Think UDL

Different Kinds of Intelligence with Temple Grandin

Welcome to Episode 86 of the Think UDL podcast: Different Kinds of Intelligence with Temple Grandin. Temple Grandin is an author, Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, and a sought-after speaker on Autism and Neurodiversity all over the world. She has been named one of the top 10 college Professors in the country by CEO World Magazine, she is the subject of her own eponymous movie biopic in 2010, and a recognized thought leader on different kinds of intelligence. I was surprised and greatly honored when she accepted my invitation to speak with me on the Think UDL podcast.  I have known of her, listened to her speak, and read so much about her over the last 20 years, that I was very excited during this interview! When I told my friend and colleague Jill Van Horne from our university’s counseling program that I was offered an interview with Temple Grandin in 4 hours time, Jill was equally excited and so I invited Jill to join me for today’s conversation. Jill leads our really fantastic equine therapy program at Appalachian State. I asked Jill to join me because she thinks differently than I do and especially because she knows a lot more about animals than I do, and even more especially because she is also a big fan of Temple Grandin. You’ll hear Jill pop in the conversation and ask her own questions in this episode as well. In this episode, Professor Temple Grandin talks about the different ways people think, how to teach a variety of learners, what advice she gives college professors, what advice she gives college students, and why she thinks we don’t need algebra (for some things at least) among other things! Thank you for listening and a special thank you to the folks at the UDLHE Network for their financial support of the Think UDL podcast! Dr. Grandin, it is a great honor to have you on the podcast and I will start us off with the question I ask all of my guests, and that is, “What makes you a different kind of learner?”

Design for Divergence with Megan Kohler

Welcome to Episode 85 of the Think UDL podcast: Design for Divergence with Megan Kohler. Megan Kohler is a Learning Designer with the John A. Dutton e-Education Institute at Penn State. 

Her areas of interest/research revolve around supporting neurodivergent learners. Megan and her colleague, Tracy Balduzzi offer a workshop on creating Neuroinclusive learning experiences called Designing for Divergence. She has also collaborated with Penny Ralston-Berg to develop a new learning design model called the Collaborative Content Design Model in which the processes are put to the side and the focus is placed on collaboratively designing courses with faculty.

Megan has presented nationally and internationally and relies on her training and experience as a professional actor to create a fun and engaging experience within her presentations and design work. Today our conversation focuses on how instructors can create inclusive educational spaces for neurodiverse learners in higher ed, creating community and supporting interpersonal connections. 

Thank you for listening and a special thank you to the folks at the UDLHE Network for their financial support of the Think UDL podcast!

Engaging Alternative Grading with Joshua Eyler

Welcome to Episode 84 of the Think UDL podcast: Engaging Alternative Grading with Joshua Eyler. Joshua Eyler is the Director of Faculty Development at the University of Mississippi and the author of How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories Behind Effective College Teaching and the forthcoming book Scarlet Letters: How Grades are Harming Children and Young Adults, and What We Can Do About It. Josh recently has been raising the chatter about the usefulness and challenges of traditional grading and also bringing a lot of attention to alternative grading practices. Today’s conversation will focus on how the UDL guidelines dovetail with non-traditional grading, especially focussing on multiple means of engagement. In fact, we will look at the specific ways that alternative grading practices recruit learner interest, help sustain effort and persistence in multiple ways, and also serve to guide students through self-reflection. It is a veritable engagement smorgasbord and I am so excited to have this conversation!

Supporting Neurodiverse Learners with Chiara Horlin

Welcome to Episode 83 of the Think UDL podcast: Supporting Neurodiverse Learners with Chiara Horlin. Chiara Horlin is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Glasgow and a founder of the Neurodiversity Network there. She is a developmental Psychologist with particular interest in Autism Spectrum Disorder and neurodiversity in general. In today’s conversation, we talk about why she founded the Neurodiversity Network and what it does for students, faculty, and staff at the University of Glasgow. We also look into the challenges that neurodiverse students find at universities and what strengths they bring! And finally we discuss what college instructors can do to support neurodiverse students on our campuses. You’ll find that’s where Universal Design for Learning comes into play a lot in our conversation.

UDL University with Nicole Brewer, Randy Laist, and Dana Sheehan

Welcome to Episode 82 of the Think UDL podcast: UDL University with Nicole Brewer, Randy Laist, and Dana Sheehan. Nicole Brewer is an Assistant Professor of Humanities and a Literacy Specialist at Ana Maria College in Massachusetts. Randy Laist is a Professor of English at Goodwin University and the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. And, Dana Sheehan is an Assistant Professor of English and the Director of the Writing Center, also at Ana Maria College. This is my first podcast with three guests, and it is power packed with UDL ideas from their book UDL University: Designing for Variability Across the Curriculum. All three authors worked together at Goodwin University and through a great UDL initiative have incorporated UDL into their teaching. In this episode we talk about how UDL has transformed their teaching and hear several examples of how to leverage the diversity of learners for everyone’s gain. I also think it is a great encouragement to hear how UDL has been applied in a faculty learning community first, and then across the entire curriculum.

Thank you for listening and a special thank you to the folks at the UDLHE Network for their financial support of the Think UDL podcast!

Graphic Design for Course Creators with Dawn DiPeri

Welcome to Episode 81 of the Think UDL podcast: Graphic Design for Course Creators with Dawn DiPeri. Dawn DiPeri is a learning designer and graphic designer who has taught and worked in higher education and in the corporate sector. She has expertise in educational technology, new media literacies, and interpersonal communication and has published widely on gender and race disparity in the workforce and online pedagogy. Today we talk about her new book Graphic Design for Course Creators with a particular focus on accessibility and graphic design. Dawn saw the need for this book and set about to write and I am so glad she did! She incorporates Universal Design for Learning guidelines but goes even further to incorporate graphic design principles to help instructors be as clear as possible for our students. If you have any part of your course that exists online, even if you aren’t fully teaching online, you will gain some valuable insights from this conversation. Thank you for listening and a special thank you to the folks at the UDLHE Network for their financial support of the Think UDL podcast!

Neurodiversity Hub with Andrew Eddy

Welcome to Episode 80 of the Think UDL podcast: Neurodiversity Hub with Andrew Eddy. Andrew Eddy is the CEO and co-founder of Untapped based in Melbourne, Australia, a social enterprise that helps to develop job opportunities for Autstic individuals and he is the co-creator of the Neurodiversity Hub which provides resources and trainings to students, universities, and employers focussing on programs to benefit neurodiverse students and employees. Today we get the chance to talk about the many ways in which universities, students, and employers are collaborating in Australia, the United Kingdom, and in North America to provide training, programs, informational presentations, and plenty of ideas about how to best serve our Autistic students throughout their educational and career journeys. You can find all of the resources we mention on the website ThinkUDL.org for episode 80. Be sure to check out Neurodiversityhub.org as we will be talking a lot about what you can find there. Let’s change the way we think and talk about neurodiversity!Thank you for listening and a special thank you to the folks at the UDLHE Network for their financial support of the Think UDL podcast!

Higher Ed and K-12 partnerships with Mary Budzilowicz and Lauren Benfield

Welcome to Episode 79 of the Think UDL podcast: Higher Ed and K-12 Partnerships with Mary Budzilowicz and Lauren Benfield. Mary Budzilowicz is the Director of the Center for Universal Design for Learning Technology and Resources at Cabrini University and Lauren Benfield is a Project Consultant in the Office of Professional Learning of the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit in Pennsylvania. I usually interview just one person each episode, but today I am very glad to have representatives of both sides of this UDL partnership. My guests and I are specifically going to talk about the incredible work that Cabrini University and Montgomery County schools have forged in recent years to link UDL in their Higher Ed and teacher education programs with K-12 implementation by creating professional learning communities and operationalizing UDL in their local schools. This episode is chock full of resources that Mary and Lauren and their team have meticulously created and gathered over the past several years, so please be sure to check those out on the episode 79 webpage where you’ll see padlets, wakelets, curated resources, and original videos, infographics, and webpages to jump start your partnerships or perhaps start your own thinking about a UDL center on your campus! During our conversation, at one point Lauren mentions the 2018-2019 school year when the membership exploded with more and more attendees but was then interrupted by the pandemic. After our taping she corrected that to the 2019-2020 school year, and you’ll just have to stay tuned to hear how they handled, and even expanded, after that interruption! They are so creative and have so much to share! Thank you for listening and a special thank you to the folks at the UDLHE Network for their financial support of the Think UDL podcast!

Transformational Inclusive Student Input with Sara Schley

Welcome to Episode 78 of the Think UDL podcast: Transformational Inclusive Student Input with Sara Schley. Sara Schley is the Director of Learning Sciences, Wallace H Coulter Dept of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (aka GA Tech) and is retiring from her position as Professor, Master of Science in Secondary Education dept (deaf education teacher training program), Rochester Institute of Technology, National Technical Institute for the Deaf. The research we are discussing today comes from her time in her previous position in Rochester. Today we discuss the terms access and inclusion to understand what we really want in the college classroom, and also disability as diversity. One of the main points of her research, too, is to include disabled students in faculty learning communities in order to improve accessibility and inclusive measures in teaching and learning settings. We will go over how she conducted her research and what transformational and beneficial results have come from her studies that center students’ experience and suggestions in creating positive change in higher ed settings. Thanks for listening to this conversation and a special thank you to the folks at the UDLHE Network for their financial support of the Think UDL podcast!

Intentional Tech Solutions with Derek Bruff

Welcome to Episode 77 of the Think UDL podcast: Intentional Tech Solutions with Derek Bruff. Derek Bruff is the Assistant Provost and Executive Director of the Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt University and Interim Director of Digital Commons as well as a Principal Senior Lecturer in Mathematics. He is also the host and producer of the educational technology podcast Leading Lines. Derek has recently written the book Intentional Tech: Principles to Guide the Use of Educational Technology in College Teaching. My colleagues and I at Appalachian State who are “faculty Champions,” faculty who help our peers with tech and teaching problems, have been reading his book together and discussing it asynchronously, so I am eager to talk with Derek today and get the answers to my questions! I am excited to talk shop with him about his book and how his principles relate to the UDL guidelines. And I thank you for joining me and Derek today for our conversation on UDL and Intentional Tech!