UDL in my world . . . .

Universal Design for Learning (UDL for short) fits a lot of what I do in course building for adult learners, incorporating what I have learned through trial-and-error over the last few decades. ...but this also harkens back to the learning styles debate. This debate has been going on since the 90's and has had higher education faculty and student development personnel pretty fired up over the years...do learning styles exist?  should we teach to all learning styles at once? what happened to the student responsibility to learn? how can faculty possibly teach to all styles at one time?

UDL seems to take all of this into consideration and, recently, has started applying this model to adult learners (UDL in Postsecondary Ed and Universal Design for Learing in Higher Education: A Guide).  It's wonderful to see this model applied to a level other than K-12 (apologies to all of my K-12 teaching friends).

So... I decided to take a look at the course syllabus for one of my online courses to see how I have accidentally used UDL.  I used the term accidentally as I have not designed this course with the original intention of  following UDL principles....and this course is currently in redesign for fall 2015.

I teach a fully online course on budget and finance in the community college, a course that many students try to delay taking as they fear budgets, are uncomfortable with the thought of looking at expenses in higher education, and well, let's face it - it just doesn't sound that interesting!

Let's begin exploring the syllabus.


According to the UDL Syllabus example posted by UDL On Campus, my current course syllabus follows some of the UDL principles....others not so much. This UDL Syllabus Rubric is a great resource for reviewing a syllabus...and knowing just what adjustments need to be made. 

Syllabus Format 

The syllabus is available in several formats. first, I have a syllabus page in he LMS where assignments are linked to their complete descriptions.  I also provide what I term a "traditional" syllabus which is a google doc (not very traditional, I suppose.). Finally, I provide my version of an Interactive syllabus which is an infographic with links to assignments and videos. 

This syllabus component meets the Exemplary rating on the syllabus design rubric for length, accessibility, and visibility.

Contact with Instructor

This syllabus provides several methods of contact although this could be improved. I currently include my university email, my office phone number, and my virtual office hours location in Webex. I used to post a Skype link but deleted that account due to the spam and "propositions" I frequently received.  Also, Skype needed updating frequently, requiring a new download, so it just became more problematic than it was worth. Office hours are flexible - in fact, I do not give specific hours.  the syllabus includes a statement directing students to our LMS where they can sign up for a video-conference during one of the 30 hours or so each week that I am available. I also meet with students outside of those hours. In the past I have tried Virtual Office Hours at a specified time, where I was tied to my desk for 3 hours a night, but that was just not convenient for either my students or myself...so I provide lots of opportunities to meet from noon until 830 pm on most days, with the availability to meet until 10 pm as needed. In the last three years, no one has needed.

This fall I plan to experiment with Twitter Office Hours, providing students with a course hashtag and my user name. I will select two 3 hour time periods and see how this goes. I can monitor twitter on my cell phone or on my computer, and students could then use their cell to just shoot off a quick tweet....without having to log into university email or the LMS to send a message. 


I hesitate to give out my cell phone - this is one of my boundary issues.  I will respond to emails over my phone or to Facebook IMs over my phone, but I am not comfortable giving out my phone number.

Overall, providing students with the opportunity to email me, message me through the LMS or Facebook, tweet, and video-conference with me, I feel I provide multiple methods of contact.

Another item listed under this section in the syllabus rubric is to provide a brief overview of the instructor.  I do that but not in my syllabus.  Instead students can watch a video overview. Posted through screencast, it does not offer closed caption as youtube does, but I am hesitant to have myself available through youtube.  At some point we have to balance student needs with privacy issues.

This syllabus component meets the Enhanced rating on the syllabus design rubric for instructor information.

Course Texts 

Course texts, along with a graphic of their cover, are available on the course syllabus.  ISBNs are provided as well as websites where texts can be purchased. When a text is also available in electronic format, that information is provided as well. I some instances, texts published by certain organizations are cheaper for members, so I include statements about how to find out if their institution is a member.  I also provide a statement regarding the use of ILL at their insitition to borrow a text. 

What I do not do is explain why I have selected a specific text.

This syllabus component meets the Traditional rating on the syllabus design rubric texts component.

Graphic Representation of Outcomes

While my syllabus does connect every activity to a learning outcome, I do not use a graphic representation of the outcomes...although I really like that idea. Student outcomes are posted in our LMS and connected directly to assignments and rubrics, but the graphic representation would be a good addition. 

Course Assignments  (Explanation)

As noted above, the syllabus does clearly state each learning outcome and connects them to every activity in the planner and every assignment, and where possible, links directly to detailed assignment descriptions, rubrics, and due dates.  I do not include examples of coursework as I have found that doing so tends to hamper student creativity.

This syllabus meets the Enhanced rating on the syllabus design rubric assignment - explanation category.

Course Assignments (Examples)

 The syllabus provides detailed instructions regarding how to complete major course projects and activities, including links to video overviews, rubrics, and instructions on scheduling required individual strategy meetings.

This syllabus meets the Exemplary rating on the syllabus design rubric assignment - examples category.

Course Assignments (Submission)

Here is where I one again diverge from UDL. Some assignments such as papers, have to be submitted as an upload to our LMS where I will then grade it online and send students an annotated pdf of their paper, their scored rubric, and  a narrated grading video. some video crafting assignments can use multiple software to create the video while other video assignments require students to use and practice a specific software such as Brainshark.

In the case of Reflective journals, students have a choice among submitting a video, a paper, or an audio file, but students have to submit at least two of each out of the required 10.

Perhaps this is enhanced?  Not sure.

Course Assignments (Grading)

The syllabus provides the grading scale and links to the rubrics for each assignment.

This syllabus meets the Exemplary rating on the syllabus design rubric assignment - grading category.


Course Calendar

Both the syllabus and the LMS use a course calendar, and links are provided throughout. All assignments and activities are posted on the calendar which then posts reminder announcements to students when an assignment is due or overdue.

This syllabus meets the Exemplary rating on the syllabus design rubric course calendar category.

Other UDL items

When providing content, I do so so following a variety of methods. In some instances students read a chapter, then watch a video or interact in a forum, or complete another type of activity.  Sometimes I will provide a list of links and ask students to choose a specific number of those to read or review...then complete an activity.  In some instances they will have a choice of activities - other times, not. I truly depends on the course and the skills  I want them to develop.  I do provide an extensive course resources module which contains technology resources along with content helps and videos.

Multiple pathways are a great approach, particularly for adults who bring a varied background to  each course.  Pre-assessments with unit credit awarded is useful with adults as well.

But this brings us to the question,  how much is too much?

I do not want to inundate students with lengthy syllabi, yet we have to provide a traditional syllabus with rubrics for university assessment purpsoes.  Interactive syllabi are great, but cannot be submitted for assessment, so they are additional  creations. Sometimes we can offer too many choices which can overwhelm students. When offering content with video, text, infographics and other options, information can become redundant...and boring. Pre-assessments are great...but designing activities within courses to incorporate  this can be time-consuming. 

While UDL offers very useful ideas to enhance course design, we need to make sure we are not overwhelming our students AND ourselves.