Universal Instructional Design and Student Retention

I am making a concurrent presentation at the annual Noel-Levitz Conference on Student Recruitment, Retention, and Marketing today. The topic is on Universal Instructinoal Design (UID), an approach to education that seeks to reduce barriers to learning for all students enrolled in a class. In the past, a traditional model has been to provide accommodations for students with a disability that made a request for help. UID is a proactive approach that states that many accommodations that were formerly provided for only a few in the class would actually benefit everyone in the course.

Such UID actions can be relatively simple such as providing extended time for all students in the class to complete exams. Taking the time pressure out of the assessment process increases the comfort level of students that lead to higher achievement on exams as well as a less stressful experience for students. Other UID actions can be substantial such as providing alternative ways to access course material through computer tutorials and the like.

Our University received a UDSOE federal grant to explore how to practically implement UID within both the classroom as well as student services in postsecondary education. For copies of my conference handouts, PowerPoint slides, and web links to our grant web site, please click on the following, http://nl2007.arendale.org Please post comments about UID to this blog page and let's continue the conversation;.

Take care,
David

Podcasting as an Academic Enrichment and Academic Support

Greetings,
It has been some time since my last posting to this blog page. It has been a busy fall term with several major teaching tasks. One of the exciting experiments for the fall academic term has been the introduction of a weekly Internet podcast that provides an academic enrichment and academic support for my introduction to world history course. This course is primarily taken by first smester, first-year students. It has been a fascinating experiment to see how this and other Web 2.0 learning tools (like wiki web pages) could be an asset for anyone in the course, whether or not they were academically-underprepared. It is too early to report on the utility, though early reports appear favorable from the students.

If you are interested in learning more about this experiment with podcasting, please go to the following web site, http://podcasting.arendale.org I have prepared two online narrated PowerPoint presentations. one is a basic overview of podcasting. The other presentation describes using the technology in education. I share some of the ways that I am experimenting with this technology. In addition to these presentations, I also provided nearly a dozen handouts on podcasting in general and information about my history podcast in particular. Many of the handouts have active web links embedded inside of them, so all you need to do is to click on the links and you will be taken to the web sites.

I plan to return to more regular postings to this blog page. I have plenty of new articles and reports that I have read in the past couple of months. I look forward to sharing some short abstracts of them. Many of these publications are available through the Internet so I will include their web addresses.

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Are you interested in or already are writing about the history of academic access programs? There is a new group forming to bring together people interested in developmental education and learning assistance. Even if you are are only interested, please consider joining us. Click on the link below for more information.
The history of academic access is not well documented in the professional literature. I have read many of the classic histories on postsecondary education and seldom find more than a few paragraphs or pages related to access issues. Frankly, most of the histories don't say much about the faculty or students as well. It seems that most of the time that the books are devoted to the college administrators, significant political leaders at the local or state level, and the physical construction of the colleges.

Since I made the transition to full-time teaching, I have now have more time to write. However, it can be a lonely experience writing about a topic area that does not have lots of other colleagues engaged in the same work. When I shared this with some other colleagues who make conference presentations or write articles, they shared the same experience. So, with the availability of web-based tools here at the University of Minnesota, I decided to see what would happen if a notice was placed up on several large listserv discussion groups that have people who work in this field. After a week, nearly 40 people had responded with interest. Some had no experience, some were in the middle of their dissertation writing, and others had experience with having their research published.

As a result, a working group has been created. Four Internet tools will be used to help us connect with one another and to support our writing interests:
(a) threaded web discussion board
(b) blog page to share with the larger education community our work and publications
(c) wiki web page to collect resources from the group to support our collective efforts
(d) podcasting series will be distributed beginning summer 2006 consisting of interviews of our working group members regarding their scholarship in progress and early findings

It is a pretty ambitious project, considering that most of the communication, encouragement, and work will be conducted online in a "virtual community" of scholars. But it should be an interesting experiment. If you have an interest in writing about the history of academic access programs (developmental educaiton and learning assistance), send an email to me, david@arendale.org

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Cloud, J. (2002, October 14). Who's ready for colege? [Sic] Conservatives want to get rid of remedial education. If so, only two-thirds of today's freshmen need apply. Time Magazine. This is one of the few times that the mainstream press has reported on developmental education. Rather than focusing on a more balanced presentation, the article focuses on the proposed policies in a few states regarding what they call remedial education.
The article repeats previously reported research such as about one-third of entering students need to enroll in one or more developmental courses. Several states are reported to ban financial support for developmental education, even at the community college level.

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O’Brien, C. T. (2004). Indicators of opportunity in higher education. Washington, D.C.: The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education. Most students from low-income families (below $25,000 annual income) do not attend college since it appears unattainable. Those who do attend from this group generally attend public two your or proprietary colleges. Most of these students will not complete a four-year baccalaureate degree. Postsecondary education is becoming more stratified by students’ income.

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Current and former leaders of the field of developmental education and learning assistance have issued a strategic review of the field and provided recommendations for its improvement. The report is available from the Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) website, http://blueribboncommission.org At the same website is a link to a web-based discussion forum for public comment and conversation of the report and the issues that are raised.
Current and past national leaders representing the major professional organizations involved with developmental education and learning assistance created the report. These leaders were appointed to a task force called the Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) by the American Council of Developmental Education Associations (ACDEA). ACDEA charged the BRC with to conduct a strategic analysis of the profession and to report findings for guidance regarding potential planning decisions by the ACDEA member organizations. This report is intended as a catalyst for conversation and reflection at this crucial time.

For additional information, contact David Arendale, Chair of the BRC [612-625-2928], Dr. Hunter Boylan, Chair of the ACDEA [828- 262-6100], or any of the other BRC members. Contact information for these individuals is available through the BRC website, http://blueribboncommission.org

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Muraskin, L. (1997). "Best practices" in Student Support Services: A study of five exemplary sites. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED416784). Report summary retrieved April 9, 2005, from http://www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/ PES/higher/sss4.html
This report examines "best practices" in the delivery of Student Support Services (SSS), one of the Special Programs for Disadvantaged Students collectively known as the TRIO programs. The study is based on case studies that were conducted in five local SSS projects during early 1996. The five projects were drawn from 30 projects in the National Study of Student Support Services, a longitudinal survey of students begun in 1991.