions in the classroom and during faculty development sessions. She shares why and how she adopted the UDL framework in her courses with specific examples of implementing +1 solutions for multiple options with student formative assignments. Professor Morin also describes how s...

Embracing UDL in Higher Education

Hosted by Dr. Lisa Wisniewski, our inaugural episode includes a robust discussion of how the UDL principles and guidelines are implemented in undergraduate and graduate courses at Goodwin University. Dr. John Kania shares his UDL story on the many ways he applies the UDL framework in his English and ESL courses to minimize learning barriers and minimize environmental barriers that have stymied stud...