Principle of Engagement - Guideline 1 - Criterion 1

 

Universal Design for Learning

Principle of Engagement - Guideline 1 - Criterion 1

When developing a course using the third principle of Universal Design for Learning, there are three specific guidelines to assist us.  The first, Recruiting Interest, focuses on how accessible the content is to learners. Information that does not engage the leaner’s cognition is effectively inaccessible.

Criterion 1 of this guideline advocates that we optimize individual choice and autonomy.

One of Wlodkowski’s (1993) key findings about adult learners is that they prefer to direct their own learning. Most everybody prefers to have some control over what they do. Offering autonomy to students gives them a sense of agency that inspires learners.

While some aspects of the course may be static, such as the learning objectives, how one can achieve those objectives is not. There can be many different ways to demonstrate achieving an objective and through many different tools of mediums.

Offering learners a choice promotes a sense of agency where the learner ‘owns’ their accomplishment by:

·         Taking pride in their accomplishment
·         Developing self-determination

·         Increasing the connectedness to the content.

Offering autonomy helps empower learners to take charge of their own learning.

Because of variation, learners will differ in the degree of the kind of choices they prefer. To better meet every learner's needs, learners should also have the choice in the level of independence in each environment. A few things to consider when promoting autonomy include:

• Promoting as much autonomy, and discretion, as possible by offering choices in such things as:
• The level of perceived challenge
• The type of available rewards
• The tools available for information gathering
• The content used for practicing and assessing skills
• The color, design, or other graphical considerations
• Allow learners to participate in the design of academic tasks. Give the options so they feel in control of their learning
•  Involve learners, where and whenever possible, in setting their own personal academic and behavioral goals

By following these suggestions, your course will assist students in communicating and expressing their knowledge, as well as being in line the Principle of Engagement in the Theory of Universal Design for Learning.

References

Wlodkowski, R. J. (1993). Enhancing adult motivation to learn. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.