Universal Design for Learning in Postsecondary Education: Measure and Explore Perspectives of Students with Disabilities

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the attitudes of faculty and students with disabilities toward Universal Design for Learning (UDL) teaching practices. The first article reviewed studies related to faculty attitudes toward and applications of UD teaching practices in their classes. Results of the review revealed the factors that influenced faculty members’ attitudes toward and applications of UD teaching practices. Some studies showed a gap between faculty members’ positive attitudes toward UD teaching practices and their limited applications. The second article examined attitudes held by students with disabilities related to UDL teaching practices and whether these practices were implemented by instructors in classrooms from students’ point of view. An online survey was administered at a large public research university in the south-central United States. The article indicated, among other findings, that most UDL teaching practices were considered important by students; however, students perceived that some important UDL teaching practices were not fully addressed by instructors. The third article described a study that served as a follow-up to the second study to further examine the learning experiences of students with disabilities in regard to UDL teaching practices. The third study used a qualitative research method, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), to conduct the study. Students with disabilities who previously participated in the online survey were invited to join focus groups for this study, and ten participants were divided into three focus groups for data collection. The standard IPA data analysis process was used to analyze the data, and seven final themes were identified in addition to other findings and discussions presented.