Improving Student Engagement through Universal Design in Online Courses

The article analyzes a case study in which a university instructor focused on including concepts of Universal Design while planning and implementing an online course. Universal Design is broadly defined as an educational framework that uses diverse teaching strategies while also providing flexible options for students. University students come from a range of backgrounds, experiences, ages, and abilities. Students taking courses online may also have other obligations and responsibilities. This research investigates how concepts of Universal Design provide potential for online instructors to increase accessibility and engagement by pre-emptively addressing a range of students’ learning needs.

The researchers conducted a case study on one instructor’s experiences with using Universal Design to improve students’ experiences in three online courses.  Strategies discussed included an ‘at-a-glance’ weekly overviews, providing course materials online, visuals, tables, guided notes, audio recordings with transcripts, videos with closed captions, narrated presentations, and personalized feedback. Students were offered options to complete tasks individually or in groups. Students were also offered choice in demonstrating learning objectives. Course content was delivered asynchronously. Synchronous classes were reserved for student questions and group discussions.  The instructor also collected data on student experiences using an anonymous feedback survey. 

The researchers found that implementing concepts and strategies of Universal Design in the online course had a positive impact on student engagement. For example, 76% of students reported that they liked having short weekly assignments instead of fewer assignments worth more grades, a design decision that the instructor made following principles of Universal Design.  Students also reported positive impacts relating to self-advocacy, time-management, and faculty-peer interactions. The researchers cautioned that the focus of this case study is on how Universal Design impacts student experiences in online courses, and not student learning per se.   The researchers also highlight that implementing strategies of Universal Design does not eliminate the need to provide specific accommodation requests.