Enhancing Student Learning in the Online Instructional Environment Through the Use of Universal Design for Learning

Authors

Kathleen A. Boothe, Southeastern Oklahoma UniversityFollow
Marla J. Lohmann, Colorado Christian UniversityFollow
Ruby Owiny, Trinity International UniversityFollow

Abstract

As college faculty who prepare future teachers, we strive to teach our students through instruction and modeling best practices in teaching. We constantly evaluate our teaching and make adjustments to include updated knowledge about effective instruction. The evaluation and adjustments made to our courses lend themselves to action research. We take what we learn from our research and make appropriate changes to better meet the diverse needs of students. This article provides an overview of a final project that used Universal Design for Learning (UDL) for assessing student knowledge. This research focused on the principle of Multiple Means of Action and Expression and the impact the UDL final project had on student learning as well as overall perceptions of the project. Results indicate that participants enjoyed the final project and that it impacted their learning. Students reported enjoying having choice in how they demonstrated their understanding of the content.

Author Biography

Dr. Kathleen A. Boothe, Assistant Professor of Special Education and Program Coordinator, at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, currently provides professional development for local school districts in the area of behavior and UDL. Dr. Boothe previously taught Special Education students at the elementary and secondary level. Dr. Marla J. Lohmann, Assistant Professor of Special Education at Colorado Christian University, currently volunteers as an informal consultant for a preschool teacher training program in Uganda. She previously taught Special Education students in the United States and served as a Guest Lecturer of Special Education at the University of Zambia for one semester. Dr. Ruby L. Owiny, Assistant Professor of Education at Trinity International University, and also an associate with the international consulting company, 2 Teach LLC, which specializes in inclusive education. She served as a volunteer consultant with Food for the Hungry, Inc. in Bolivia and Guatemala, providing trainings to teachers in rural and urban communities on literacy, mathematics, and behavior management.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Boothe, Kathleen A.; Lohmann, Marla J.; and Owiny, Ruby (2020) "Enhancing Student Learning in the Online Instructional Environment Through the Use of Universal Design for Learning," Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research: Vol. 22: Iss. 1. https://doi.org/10.4148/2470-6353.1310