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Action Research Page

Page history last edited by Mallory Burton 13 years, 9 months ago

Please post information about research support UDL here.

 

Why UDL is Working

UDL is succeeding because it provides an educational framework for meeting the diverse needs of learners. UDL is an "umbrella" for many good teaching strategies and provides direction for incorporating technology.  In fact, UDL provides insights into why these strategies work so well.  CAST has just added this fantastic collection of research on the UDL Guidelines to their website. 

 

Peer Coaching

The Concord, Patins, and BC UDL Project all use a collaborative team approach.  Research by Joyce and Showers (2003) provides compelling evidence for the success of implementation (95% effectiveness in transfer to the classroom) that includes coaching.  Have a look at the table on page 30 of this ISTE Summary of Implementation Research to 2005.

 

Action Research 

Action Research questions allow teachers to informally evaluate their own teaching practices.  Posing an action research question is now a part of the BC UDL Project application process and former team leaders are also encouraged to develop action research questions in order to evaluate their UDL implementation.

 

For example, Daryl Cummings, a year 1 team member from Coquitlam, has put together a very interesting informal study (and literature review) looking at the question of whether the investment in interactive whiteboards is justified.

 

UDL Implementation Rubrics and Checklists

 

Teachers in Year 2 of the project have created a VERY INFORMAL (and sometimes tongue-in-cheek) rubric describing what it would look like if a teacher had implemented UDL.  Technology is just one strand of this rubric which identifies several important indicators.  A grad student in Illinois will use a modified version as an assessment tool in her dissertation.  Rubric for Implementation of UDL 2008-2009 teams.doc

 

Clark County Schools in Kentucky uses this MORE FORMAL  Rubric and  UDL checklist to gather information about the implementation of UDL in their schools.  Year 3 teams will indicate their place on the rubric and the beginning and end of the year.

 

Research on Technology Used in the Project

While it is possible to implement some UDL principles in your teaching without technology, being able to use technology definitely expands your ability to provide differentiated instruction.  In choosing technologies for the project, we wanted to ensure there was a research base supporting their effectiveness. 

 

Kurzweil Educational Systems has done an excellent job of showing how Kurzweil 3000 supports UDL principles in this downloadable .pdf.  Several research studies have been conducted which show the efficacy of Kurzweil in supporting students with learning disabilities. 

 

SMART Technology has just published a White Paper showing how SMARTBoards support UDL principles in this downloadable .pdf. 

 

When Anita Strang (a year 1 team leader) visited a SMARTBoard Pilot school in 2008, she discovered that the use of the SMARTBoard had enabled teachers to create lessons that worked for diverse learners even though they hadn't heard of UDL.  Here's the blog post she made about her visit.

 

A new Promethean study shows substantial growth in student learning with teachers who have 10 years of experience and 2 years of experience using a whiteboard.

 

 

 

 

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