Higher education students with disabilities speaking out: perceived barriers and opportunities of the Universal Design for Learning framework

Griful-Freixenet, Júlia; Struyven, Katrien; Verstichele, Meggie; Andries, Caroline

doi:10.1080/09687599.2017.1365695

Cited by 114 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The vast majority of writing about disability and the academy centres on the experiences of disabled students (Berggren et al 2016;Cameron 2016;Collins et al 2019;Lourens and Swartz 2016). There is also a whole body of literature about identity and 'disclosure' of disability in higher education (Blockmans 2015;Cunnah 2015), and some of this work is led by disabled students themselves (Griful-Freixenet et al 2017;Blockmans 2015), or centres on their voices. For instance, Girli et al (2016) report on discrimination faced by disabled students in Turkey; Mutanga (2018) similarly starts from new policy imperatives in South Africa, which promote inclusion, to question the discriminatory practices which create negative experiences for disabled students; and Tudzi et al 2017report on a survey of 53 disabled students in Ghana, showing how the built environment remains inaccessible to them.…”

Section: Disability In Higher Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The insider view: tackling disabling practices in higher education institutions

Merchant¹,

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D'Evelyn

et al. 2019

High Educ

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This paper reports on research about the experiences of disabled staff members in UK universities, drawing on eleven semi-structured interviews with disabled staff in one university, alongside a group auto ethnography conducted by the first four authors, all of whom identified as disabled academics. Disability is generally considered to be predominantly an issue for students, both in practice and in the literature. By contrast, taking a social practice approach, we focused on the barriers faced by disabled employees, both overt and hidden. We found that disability was still viewed as a medical problem, and that disabled members of staff faced considerable extra labour in organising their own supports. We were often made to feel that we were unwanted and that we were 'misfits' in the institution. This paper contributes to theory by showing how social practices can become exclusionary, and how interconnections between practices matter. We discuss ways in which ableism, based on the ideal of 'individual' excellence, creates barriers for disabled staff. In the global context of Higher Education, the increasing marketization of universities in higher income countries creates a difficult climate for the values of inclusion.

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Section: Disability In Higher Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The insider view: tackling disabling practices in higher education institutions

Merchant¹,

Read

D'Evelyn

et al. 2019

High Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Reconnecting UD with the social model of disability calls for further theoretical understanding of accessible learning environments. Earlier it had been noted that no learning environment is completely accessible to every single student [35]. We argue that this statement, often used both in research and practice, is not enough to theorise accessible environments and their interplay with the construction of disabilities [46,52].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Utilising the frameworks of UDL [22][23][24] and UDA [27], we investigated the opportunities and challenges for accessibility that the DISA course model offered to three disabled students in an undergraduate mathematics course. Each of the interviews offered a unique perspective on accessibility, highlighting the importance of considering student perceptions while inclusive learning environments are designed (see [35]). Moreover, our results call for further research on the accessibility of modern mathematical learning environments that have been advocated in recent literature [6].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some analysis units related to more than one UDL/UDA principle, and some units were coded with the frameworks of both UDL and UDA. Earlier research has mentioned this as a natural part of the analysis regarding UD [35].…”

Section: Analysis Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it is unclear whether the courses in this study were conducted with UDL principles. Another study [35] examined whether disabled students taught through traditional models, and not through UD implementations, would benefit from UD practices. This study underlines the importance of individual affordances, since 'it is almost impossible to achieve a curriculum that tackles the needs of all learners without the co-occurring generation of barriers' (p. 1644).…”

Section: Student Perceptions Of Universal Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Taking Universal Design Back to Its Roots: Perspectives on Accessibility and Identity in Undergraduate Mathematics

Nieminen

Pesonen

2019

Education Sciences

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Universal Design has been promoted to address the diversity of learners in higher education. However, rarely have Universal Design implementations been evaluated by listening to the voices of disabled students. For this study, we investigated the perceptions of three disabled students who took part in an undergraduate mathematics course designed with the principles of Universal Design for Learning and Assessment. The study consists of two parts. First, we observed the experiences students had in relation to the accessibility of the course design. The second part consisted of a further analysis of the students identifying processes to understand how they talked about their learning disabilities during the course. Our results highlight many opportunities and challenges that the course offered to the students, whilst also raising concerns about how the students excluded themselves from their student cohort in their identifying narratives. Based on our results, we argue that Universal Design should be returned to its roots by connecting it with the social model of disability. We call for future research to learn from our mistakes and consider the identifying processes of the students while designing, and hopefully co-designing, inclusive learning environments in mathematics.

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Awareness of Universal Design for Learning among anatomy educators in higher level institutions in the Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom

et al. 2022

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There is an increasing need to facilitate enhanced student engagement in anatomy education. Higher education students differ in academic preferences and abilities and so, not all teaching strategies suit all students. Therefore, it is suggested that curricula design and delivery adapt to sustain learner engagement. Enhanced learner engagement is a fundamental feature of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The aim of this study is to determine if anatomy educators in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and United Kingdom (UK) are aware of UDL and to assess if, and to what extent, it has been implemented in the design and delivery of anatomy curricula for healthcare students. An anonymous online questionnaire was administered to anatomy educators in higher level institutions in the ROI and UK. Inductive content analysis was used to identify the impact of UDL on student learning, engagement, and motivation, as perceived by the participants. The response rate was 23% (n = 61). Nineteen participants stated they knew of UDL. Of these, 15 had utilized UDL in their teaching of anatomy. Analysis indicated that the perception of UDL was mixed. However, the majority of responses relating to UDL were positive. The majority of the respondents were unaware of UDL but identified the frameworks' checkpoints within their curriculum, suggesting they have unknowingly incorporated elements of UDL in their curriculum design and delivery. There is a lack of information on the benefits of explicit utilization of UDL for engagement and motivation to learn anatomy in healthcare programs in the ROI and UK.

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Higher education students with disabilities speaking out: perceived barriers and opportunities of the Universal Design for Learning framework

Cited by 114 publications

References 29 publications

The insider view: tackling disabling practices in higher education institutions

The insider view: tackling disabling practices in higher education institutions

Taking Universal Design Back to Its Roots: Perspectives on Accessibility and Identity in Undergraduate Mathematics

Awareness of Universal Design for Learning among anatomy educators in higher level institutions in the Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom

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