FDEC Day Universal Design Sessions! Sign up by December 7th

Dear Colleagues, 

The FDEC Day Committee is looking forward to gathering for Fall 2021 FDEC Day: “Universal Design: Imagining Teaching & Learning for all Students” on Tuesday, December 14, 2021, from 12:00pm-2:00pm on Zoom. 

This FDEC Day, we will invite faculty to explore and expand the ways in which we can best support learning and learners in our classrooms. Though the call to meet the needs of students of all abilities and learning styles is not new, both faculty and professional staff have reported an increased pressure on time and resources needed to facilitate truly student-centered learning experiences. Join us for hands-on workshops to help us re-imagine how we approach instructional design to adjust and adapt to the new learning challenges and create fully inclusive learning environments. 

Please go to the following link to choose the session you would most like to attend by December 7th. Each participant will attend one session on the day of the event.

Understanding the Current Accessibility Landscape: 

This session will provide an overview of what faculty need to know about the current landscape in accessibility and accommodations. In addition, faculty will have the opportunity to ask questions and learn from the student perspective about what is most helpful for their learning.

Before students meet you, they encounter the language of your syllabus, which can send an inclusive or exclusive message—or anything in between.  Come learn about ways to align your inclusive pedagogies with how you present yourself and the course content to your students from the first words you offer them.

Neurodiversity is defined as "individual differences in brain functioning regarded as normal variations within the human population". We will explore neurodiversity in our classrooms, how to plan our teaching for students across a spectrum of learning styles and how to meet students where they are. 

This session will provide an overview of labor-based grading, and how it can be used to support an inclusive classroom. Come with an assignment in mind as we workshop how labor-based grading can be implemented across disciplines.

Designing for Digital Accessibility and UDL:

Learn how digital accessibility differs from accessibility in a physical space, and how technology can be used to support inclusive online learning experiences. Participants will learn how accessibility is embedded in the process of designing an online UDL course or course content. Popular tools available at Fairfield for designing accessible course content will be reviewed. 

In this session, faculty colleagues in science/clinical disciplines will discuss their experiences in addressing a variety of accommodations and inclusive practices for our science students, specifically in lab-based and experiential settings. Please join us for a discussion of how to use universal design and inclusive practices to make our lab and clinical sciences accessible for all learners. 

Sincerely,

The FDEC Committee and the Center for Academic Excellence