Best Practices for Building an Inclusive Syllabus-Your course syllabus provides a first impression of your course and serves as a road map for both you and your students. In this webinar, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) will be used as a framework for designing a syllabus that aligns with University of Mississippi priorities to create an inclusive, diverse and equitable campus for all students. Universal Design for Learning is a framework to design learning environments for all students based on three core principles: 1) provide multiple ways to engage students in learning; 2) provide multiple ways to present content and information, and 3) provide multiple ways for students to demonstrate what they are learning.
Participants will use this experience to 1) analyze syllabi content including instructional goals, strategic methods, materials, and assessments; and 2) consider how embedding UDL principles will support students’ learning, access, and engagement with the syllabus and your course curricula. The variety of modalities induced by the COVID pandemic, including technology tools that support access and learning will be included in the focus of the webinar. Providing learners with choices for both accessing information and demonstrating what they know will promote adherence to course goals and increase motivation.

Bio
Sam Catherine Johnston Ed. D. is the Director of Postsecondary Education and Workforce Development at CAST, the organization that pioneered Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Sam leads several National Science Foundation grants to broaden participation in STEM and create more opportunities for all people to access middle and high income careers. Her current work includes design and research of a mobile-first STEM eportfolio for youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who are disconnected from both school and the workforce, a multigenerational makerspace learning project situated in affordable housing, and a career exploration tool for career and technical education high school students so they can understand the emerging field of biofabrication. Sam has worked on a number of projects to integrate UDL into the design of community and technical college courses and to bring best practices on accessibility into higher education and workforce development.