Based on extensive research into the science of learning, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that can be used to optimize the design of teaching and learning for all students. Developed by Dr. David Rose from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and the staff at CAST, UDL embraces the understanding that all individuals learn differently. UDL helps educators focus on the “why,” “what,” and “how” of learning to customize the experience for each learner by building options and flexibility into instructional practices. Originally focused on neurodiverse learners, researchers soon discovered that UDL benefits everyone.
The UDL framework integrates what we now know about brain operations to help design environments to support all kinds of learners. The framework entails three components: engagement, representation, and expression.
This is the “why” of learning and the understanding that there are differences in what each student might find enticing to learn.
This is the “what” of learning and relates to how all students have their unique reactions and preferences to different kinds of materials or mediums presented to them.
These are the “hows” of learning that explain why some students excel when expressing understanding in one way – such as via a quiz – and other students excel when explaining their understanding of a topic in another way – such as an oral presentation or a piece of art.
UDL does not limit its benefits to certain types of learners – it provides avenues for all learners to access knowledge. Indeed, embedding UDL principles in design is helpful for everyone, often in unanticipated ways. One example from outside of the classroom is often used to illustrate the unanticipated benefits of providing multiple ways of accessing – in this case – our physical spaces. Curb cuts, originally designed to only benefit people in wheelchairs were found to have many other unanticipated but useful purposes: parents pushing strollers, people wheeling grocery carts out to a car, elderly people who find stairs challenging, and so on. Similarly, adding alternative (alt) text to visual images online can provide audio or printed word access to help explain and give context to an image for people with low vision but can also benefit people who are not strong visual learners or who learn more effectively when they can read about and view an image at the same time. UDL emphasizes diversity instead of disability helping to ensure that everyone has access to learning.
To optimize UDL in their classrooms, teachers need to be provided with curricula that embed and support the diverse needs of their students and allow for flexibility and choice in how students can engage, respond, and express their understanding. Giving educators options to personalize learning at every stage in the UDL framework maximizes the chances for student success.
Learners vary a great deal in what they find engaging and motivating. Some learners might like novelty, while for others, learning something completely new might cause them to shut down. Similarly, for some learners working in groups might be motivating, while for others working alone is preferable. For a kinesthetic learner, learning multiplication tables might work better when they can do so while jumping on a mini trampoline and shouting out the answers, while for another student, a quiet room for sorting through flashcards works more effectively.
Providing multiple ways for students to engage with materials provides options so that each student can use what works best for them. Allowing options for working with others in a large group, in pairs, or alone can allow students to interact in a way that suits them best. Providing multiple paths through an assignment while also minimizing distractions and facilitating personal coping skills can help promote beliefs about competence and help students feel motivated to succeed.
Representation – presenting a variety of materials through different mediums – is important to support learners by letting them play to their strengths. In any learning environment, there will be some with preferences for learning through listening, while others may learn better with visuals such as photo-based pictures. For some, disabilities may prevent their ability to learn through certain modalities altogether. Students who are deaf, by necessity, need to be taught using visuals.
Further, consideration should be given as to how materials are displayed within the medium. For example, the size and color of the font can affect learning; as can the volume and pitch of verbal communication. Some learners may find that in some cases they prefer one medium and in other cases, they prefer a different medium based upon how the materials are communicated. Even if a student learns better through one medium, sharing information through multiple means is helpful for all learners and some learners may benefit from a combination of mediums. Providing educators with flexibility and options to adapt how they communicate information to their students will help students learn in the way they prefer
We have all encountered students who shine at writing essays and others whose artistic abilities best help them demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. It is no surprise that if we allow pupils to demonstrate their learning in a variety of media, more students will be successful. Some learners may prefer to show what they have learned by writing a paper, while other students may prefer to share a speech or presentation with their class. Some students might like to express their understanding by creating something and other students might prefer a more concrete expression such as writing down their understanding as a list.
In addition to providing students with a wide range of options for how to showcase what they have learned, designing learning to meet Action & Expression goals, also requires providing students with access to the tools and assistive technologies they need to be able to express their learning. Adaptive keyboards or mice, braille machines, access to programs for creating video or other visual content, and access to the physical materials to create models are all examples of the types of access students will need to be able to best express their understanding. For educators, having access to the requisite resources and creative ideas to support students demonstrating knowledge in a manner that optimizes the students’ strengths is crucial.
The ARIS® Academic Readiness Intervention System (ARIS) Language Builder is a comprehensive personalized learning curriculum for moderate to severe autistic students and/or those with significant cognitive delays. ARIS is grounded in the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) but modernized to reflect the progressive trends in ABA which allow for the integration of UDL principles.
ABA is an evidence-based therapy practice that helps students learn skills and lessen problem behaviors. The central idea behind ABA is that reinforcing certain behaviors will lead students to repeat those behaviors. Progressive ABA embraces a more child-centered, adaptive approach, rather than the rigid traditional ABA design. Progressive ABA techniques provide a natural structure that draws on the strengths of both ABA and UDL interventions to better serve autistic students and related learning challenges. Using progressive ABA strategies ARIS has been designed with intentionality to provide teachers with easy ways to teach their students using multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression.
ARIS has a significant advantage over other tools and curricula designed to work with autistic students because, during the development of ARIS, staff at STAGES® Learning were able to work closely with graduate students and faculty at HGSE to embed UDL principles into the creation of this new curriculum.
ARIS provides a clear structure for teachers, parents, and therapists to use ABA to support their child or student’s learning and development in the manner that best meets that individual’s learning needs. At the same time, the ABA instructions used in ARIS support the use of flexible learning options to meet the students where they are.
As detailed below, ARIS architects intentionally embedded UDL practices throughout the structure of the curriculum.
ARIS provides teachers with all of the various tools and manipulatives – everything a teacher needs is included in the ARIS kit -- to help provide the learner with options that work best for them. Because ARIS is a newly developed curriculum, it was able to make use of the latest research, proven practices, and strategies for teaching autistic students and those with similar learning challenges. Incorporating and joining forces between cutting-edge, progressive ABA practices and UDL, and using an iterative design process with assistance from advisors at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the ARIS curriculum provides educators with the most effective curriculum for teaching autistic students.