This section is full of timely and evidence-based practices to apply in your teaching.
- UDL, Student Learning, & Retention: When UDL is mentioned, some educators immediately think of accessibility. While both share similar goals and both are valuable for equitable student learning, they are not necessarily the same thing. UDL On Campus’ brief video, Accessibility and UDL, gives a succinct overview of how accessibility and UDL both converge and diverge from one another. The EDUCAUSE article UDL and Digital Accessibility goes a step further by also discussing some common UDL strategies, the accessibility challenges instructors face when implementing these strategies, and possible solutions to overcome those challenges.
- Trauma-Informed Teaching: Events in recent years have created increased awareness around the impacts of stress and trauma impact learning; however, this is not a new or uncommon phenomenon. Adopting a trauma-informed lens for your teaching is a way to make class materials, activities, and policies more accessible for all of your students. The UTLC team recently developed an interactive infographic (click here for the full text accessible version with references) that outlines the ways in which trauma impacts learning and student success and strategies to adopt in your teaching this fall.
- Active Learning: Active learning can create excitement in the classroom while allowing students to construct knowledge and express their understanding of your course content. It encourages metacognition (thinking about their thinking) as you link your content to activities. Vanderbilt University has a great first introduction to active learning. Here’s a helpful list of activities with videos showing how some faculty have implemented them. Use this cheat sheet to help you prepare to introduce active learning to your students.