Universal Design for Learning Strategy Database

Affect represents a crucial element to the learning process, and learners differ markedly in what sparks their motivation and enthusiasm for learning. Learners must be able to bring their authentic selves to the learning environment and find connections to what matters most in their lives. The UDL framework emphasizes the idea of learner variability, and learners’ multiple and intersecting identities are an essential layer of fully recognizing the notion of learner variability. Further, learners' interests and sources of motivation may vary depending on the context. In reality, there is not one means of engagement that will be optimal for all learners in all contexts; multiple options for engagement are essential.

Are you working to:

• Better honor learners' whole selves?
• Support students in tackling challenges with focus and determination?
• Support students in harnessing the power of emotions and motivations in learning?

To spark engagement in the learning process, learners’ unique interests as well as their unique identities, including intersecting dimensions such as race/ethnicity, culture, gender, language, and disability, must be recognized, sustained, and valued. It is essential to acknowledge the remarkable variability in what attracts and engages learners’ interests and what constitutes an environment that affirms the dignity of every learner. Even the same learner will differ over time and circumstance. 

Are you working to:

• Develop students' agency in the learning process?
• Connect learning to experiences that are meaningful and valuable?
• Spark joy and playfulness in the learning process?
• Foster spaces to learn and take risks?

Learners are highly variable in terms of the ways they are inspired to persist through challenging aspects of the learning process, and this variability can shift depending on the learning context. To sustain effort and persistence, effective learning designs consider options for creating goals that are meaningful and purposeful, offering scaffolds and supports in service of challenging goals, fostering collaboration and belonging, and offering on-going, action-oriented feedback.

Are you working to:

• Emphasize the goal and why it matters?
• Set high expectations using flexible tools and supports?
• Support students in learning from and with one another?
• Cultivate spaces where learners are wanted and where learners want to be?
• Guide learning by emphasizing the role of effort and process?

Effective learning environments develop learners’ intrinsic abilities to regulate their own emotions and choose how to move forward in service of their learning. While many individuals develop regulatory skills and practices on their own, either by trial and error or by observing successful adults, many others can benefit from more explicit supports. While it is imperative for learners to develop coping strategies, the design of the learning environment should not require learners to cope with inequitable conditions.

Are you working to support students in:

• Setting goals that inspire confidence and ownership of learning?
• Developing and managing healthy emotional responses and interactions?
• Increasing awareness around progress toward goals and how to learn from mistakes?
• Learning from others' perspectives and repair harm?