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I have a typical experience of first time instructors. I began by teaching through subjects that I like. I found, however, that my preferences had a definite niche', and my courses did not feature enough representation from a variety of racial groups. Eventually I found that I needed to make a shift in the way the course material was represented. Rather than using the old-white-men approach to in-course readings, I branched out and found better and more suitable examples for my courses to analyze. Immediately, I noticed that choosing materials that represented wider and more diverse experiences had a domino effect in the rest of the course.

Students were "getting it" more, and they were more engaged in the material. It was a small change, but choosing readings and experiences from all over the world helped students see themselves in the concepts I tried to teach them. What did I do specifically? More Maxine Hong Kingston, Toni Morrison, Frederick Douglas, Amy Tan, and choices of writing scenarios. While I felt silly about not making the change earlier, I am glad I did. Students want to see themselves represented in their learning. In the 90s, it was a revelation.

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Most of my teaching career has been spent teaching academic writing. In the past couple years, this focus has shifted, and the concept of writing has broadened. In my duties, I designed a lot of classes, but some classes are predesigned, and I coach students through each week. The predesigned online courses vary in quality, but in each instance, they allow me to practice analysis and course literacy by challenging me to see writing through other instructors' eyes. This experience has been invaluable.

I have been recently teaching a writing course that focuses on adult learning and job-related writing skills. In composition, the first lesson we teach students is to read audience and purpose of every writing situation. The recent class I teach offers students different way to express their understanding: it allows students to express their experience, it builds on this experience, and the assignments are sequenced so that students have a really effective lead in to increasingly complex writing situations. While I typically teach essays, this class has students write about professional writing situations, and it solicits their reactions. While they are still writing essay-like documents, they are given the opportunity to express themselves according to their own perspectives and experiences. Teaching this class has been a revelation, and I can see different ways of teaching writing that may be more effective.
Students are allowed to express their learning in a variety of ways that is more universal than teaching scholar-in-waiting skills.

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Throughout the design of the AHE program I have been allowed to contribute through discussion boards and post. I have found this beneficial because I feel I can be authentic with my responses and experiences and how I am processing the content. I have been able to create audio and video recorded responses. These different types of platforms have allowed me to gain confidence and skills in utilizing different tools to best communicate.

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In the Instructional design courses I able to use the tool of creating a logical model to create my sample course. I have been able to develop a course by using the backwards design model to think through the process of the identifying the outcomes. Then linking those to the objectives. Being able to identify the difference between outcomes and objectives. Then identifying performance tasks, content, and pre-requisites. This process allowed for me to chose and area related to my current role within the program I serve and apply course content to real world application. This process also allowed for the opportunity to gain constructive feedback from peers.

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While learning about different platforms to best demonstrate my understanding of topics can be beneficial, I have shown great results in expressing my perceptions when given the opportunity to utilize platforms I am most familiar with. In courses where a presentation is assigned, I tend to focus on the structure, design then onto the information for a PowerPoint. That is where I am comfortable and most able to to express my knowledge and have shown this in courses such as designing a course module on canvas.

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During my undergrad, I took a social psychology class that included so many different topics each week. I noticed that although the course was mostly lecture the students and I consistently engaged in the material through consistent class discussions. There was always a moment for the lecture and a moment for the class to talk with the professor and each other about how we have seen or used specific theories in real life.

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In our Instructional Design II course, we were assigned to create an online lecture using Camtasia. We had creative freedom to design a lecture ourselves and had a variety of tools to show us how to utilize each feature in the platform. We had worksheets with terminology, videos with step-by-step instructions by the previous instructor, videos from the OSU library, and a wide variety of articles and websites for us to explore. I'm a multi-modal learner, so I avidly saved and reviewed all of the resources provided so I could learn to use the platform successfully.

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One thing I appreciated in our Instructional Design course was the autonomy we had to design a course we were interested in teaching (hypothetically).  While designing bits and pieces of the course one week at a time, our instructor George Reese and TA Heather Garcia took the time to review our learning objectives, outcomes, etc. based on the classes we created.  Based off of what we learned, the feedback received, and the freedom and creativity we had to create the course design, I can confidently apply for a position in Instructional Design and have a fully created design to add to my portfolio!
-Aimee

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In undergrad, I had one professor who sent the class his power point presentation after every class. At the time I remember thinking it was some kind of crutch that other teachers didnt give out. I thought it meant I didnt need to write good notes in class. Later I realized that it freed me up from needing to write down what was on the slide. Since I knew I would get the slides later, my notes started to be more detailed in that they would catch everything the professor said that wasn't on the slides.
-Elizabeth Patt

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As part of an online class I took in conservation, I was required to participate in a work-placement for the final semester. At first I was irritated that I needed to find my own work placement, and I wanted to find something easy. But then I thought more about it as a great opportunity. Instead I took the work placement seriously and it was one of the most beneficial aspects of the course. I was able to see what parts of my academic study applied to the work environment of my choice. I was also able to see real world problems and applications of the learning material.
-Elizabeth Patt

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two figures stand before a wall of graphic mindmaps 

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We had a term long mind mapping project for one of our courses that had to be rolled up in finals week.

I made a video for the final. I did the initial mind map, but I needed to synthesize it in a different form. Lindsay was supportive.

This was a big win for me because the information I had gathered didn't lend itself to a mind map form and I think if I had been forced to "make it work" as a mind map I would have never demonstrated the rich depth of my learning. It was a huge gift to be given that outlet and support.

--Christen

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In our needs assessment I really discovered that what I was doing now could be put to use for what I intend to do come Fall Term with the Fire Science program. Because of this I was able to build out a course, outcomes, etc. I plan to continue to refine this and present it as a course creation for the program in the future. This class and assignments, provided with examples from George Reese, allowed me to represent my course the way that I felt was needed to enhance the development of the program and the process. This assignment(s) represented course work beyond the classroom

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woman peers over her laptop as she works

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I've always been a working student. I've never had the luxury of just doing school separated from grueling real life. So, I have a huge challenge with assignments that don't have a real world connection. It's not that I don't love learning about new things, but it's more that I really have to perform in my job-job. School can sometimes be a secondary priority. If I am assigned something that seems like "jumping through a hoop" or busy work--my eyes will divert and my attention shoots off in another direction. Being able to connect school to relevant, real world impact is very helpful for me. It's likely a coping mechanism to survive. I only have so much energy to spare.

--Christen

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Within one of our Technology classes we were building essential our digital representation or a portfolio. I had a hard time with following the instructions in a sense of the actual rubric. I found myself focusing on other aspects as I built my portfolio. So it regularly required me to stop what I was doing and look at what I needed to do to build the portfolio to the specifications of the rubric for that week. It kept me on a path that allowed me to be successful. Fortunately, when I did "work ahead" those things for the most part were expected of us in later weeks. So I was ahead in some aspects if you will. The engagement by the instructor and the instructions allowed me to be engaged on following the instructions to really identify everything that could be completed instead of my freelancing

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In my community nutrition class, one of the assignments was to choose a community health assessment tool and carry out the assessment. There wasn't a list of assessment tools for us to choose from. We were able to research and choose our own which made carrying out the assessment much more interesting! Everyone's topic was unique and there were a variety of ways in which these were presented to the class. One person even created a simulation for the class to actively participate in to demonstrate their assessment. Not having a list of pre-determined assessments to choose from made it more exciting to listen to people's presentations.
- Kendra

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When I became a new mom I started to understand representation in a new and personal way. I tend to prefer reading a document or a transcript when I need to digest new information. But when I was home with a newborn that had colic, I would find myself frozen in a dark room with a little tot on my shoulder. Then, podcasts on my AirPods became the way I could consume information. I thought a lot about this for my students. We often consume information in small bursts, in different environments. What a learner may need in the office could be different on their daily commute. Just as different learners have varied needs, different contexts can shift those needs. So, by offering several accessible see/hear/engage formats for the information the learner can select what fits their requirements or situation.

So, for my example. I love to have accessible document & podcast file when I can.

--Christen

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I can see where UDL is beneficial to younger students, as well as have some interesting guidelines for adults as well. Classes still need to be more accessible without compromising what is being taught or asked of the adult learner. If material gets too lost in the weeds or watered down so that more people can learn, then course become too easy and students drop out from those courses. Yes, concessions needs to be allowed for students who learn differently, but not at the expense of learning. -- Lyn

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Because many classes have used YouTube as a means to expand upon the knowledge that is either given in the books or to punctuate specific point, this medium can be both a tool and a curse. I have seen videos that were done by course professors that I prefer over YouTube, and vice versa. However, the main point that I am trying to make is that the videos need to have relevance to the topic at hand. This is not to say that one cannot learn through this medium, but just that relevance is more important that just a place holder for content. - Lyn

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OSU has a professional development series called the Social Justice Education Initiative (SJEI) and at the beginning of the first session the instructor gave us a list of vocab words. Our first activity was to review these definitions and see if we thought there were any words that were missing and to dissect and try to better understand a couple of the most relevant words to the discussion. She then shared other online resources and described her process of creating this vocabulary list.

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In my MEd program for CSSA I had a theory instructor and they created discussion boards for the weekly readings, we had to post there and then review the board before class and bring our most interesting question to the class and then we would discuss as a group. This allowed us to have different discussion modalities.

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Stock image obtained through "strategy" keyword search

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Goal-directed strategy for AHE program -- Kevin Bransford

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Goal-directed strategy for AHE program -- Kevin Bransford

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Canvas LMS offer some great authoring tools and functions for course creation.  I have been impressed with the department's commitment to using those technical aspects to utilize A&E principles across all courses offered. Certainly, these features are mandatory as part of OSU's commitments to student excellence. Still, some instructors/departments may be inclined to do the minimum necessary for a myriad reasons. The AHE program and its instructors have not accepted the satisfactory position and, instead, are committed to the evaluation & revision process even with a superior product already being offered.

In the fully online learning environment, highlighting the how of learning may seem like the primary approach because of the lack of complete interpersonal dynamics. OSU E-campus has done a great job of providing physical access (especially tools and accessibility feature), encouraging multiple ways of expression & communication (as both a standalone element and via physical access), and, in most cases, has led with executive functions chiefly because this is a graduate program.

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Comprehension is major driver of interest & meaning -- Kevin Bransford

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Comprehension is major driver of interest & meaning -- Kevin Bransford

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One of our courses in the AHE program derived a significant cognitive overload especially in the weekly assignments.  I spent much more time figuring out what to do and far less time actually doing what was sought.  Instead of doing good work, I quickly resolved to settle with what I was able to figure out and be confident in producing (Internalize). This led to an overall dissatisfaction with both my output and with the delivered content.

This pain-point became a common theme for my regular peer 1:1s and highlights the necessity for setting the tone of what is supposed to be accomplished with clear, relatable, useful directions.

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Stock image obtained through "academic advising" keyword search

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Lindsay Andrews has promoted the Representation pillar of UDL through her approachable, inequity mitigating, true-to-self advising position.

She is available and genuinely enjoys interacting with students, whether the conversations are program specific or congenial in nature (Access).

Lindsay is a great promoter and gives as much to the program from a position of leadership as the students give from positions of inquiry (Build).

My own interactions with Lindsay have increased my fluency with the AHE program, as well as the greater adult & higher ed community at large, and my own place and contributions within each (Internalize).

This UDL application of Representation may not be specific to a learning environment though it is as influential for the success of those involved in the learning process.

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One of the ways that representation is mentioned in this week's video is the ability to slow down or speed up video content. This is something that is very easy to do in the videos for all of the classes in the ID certificate. I appreciate that I can speed up some of the video that are of a review nature for myself or slow down and take better notes for that which has new material.

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I really appreciate transcripts of video lecture. I'm not great at processing auditory information in the first go-round, so referring back to those notes was really helpful! Reading information and then visualizing main points through key graphics helps my brain make sense of things! -Julia D.

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Thinking back to last fall, the first technology class I took was building a portfolio. This was a real-world application for me to showcase my experience to prospective employers. It was engaging in that I could clearly understand the "Why?" of project.

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The use of Graphic Organizers in our Theory class was a good example of offering different ways of expressing our understanding of the material. Artistic expression has never been my strong suit, but I appreciated how processing organization of content made me wrestle with ideas in a different way. I ended up being proud of the organized chaos that was my organizer in the end! -Julia D

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Regular people don't like to be called out

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Regular people don't like to be called out

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I was very shy as a child and am still shy and introverted now. So I have always hated being called out to answer a question without warning in a class. I need time to think and listen before I answer. I’m being facetious, but in the history of the Socratic method, nobody ever got a chance to share what they really know. This type of teaching is supposed to guide critical thinking, but it instilled anxiety in me and highlights the students who are smart, already capable of critical thinking, have the executive skills to stay focused, and had the time to be fully prepared for class. I abhor this teaching method and never, ever call anyone out when I teach. If nobody volunteers, I give them time to think and/or I change my question.

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Meeting my own needs in the needs assessment class

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Meeting my own needs in the needs assessment class

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I wasn’t crazy about our Needs Assessment class. I have never worked in a situation where a NA would be relevant and I couldn’t see a way to fit it into my current life either. Plus I don’t want a job where I have to go through those types of steps to get to work. But-it was required for the program, so what to do? I decided to tailor the project to something I was trying to work on in my “free time” anyway. I didn’t really discuss it with our instructor, I just did it. She pushed back a little, but she was very supportive a few weeks in. I went through all the steps and worked really hard and did a ton of research along the way. My needs assessment didn’t look like any of the examples I reviewed, but I was proud of it because it was relevant to me and HOW I was going to apply the material.

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As I was reflecting on the action & expression, I recognized that a skilled instructor can weave these three ideas throughout their course rather than keeping them distinct activities.

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For our adult learning theory course, I observed an in-person adult learning course for healthcare professionals learning how to teach. The instructor for this session used most of the 2.5 hours of the night having students work in small groups or pairs to discuss a prompt related to the reading, write key ideas on a white board, then present to the rest of the students or do a "gallery walk" and review other students' posts. They later moved around a little so they were working with other students for different parts of class. The instructor also engaged them by having them share their real-world examples. The session I observed was how to create a strong syllabus, and their at-home assignments were to create a model syllabus for their own courses that they are teaching. I think this kind of demonstrates a combination of representation, engagement and action & expression all together. Her teaching methods were very well infused with andragogy and UDL by varying the teaching and learning.

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One of the best learning experiences I have had was the peer feedback activity we were required to complete in the AHE 531/Instructional Design course last quarter. We were assigned to a team with two other classmates, and each week we were required to provide feedback to them about how well they met the assignment for the week related to a new ID principle we had been taught, e.g. writing course outcomes. We then had to consider whether we would incorporate their feedback and resubmit our assignment a week later. This activity allowed us to engage with the learning more deeply by taking what we learned, seeing how others applied the learning, and respond to it.

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Okay, extra post because I’m excited about UDL😎

My team is currently working redesigning our competency framework for nurses and other clinical staff. We are looking closely at “the Donna Wright model.” With reading and reflecting, this week, I think the DW model is an excellent example of the UDL principle of multiple means of expression. I had not considered how the model aligns with UDL before now.

DW is all about options for competency assessment. Rather than saying a nurse must take care of x-number of patients with heart failure to be competent in HF care, the model says that is only one of several or many options we might provide for the nurse to demonstrate competence. They may also demonstrate competency, for example, by working through a case study, taking an exam, teaching a class, or a number of other pathways.

Best of all, in the DW model, experienced nurses, not nurse leaders, work together to decide which competencies they need to demonstrate and which options for expression are viable to validate each competency.

That level of learner involvement is another important part of UDL. When ideally implemented, we work with our learners to determine what they need and want to learn and to design their options for doing so (Novak & Chardin, 2020).

-Nicole Gaines

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I’ve found multiple means of action and expression well modeled in the assignments throughout the program that have allowed us to choose to create a video, upload audio, make a presentation, or write a post. I think the org & systems theory class had some of that as did a few of the tech series courses and maybe another. I’ve enjoyed having options for action in these instances. While I like the idea of creating video, I also really appreciate when we have an alternative, especially in weekly discussions. I have not enjoyed assignments that require voice thread with audio or video, for instance.

Having multiple options for action and expression stands out to me as being fairly inclusive. As a learner with intermittently disabling chronic illnesses, being able to use my phone to dictate a post or part of a paper while in bed one week and make and edit an involved video when feeling okay on another week is very helpful, lowers my stress, and allows for more realistic pacing/energy management.

-Nicole Gaines

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I found the instructional tech series (which I started with George Reese in 2020 then continued with Christine Scott in 2022) to be an excellent example of and one of my best experiences with multiple means of representation. In the first term, the instructor provided multiple ways of learning something, such as examples, videos, blogs, and peer-reviewed journal articles. I found this very helpful as it sort of eased me in to the material or assignments for each week. I also liked having optional resources, which if something I’ve tried to replicate. That may be more aligned with engagement though.

-Nicole G.

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Part of my dietetic internship was choosing a patient we worked with during our clinical rotation for a case study that we would each present at the end of the year. Knowing about this project well before beginning clinical rotations increased interest and engagement in content we learned throughout our classes. Learning new content while in clinical rotations also helped decide which patient would make the most interesting case study.
- Kendra