As college faculty who prepare future teachers, we strive to teach our students through instruction and modeling best practices in teaching. We constantly evaluate our teaching and make adjustments to include updated knowledge about effective instruction. The evaluation and adjustments made to our courses lend themselves to action research. We take what we learn from our research and make appropriate changes to better meet the diverse needs of students. This article provides an overview of a final project that used Universal Design for Learning (UDL) for assessing student knowledge. This research focused on the principle of Multiple Means of Action and Expression and the impact the UDL final project had on student learning as well as overall perceptions of the project. Results indicate that participants enjoyed the final project and that it impacted their learning. Students reported enjoying having choice in how they demonstrated their understanding of the content.
General education teachers often feel unprepared to serve the needs of students with disabilities, including those with intellectual disability, because many teacher preparation programs do not adequately prepare teachers for the diverse classrooms they will encounter. With the increase of inclusion for students with disabilities, it is imperative that teachers develop the necessary skills for engaging all students, including those with intellectual disability, in meaningful instruction. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can assist teachers in designing instruction that meets the needs of their diverse learners. The current study consisted of two parts. First, researchers surveyed preservice teachers on their perceptions of including students with disabilities in their future classrooms before and after instruction in UDL. Second, researchers analyzed preservice teachers' ability to design lessons using the principles of UDL. Results indicated perceptions of inclusion were positive prior to intervention and did not significantly change after the intervention. Lesson plans improved significantly in the use of UDL principles from baseline to postintervention, but there was no significant difference between the postintervention lesson plans and the end-of-semester lesson plans.
Before church ministry practitioners can fully implement ministries to meet the needs of those with disabilities and their families, it is important for them to have a basic understanding of special education. This article provides information to help readers understand foundational concepts and vocabulary related to disabilities in order to allow them to understand those that are, or could be, part of their congregation. The article concludes with ideas for churches to consider in developing ministries that serve those with disabilities and their families.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.