Project One: Assuring Equal Academic Access for College Students with LD by Implementing Universal Design in the Instructional Environment (1999 – 2002)
The first project focused on the task of applying Universal Design (UD), a concept from the field of architecture developed by the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University (1997), to college instruction The seven principles of UD are widely acknowledged and cited as seminal in the field of UD. They delineate considerations for the "usability of an environment" based on a broad spectrum of human abilities including vision, hearing, speech, body function, mobility, and cognition. The focus of this project centered on extending the concept of UD to college teaching to enhance the instructional environment and to assure programmatic access for diverse learners. By focusing on methods and strategies that promote learning, this project and the subsequent two are grounded in an inclusionary approach to a quality higher education regardless of underlying cognitive/learning difficulties that students may have.
The literature on Universal Design was examined, in conjunction with literature on effective instruction in higher education and effective strategies for teaching students with learning disabilities in both secondary and postsecondary educational settings. Other sources that were reviewed included the seminal principles of good practice in undergraduate education by Chickering and Gamson (1987), guidelines for inclusive teaching practices at the K-12 level from the Center on Applied Special Technology (CAST,1999), and the six major features of effective instruction developed by the National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators (Kame’enui & Carnine, 1998). These sources were viewed concurrently with particular attention to overlaps across principles as well as gaps in the literature base. From this work, the nine Principles of UDI© were developed. Faculty from institutions across the country submitted examples of instructional methods that underwent a peer review process and were determined to reflect these principles. These examples are posted on the project website