Faculty Learning Community for Inclusive Pedagogy

Media

Presented at 8:00am in Westminster III on Wednesday, November 20, 2019.

Speaker(s)

• Michelle Jarman, Director Disability Studies Program, University of Wyoming
• Christine Boggs, Instructional Designer, University of Wyoming
• Reshmi Singh, Associate Professor, University of Wyoming
• Kristina Clement, MA, MSIS, University of Wyoming
• Samantha Cook, MSIS, University of Wyoming

Session Details

• Length of Session: 1-hr
• Format: Panel
• Expertise Level: Expert
• Type of session: General Conference

Summary

In an effort to increase faculty engagement with inclusive pedagogy, a learning community was established at the University of Wyoming (UW) to implement and evaluate Universal Design for Learning and inclusive practices. Faculty researchers present findings, and discuss potential applications of this model.

Abstract

UDL is a pedagogical approach that actively removes barriers to learning for all students and attempts to build common accommodations into the initial design of the curriculum. Although UDL has been a pedagogical practice since the 1990s, only recently have studies looked at faculty attitudes toward UDL and supporting faculty implementation of inclusive pedagogy. Faculty who are generally supportive of inclusive strategies often admit to a lack of knowledge of specific practices as well as to a lack of institutional investment in faculty training and technical support. Responding to this gap in knowledge, this presentation describes a faculty initiative at the University of WY which was committed to understanding UDL within a disability studies framework, and assessing faculty and student learning, success, and challenges with implementation. Research group members will describe the training experience, and suggest implications for research and institutional implementation.

Keypoints

1. Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
2. Inclusive Pedagogy
3. Engaging Students, Faculty, and Communities

Disability Areas

All Areas

Topic Areas

Accessible Course Design, Teaching about Accessibility in Curriculum, Uncategorized

Speaker Bio(s)

Michelle Jarman

Michelle Jarman is Associate Professor of Disability Studies at the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities at the University of Wyoming where she directs the undergraduate minor in disability studies. Dr. Jarman received her Ph.D. in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her broad research interests focus upon intersecting literary cultural representations of disability, gender, and ethnicity. She is co-editor of Barriers and Belonging: Narratives of Disability, published in 2017 by Temple University Press. Jarman’s essays have appeared in academic journals such as Disability Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies, Feminist Formations, the Journal of American Culture, as well as in literary and disability studies anthologies.

Christine Boggs

Instructional Designer, Distance Education Instructor, School of Culture, Gender and Social Justice Co-Coach of UW Nordic Ski Team Chair of the Committee on Women & People of Color Co-Chair of the Shepard Symposium on Social Justice Campus Sustainability Committee

Reshmi Singh

Dr. Singh's research is focused on patient engagement and community engagement to improve patient medication experiences and health outcomes as they relate to rural health disparities. She is affiliated with the Wyoming Institute of Disabilities (WIND) in improving patient and family engagement and hence quality of life of persons with disabilities with the Wyoming Family to Family Health Information Center (WY F2F HIC) project and is part of the UDL Faculty Pilot Group.

Kristina Clement

Kristina Clement, MA, MSIS is the Student Success Librarian for the University of Wyoming Libraries. Kristina received a Master’s of Arts in Italian Literature from the University of Kansas and a Master’s of Information Science from the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Her current research interests include Universal Design for Learning in library instruction, outreach to transfer students and first generation students, instructional assessment, Open Educational Resources (OER), and user experience.

Samantha Cook

Samantha Cook, MSIS is the Instructional Design Librarian for the University of Wyoming Libraries. Samantha received her Bachelor’s in History from the University of Wyoming and Master’s of Science in Information Studies from the University of Texas. Her current research projects are Universal Design for Learning in library instruction, libraries and centers for teaching and learning, making archives accessible to people with invisible disabilities, and OER initiatives.