Including learner diversity in large class teaching: Using Universal Design for Learning to sustain a systematic proactive reflection on social justice and accessibility

1. Includinglearner diversityin large class teaching:Using
UniversalDesignfor Learning to sustain a systematic
proactivereflection on socialjusticeand accessibility
Keynote –4th Pedagogy for Higher Education Large Classes
(PHELC) Symposium, Dublin, 10th June 2022
@PHELCprofessors

2. Land Acknowledgement
• I am honoured to live and work on the unceded and ancestral territory of the Syilx
Peoples

3. Objectives of the Session
• Examine and debunk two myths frequently perpetuated in large class
contexts
• ‘EDI objectives are best achieved outside the classroom within neoliberal
landscapes’
• ‘UDL and other inclusive frameworks are challenging to implement in these
large class spaces’
• Assess the impact of the COVID crisis on these perpetuated beliefs
• Present a call for action for wider and richer literature to be produced on UDL
implementation in large class contexts

4. Personal lens and methodological stance
• Use of auto-ethnography as a methodological approach
• Currently faculty in the field of education but have, for a period of 4 years,
held the position of Head of Accessibility on a large Canadian campus
• Supported instructors who held a number of beliefs about learner diversity
and inclusion within large class environments
• Was compelled to develop PD that debunked these myths and allowed
instructors to feel more at ease exploring inclusive design as a mindset in
large class contexts
• Retained records of much of this professional experience

5. Situating the large classroom as a phenomenon
specific to the neoliberal HE campus
• Why the large classroom?
• Responds to the realities of a neoliberal HE landscape where success is
measured in terms of high admission rates, effective retention of large
student demographics, and successful graduation of cohorts
• Key priority in the neoliberal academy is financial sustainability and the large
classroom represents a powerful tool to achieve this goal
• Instead of arguing for the elimination of neoliberal imperative in the pos-
secondary sector, a degree of realism is necessary: it is here to stay
• Instead, an important question is: How can educators focus on social justice,
learner diversity, and the lived experiences of minorities in a framework that
prioritizes numbers and makes personalization challenging – if not impossible
(Fovet, in print)

6. The first myth
• ‘EDI objectives, when embraced by a HE campus, are best served outside the large
classroom – for practical reasons – and handled by student affairs and student
services’
• In fact, EDI objectives are rarely about living conditions, residency, social
interactions, etc.
• They are principally manifest in the barriers diverse students face in teaching and
learning itself
• Therefore the solutions cannot be left to support services. They need to be designed
in the classroom itself
• Interestingly the neoliberal campus, which has to compete extensively, now uses EDI
as a branding and marketing tool
• Irony of attracting vast numbers of learners by showcasing EDI mission statement
and then arguing that the large classroom is ill suited to meet these objectives and
translate these values into pedagogical reality

7. The second myth
• ‘The large classroom is an inappropriate environment to implement inclusive design
approaches/ UDL principles’
• Although there has been increasing momentum around UDL as a framework for
inclusion in HE, a sub-text persists in this scholarship which suggests that UDL
implementation is only possible in small, highly personalized classrooms.
• It can be argued that in fact UDL integration is not just pertinent – but urgent – in the
large classroom contexts (Faculty Center for Teaching and e-Learning, 2012).
• Oftentimes, the traditional lecture format has become a mere fiction in the large
classroom context: too many students registered for the physical lecture hall,
inherent issues of accessibility (viewing the instructor, hearing clearly, participating in
any way, shape or form).
• The lecture has had to be reinvented for the needs of the large classroom.
• The rethink that usually is triggered in such contexts is specifically about inclusive
design.

8. The second myth (contd.)
• UDL serves as a user-friendly, consistent and solid lens to carry out this redesign of
the large lecture effectively.
• In the field, the most powerful examples of consistent UDL implementation have
come from large classrooms – out of necessity, not a luxury
• But still a failure to document these initiatives in the literature
• There is a reason for this: large classroom instructors are usually the ones who feel
the neoliberal pressure the most acutely in terms of workload. They do not always
have the opportunity to publish
• Some encouraging exceptions to this phenomenon: Farrell (2021)
• This presentation: very much a call to action – collective responsibility to document
and publish our efforts so that practice can inform the field

9. And then came COVID…

10. What impact has COVID had on this
reflection?
• The COVID crisis has universally made instructors conscious of their role as designers of the
learning experience.
• Almost all instructors have embraced this role – whereas most where reluctant to
acknowledge it previously.
• Most instructors have experienced, in the online pivot, challenges normally characteristic of
the large classroom and routinely addressed by instructors in such contexts.
• Shared common understanding is emerging that the traditional lecture and summative
assessment must be reinvented – a reality that has long been clear in the large classroom
• Interesting role of certain catalysts in the process of pedagogical change: large classroom
teaching and the COVID pivot highlight similar realities
• All this still very much framed within a neoliberal context of urgency, revenue preservation,
and ‘business as usual’ ethos despite exceptional hurdles
• Clearly the challenges of the large class in relation to learner diversity were also greatly
exacerbated during the crisis – may lead to more examples of UDL implementation being
documented.

11. Questions

12. References & Resources
Black, R. D., Weinberg, L. A., & Brodwin, M. G. (2015). Universal design for learning and instruction: Perspectives of
students with disabilities in higher education. Exceptionality Education International, 25(2), 1-16
Boothe, K., Lohmann, M., Donnell, K., & Hall, D. (2018) Applying the Principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
in the College Classroom. Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship, 7(3).
Burgstahler, S.E. (2015) Universal Design in Higher Education: From Principles to Practice. Harvard Education Press,
MA
Dalton, E. M., Lyner-Cleophas, M., Ferguson, B. T., & McKenzie, J. (2019). Inclusion, universal design and universal
design for learning in higher education: South Africa and the United States. African Journal of Disability, 8, 519
Dean, T., Lee-Post, A., & Hapke, H. (2017). Universal design for learning in teaching large lecture classes. Journal of
Marketing Education, 39(1), 5-16
Faculty Center for Teaching and e-Learning. (2012) UDL in Large Classes. Accessible Instruction, University of North
Carolina,. https://ssbp.mycampus.ca/www_ains_dc/Introduction9.html
Farrell, A-M. (2021) Embedding Universal Design for Learning in the Large Class Context: Reflections on Practice. In F.
Fovet (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Applying Universal Design for Learning Across Disciplines: Concepts, Case
Studies, and Practical Implementation. IGI Global.
Fovet, F. (2021) Anger and Thirst for Change among Students with Disabilities in Higher Education: Exploring Universal
Design for Learning as a Tool for Transformative Action. In C-M. Reneau and M.A. Villarreal (Eds.) Handbook of
Research on Leading Higher Education Transformation with Social Justice, Equity, and Inclusion. IGI Global.
Fovet, F. (2021b) UDL in Higher Education: a Global Overview of the Landscape and its Challenges. In F. Fovet (Ed)
Handbook of Research on Applying Universal Design for Learning Across Disciplines: Concepts, Case Studies, and
Practical Implementation. IGI Global

13. References & Resources (contd.)
Fovet, F. (Ed.) (2021) Handbook of Research on Applying Universal Design for Learning Across Disciplines:
Concepts, Case Studies, and Practical Implementation. IGI Global
Fovet, F. (2020) Universal Design for Learning as a Tool for Inclusion in the Higher Education Classroom: Tips for
the Next Decade of Implementation. Education Journal. Special Issue: Effective Teaching Practices for Addressing
Diverse Students’ Needs for Academic Success in Universities, 9(6), 163-172.
http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo?journalid=196&doi=10.11648/j.edu.20200906.13
Fovet, F. (Ed.) (in print) Implementing Transformative Student-Centered Pedagogies in the Neoliberal Academy:
Constraints and Opportunities. CSMFL Publications
Griful-Freixenet, J., Struyven, K., Verstichele, M., & Andries, C. (2017) Higher education students with disabilities
speaking out: perceived barriers and opportunities of the Universal Design for Learning framework. Disability &
Society, 32, 10
James, K. (2018) Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a Structure for Culturally Responsive Practice. Northwest
Journal of Teacher Education, 13(1), Article 4.
Kennette, L., & Wilson, N. (2019) Universal Design for Learning: What is it and how do I implement it?
Transformative Dialogues: Teaching & Learning, 12(1)
Nieminen, J.H., & Pesonen, H.V. (2020) Taking Universal Design back to its roots: Perspectives on accessibility and
identity in Undergraduate Mathematics. Education Sciences, 10(1). 2020, 10(1), 12
Novak, K. & Bracken, S. (Eds.) Transforming Higher Education through Universal Design for Learning: An
International Perspective. Routledge

14. Contact details
• Frederic Fovet (PhD.)
• Implementudl@gmail.com
• @Ffovet
• www.implementudl.com
@PHELCprofessors