Principle of Representation - Guideline 3 - Criterion 2
When developing a course using the first principle of Universal Design for Learning, there are three specific guidelines to assist us. The third, Comprehension focuses on maintaining clarity about the content provided.
Criterion 2 of this guideline advocates that we highlight
patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships.
These distinguish what is vital information from noise or unimportant
information. This is one of the key skills that experts display over
laypeople. Highlighting key patterns allows the learner to efficiently
allocate their time and identify what is important. Thus the most
effective way to make information more accessible is to offer explicit cues to
identify what features of the information matter most. Try to:
§Highlight
or emphasize key elements in
text, graphics, diagrams, formulas
§Use outlines, graphic organizers, concept
organizer routines, and concept mastery routines to for focus on key
relationships
§Use
multiple examples to emphasize critical features and some non-examples to illustrate them
§Use
prompts to draw attention to critical features
§Highlight
previously learned skills and
how they can be used to solve unfamiliar problems
By following these suggestions, your course will assist students communicating and expressing their knowledge, as well as being in line with the Principle of Representation in the Theory of Universal Design for Learning.
Students have reported more dissatisfaction with synchronous
online delivery over face-to-face or asynchronous delivery. This can often be attributed to the content
expert not being aware of successful practices in presentations or the online
medium.
Often instructors are never taught vital presentation skills
that are key for capturing their classes attention.For example, within the first few minutes of a presentation the audience's attention can be commanded by:
Reflecting on a bold statement
Considering a story
Reviewing, and being primed for, the content they
will learn
Engaging in an interactive activity
When the presenter presents in a lively fashion, the movement
keeps the viewers' attention.Also, revealing
one’s own humor and why you are excited about the topic both makes the talk
personal to the audience. They then become more invested in the topic. These
presentation skills benefit both synchronous online presentations and
face-to-face presentations.
The issue with teaching online is that instructors both must wrestle with using technology effectively as well as employ instructional
strategies that best suit the medium they are using.This webinar will first address faux pas with
technology that diminishes the instructional effectiveness of the presentation.Then it continues to investigate effective
strategies for the medium.Specifically,
attention spans in this medium our short and instruction must be interactive to
be effective. By adopting a micro-lesson approach as well as a flipped
approach, instructors can maximize student engagement in their synchronous
sessions. The session concludes on some of the pitfalls experienced by faculty
using flipped classes online and how to overcome these issues.
Meyer, R (2001) Multimedia Learning. Cambridge Press, NY.
McGee, P. &. A. Reis (2012) “Blended Course Design: A
Synthesis of Best Practices.” Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 14(4).
Rhoads, D. (2020). Traditional, online or both? A comparative study of university student learning and satisfaction between traditional and Hyflex delivery modalities. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Rose, D & A Meyer (2002) Teaching Every Student in the
Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Vanderstoep, S. W., Pintrich, P. R., & Fagerlin, A. (1996). Disciplinary
differences in self-regulated learning in college students. Contemporary
Educational Psychology, 21(4), 345-362.
Whittaker S.& Hirschberg J (2003) Look or Listen:
Discovering Effective Techniques for Accessing Speech Data. In Proc. CHI98.
Springer-Verlag, 253-269
A ‘module’ is a functional unit that organizes content. It
is similar to a section in a textbook. Whether you are teaching geology,
mathematics, American short stories, epistemology, accounting or another other topic,
it is best to "chunk" the content into digestible pieces (or modules)
to give it:
Structure.
Consistency
Form.
This is particularly true for online delivery to
students. Often you can get inspiration from viewing a textbook or the
Course Description or Proposal for getting clues on how to best sequence the
course content. Ideally, a course should contain 4-7 modules to conform to
principles of cognitive load theory. Likewise, a module should cover more than
a week of material to ensure that discussion sections have plenty (ideally 2 or
more weeks) of time for students to develop a post and then foster meaningful
discussions.
Once you determine the 4-7 modules for your course, the
module will be most effective if it fits a uniform practice. Each module will
cover a particular topic or aspect of study within the overall scope of the
course and is titled accordingly. Ideally, threaded
activities tie the modules together and give cohesion to the course. In general,
the structure of a module contains:
An
overview or “At a Glance” section that offers insight to learning
objectives and offers a module roadmap for the student.
Content
Guides: offer a section where key content can be accessed.
It should do more than refer to textbook readings. Instead, think of
them as offering a space for:
Short
lectures on content necessary
for meeting the modules objectives written by the faculty developer or
instructor (around one page).
Links
to key readings or source material
OER
content that will prepare students for the learning activities
Learning
activities that make the student meet the modules learning
objectives. These activities should be engaging and are not necessarily
graded. Some activities may include: virtual fieldtrips,
simulations, group learning activity or role-play exercises.
Assessments,
while not necessary for each module, should be constructed to demonstrate
that the student can complete the modules learning outcomes. These could
be non-graded, such as self-tests, or graded exercises that could
include: written assignments, case studies, pro/con debate, group
projects, discussion forum with an open-ended question or set of
questions.
Online
Resources that can be from the library, or elsewhere, that
augment the student learning. This section should not be
overwhelming, but designed to assist the student without distracting them.
This section may be optional, and can be deleted if there the resources do
not assist students.
If you follow these rules and break down the course into a
set of 4-7 functional units, i.e., modules, that have
informative titles, the course will be reinforcing an understanding of the
course content though the students’ passive perception and time spent in the
course. Further, by adopting a uniform and proven module format, the
students will spend less cognitive time on navigating the course and more time
on learning. This will contribute to their success.
