Learning Enhancement
and Academic Development (LEAD) Centre
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
The MIC Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Community of Practice (CoP) is an exciting initiative, aimed at promoting the use of UDL principles and strategies within MIC. The UDL CoP is also embedded within the MIC Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement (SATLE) funded project which is designed to support and drive teaching and learning innovation in Irish higher education.
Purpose of the MIC UDL Community of Practice
Our aim is to provide a teaching and learning space in MIC where we can meet regularly to:
- Share ideas on inclusive practices.
- Generate research in the area of UDL.
- Create resources to assist with our teaching and learning.
Our MIC UDL Community of Practice is a great place to start if you would like to learn more about UDL, or if you would like to share your own UDL practices and experience.
What is the goal of UDL?
UDL encourages teachers to be reflective and to design their teaching approach to meet the needs of all students by embedding opportunities for students to take ownership of their learning experiences.
By using the UDL framework educators can accept learner variability as a strength to be leveraged, not a challenge to be overcome. (Rose & Meyer, 2002)
What is the UDL Framework?
The UDL Framework comprises of three key principles:
- Multiple means of Engagement
- Multiple means of Representation
- Multiple means of Action and Expression
The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimise teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities. (CAST 2023)
