Articulating the immediate and pressing relevance of UDL in the graduate classroom

Tonight I continue the promotion of the Handbook of Research on Applying Universal Design for Learning across Disciplines: Concepts, Case Studies, and Practical Implementation with an overview of a chapter entitled Untangling Literacies: Accessible Digital Slides and Syllabi in the Graduate Classroom, written by David R. Jones of Fresno Pacific University. 

There is a significant paucity of research related to UDL implementation in the graduate classroom.  Often it is argue that the graduate classroom is more homogeneous than the undergraduate classroom and that learner diversity is therefore less of a challenge.  Others argue that the graduate classes are smaller and that differentiation is therefore easier and more intuitive.   The reality is that the graduate classroom is as diverse, if not more, than the undergraduate classroom, and that graduate students often experience even more barriers than their undergraduate peers.  Add to this the fact that a high percentage of graduate students are international students and second language learners, and one quickly sees the pressing relevance of UDL in graduate education.

This chapter illustrates the ways UDL is relevant to the graduate classroom, particularly when it comes to supporting students develop the multiple and complex literacies which they are expected to develop and navigate.

Abstract

The graduate classroom combines multiple literacies. Compounded literacies in the classroom tangle meaning, forming a metaphorical staircase, disabling students. Faculty mistakenly perceive students’ difficulties as the distinctiveness of graduate education: rigorousness. However, rigor only occurs after accessing content. Attempts to make courses accessible may mistranslate into a heaping up of resources or artifacts. Instead, one artifact requires multiple representations. The following demonstration explores the literacies compounded in two artifacts that recur throughout graduate classrooms: digital slides and syllabi. Transforming these artifacts signals an allegiance to the universal design for learning that students perceive at the inauguration of the course. Furthermore, translating these artifacts facilitates more effective course participation and deeper learning. However, attempts to universalize classroom access must account for student perspective. In this chapter, feedback from course evaluations leads the discussion about revisions and future development needs.

Publisher’s link to the chapter:

https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/untangling-literacies/278887

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