Engagement
Q: Do you connect assignments and examples to the “real world,” so they are relevant to your students? Do you foster collaboration and creativity with your teaching?
UDL’s multiple means of engagement promotes engaging students’ interests, maintaining their motivation, and providing a challenging learning environment. Offering choices that optimize investment and autonomy can make instruction accessible to students with differing interests and ability levels.
“Information that is not attended to, that does not engage learners’ cognition, is in fact inaccessible.” – CAST, Provide Multiple Means of Engagement
Student Assignment Creation
Provide a rubric for standards/expectations that students must meet, but otherwise promote student decision-making, idea-generation, suggestions, and feedback. Examples:
- Open-ended assignments
- Reflection journals
- Student-created test questions
- Problem-based learning
A teacher sitting with a student and collaborating to design an assignment.
Simulations and Games
Stimulate learning by employing simulations, games, or other interactive technologies. Scenarios and case studies can also serve as simulations.
- Zygote Body (Google)
There are many online tools that can be adopted to create simulations.
Discussions and Debates
Encourage students to draw on their prior knowledge and personal experiences to invest in their own learning.
- Discussion Prompts (Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository)
Independent Modules
Many adult learners prefer self-paced instruction and autonomous learning because of their flexibility. Differentiated instruction and assignments offer more challenges to students who learn more quickly or who want to customize their learning.
Some students with disabilities are most comfortable studying alone.
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