Thank you to Chris Scholes, from the CEL Steering Group and Head of ALS for sharing:
This fabulous resource is based on case studies from University College Dublin
There are three main sections in the book. If you are particularly interested in one of these aspects of teaching and learning you may wish to go straight to that section. Traditionally those designing programmes and modules may have thought about the ‘typical student’ when completing this process. However, this approach must be abandoned when we consider the makeup of the modern Higher Education campus including: international students, students with disabilities, students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, mature students, part-time students and school leavers. While many may think that the typical student in Ireland is an 18 year old coming to Higher Education directly from their Leaving Certificate Examinations (and thus trained to succeed in text-based education), this is increasingly not the case. We cannot make assumptions about the educational backgrounds of our students as teaching to only imagined typical students creates barriers for all students in our classrooms. Even those students who may seem to fit this profile of a “typical student” have a variety of learning preferences which are ignored when we offer only one type of educational experience. At the core of Universal Design is a focus on variety and choice for students, a movement away from the traditional didactic, often solely text-based, classroom practices of the last century and the embracing of a more dynamic, active and evolving classroom.
http://www.ucd.ie/all/supports/informationforstaff/stafftraininganduniversaldesign/
