Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in the Academic Library: A Methodology for Mapping Multiple Means of Representation in Library Tutorials

Submitted by mlb78 on Fri, 09/16/2016 - 17:25
TitleUniversal Design for Learning (UDL) in the Academic Library: A Methodology for Mapping Multiple Means of Representation in Library Tutorials
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2015
AuthorsWebb, Katy, and Hoover, Jeanne
JournalCollege & Research Libraries
Volume76
Issue4
Pagination537-553
ISSN Number0010-0870
Accession Number102335585
Keywordslearning disabilities, universal design
AbstractLibrarians designed a biology tutorial not only to address an assignment, but also to make tutorials more accessible to students with various learning styles. The Science Librarian created the content by using aspects of the Information Literacy Standards for Science and Technology/Engineering, an informal survey of biology faculty, and assignments for the biology labs. The Instructional Design Librarian created multiple modules that engaged users through text, images, audio, and interactive tutorials. The researchers used Universal Design for Learning principles to address multiple learning styles, specifically multiple means of representation, and created a mapping technique for those principles that can be applied to any library tutorial. To assess the effectiveness, students with learning disabilities completed a usability test on the tutorial. ibrarians at East Carolina University (ECU) revised an existing biology LibGuide to incorporate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) elements and transform it into an online tutorial. UDL is an educational framework for creating instruction that allows for inclusion of many different types of learning preferences into the targeted curriculum. The Science Librarian at Joyner Library serves as a liaison to not only science-related fields, but also Project STEPP, an innovative grant-based college retention program for undergraduate students with multiple learning disabilities. This unique combination of duties became the basis for a project to improve a Biology 1051/1101 tutorial with the Instructional Design Librarian at Joyner Library to include UDL. BIOL 1051/1101 is a lab course that counts as a required course for all students entering the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and a general education science credit for non-STEM majors. On average, BIOL 1051 has 15-20 sections per semester with 45-50 students per section. BIOL 1101 has 15-17 sections per semester with 45-48 students per section. Both lab classes Attribution-NonCommercial (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc/3.0/) CC BY-NC
NotesIn this study, librarians at East Carolina University (ECU) incorporated Universal Design for Learning (UDL) elements in an existing biology LibGuide and transformed it into an online tutorial. Before the tutorial experiment, biology professors answered an informal survey asking about their opinions of the importance of specific research skills. Based on this survey and the relevant information literacy standards, as well as assignments in two basic biology courses, researchers developed the new tutorial. Specifically, it consists of four formats: audio, visual, kinesthetic, and text. Learning disabled students recruited through Project STEPP were invited to use the tutorial. After interacting with the tutorial online, they were invited to complete a 35-40-minite task. The result showed that the four students had different learning preferences in terms of learning format preferences, learning strategies preferences and best time to study preferences. The tutorial showed a fairly positive result. Participants rated an average of 7 to 8 on a scale from 1 to 10 for engagement with teaching the subject matter. They also agreed that the tutorial's navigation was made easier by the inclusion of the top tabs.
URLhttp://crl.acrl.org/content/76/4/537.full.pdf
DOI10.5860/crl.76.4.537