Toward Transformative UDL Practice: A Community-Based Assessment of Institutional Understanding, Usage, and Cultural Barriers

• In Event: Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual iPresentation Only: Division J - Section 4: Faculty, Curriculum, and Teaching Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

Universal Design for Learning challenges deeply rooted, historically legitimized knowledge and tradition in higher education, presenting significant barriers to widescale adoption (Dolmage, 2007; Nieminen & Pesonen, 2022). The positioning of curriculum as the barrier – rather than individual student characteristics—embodies shifting expectations around pedagogy and equity in higher education, necessitating cultural considerations and shifts. In this mixed methods case study, framed through with cultural theory of change and the social justice model of disability, the researcher partnered with a university working towards widescale UDL adoption to assess baseline understanding, usage, and attitudes/beliefs. The findings contribute to an emerging research base on system wide UDL implementation and provides a sample assessment tool to analyze one’s own institution’s UDL progression.

Author

• Molly McKeon, University of Colorado - Denver