Inclusive Course Design
16 Know Your Learners
“We may exhibit an admirable command of content, and possess a dazzling variety of pedagogical skills, but without knowing what’s going on in our students’ heads, that knowledge may be presented and that skill exercised in a vacuum of misunderstanding.” Stephen D. Brookfield, The Skillful Teacher (2006)
Before we jump into the actual design of our course, let’s first review the definition of an inclusive learning experience.
Inclusive Course Design
Inclusivity may be incorporated using principles from Universal Design for Learning. (Note that UDL is covered in multiple OTDP offerings. Below is a review of the main ideas.)
A basic tenet in inclusive design: Meet the learning needs of your diverse student population. UDL identifies three main areas in which this can be accomplished; think about how you can provide options for students in the following ways:
| Engagement | Representation | Action & Expression |
|---|---|---|
| Provide multiple ways for students to engage with materials, peers, content. | Provide content and learning materials represented using a variety of media, e.g. vary your use of video, audio, text, images. | Provide multiple ways for students to complete activities, assignments and assessments. |
| Engagement | Representation | Action & Expression |
|---|---|---|
| Provide multiple ways for students to engage with materials, peers, content | Provide content and learning materials represented using a variety of media, e.g. vary your use of video, audio, text, images. | Provide multiple ways for students to complete activities, assignments and assessments. |
For an example of how UDL benefits student learning in the online environment, see the following video:
As demonstrated in the video, online learning may present additional challenges for some students. In order to meet the needs of your own online learners, it’s important to first know who they are. By assessing our student population, we can create an online experience that takes into account the context of your learners, course, and learning environment.
In the video below, listen as Dee Fink (Links to an external site.) (creator of the Significant Learning framework) describes the importance of being familiar with the needs of your learners. (Note this video will play a short clip. Feel free to watch the rest of this video if you wish!)
As Dee Fink mentions, it is important to have a student’s perspective when developing online courses. Often our perception of what students think and feel about online learning is correct, while at other times we are off base. Solicit feedback from students about their online learning styles, successes, and failures.
Next up
Later, we will ask you to consider the needs of the students in your institution, college, department, or even the particular class you are developing online.