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102084 Inclusive Education: Assessment 2 Case study

Part 1: Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Case Study:

The following case study has been based on a student that has been observed throughout current teaching

and leaning experiences. In this instance the student will be called John to protect their identity for respect

and privacy reasons. John is a year 10 student that has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder

(ASD) this not only has different effects on Johns learning but behaviour in the classroom. ASD is

commonly known as a behavioural disorder that can span into many other learning difficulties (Matson &

Shoemaker, 2009), According to the World Heath Organisation (2018) ASD affects 1 in every 160 children,

which tends to persist into adulthood. This shows the large span of people who are diagnoses with ASD, in

which action must be taken to help enhance their educational process.

In Johns case he has a vast memory and intellectual ability in class, however struggles to relay information

and communicate with other students around him. Due to John’s intelligence ability he shows great use of

recall and memorisation skills. Meaning John can display knowledge previously understood when written

down, inturn this has caused problems when giving him verbal instructions. John does have interests in

building and creating objects with Lego or drawings, which shows that John does have the ability to think

creatively and get involved when the task has some level of design. Johns also tends to repeat tasks until he

reaches what he believes if a high level of perfection. This shows John tends to think and repeat his actions

to strive for a higher level of learning. While this action does show strong enthusiasm is does cause

problems when moving forward from task to task, as John can get fixated on one particular idea and become

disengaged in other class work as a result. Its also important to note John does get frustrated if he does not

understand the overall goal of the task causing further frustration.

Autism is a unique behavioural disorder as it has many positive attributes that students can be seen to have

such as strong memorisation and intellectual capabilities, however it has been noted that these students

struggle in social situations (Boutot & Myles, 2011). John does fit into this category of social disengagement

and high intellectual ability, however it should be noted that at times group work is not an option for John

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because of his isolated nature. According to Hughes, Golas, Cosgriff, Brigham, Edwards and Cashen (2011)

through increasing the frequency of social interactions gradually students with disabilities such as autism

have been seen to slowly adapt, especially in an inclusive setting (Loreman, Deppeler & Harvey, 2010).

This shows how integration of social setting can effetely influence wanted behaviour and support students

with use of quality lesson designs.

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework concept that can be used to help all students, even

those with disabilities. According to Lancaster (2008) UDL aims to help design quality curriculum and take

into account the abilities of all students as opposed to retrofitting and shifting teaching practices to suit

individual students. UDL has a main purpose of shaping student into ‘expert learners’ who are: purposeful,

motivated, resourceful, knowledgeable and finally strategic with goal-orientated thinking. This is done with

the use of a checklist style grid that is split into three main areas, these are: Engagement, Representation,

Action and Expression. These can be followed to adjust lessons to suit students who may require higher

learning abilities and needs (CAST, 2018). In John’s case he will require changes mostly in the ‘Access’

level of UDL, which in essence is the beginning level of shifting students learning. John has trouble with

communication and following instruction, also due to his repetitive nature he can become unmotivated,

which again links with engagement problems (Bauminger-Zviely, Eden, Zancanaro, Weiss & Gal, 2013).

UDL has a few different suggestive changes that can be made to design lessons to suit not only Johns but

also larger groups of students (CAST, 2018).

‘Engagement’ is the first section of the UDL framework that aims to deal with the ‘why’ of learning, this is

one area that John has been shown to have trouble with in class such as; listing to instructions, class

discussions and when working with other students. According to the UDL framework ‘Optimize individual

choice and autonomy’ could be a strong way to shift and minimise these problematic areas (CAST,

2018). This can be done through giving students choices, for example John could have the option of

choosing a topic or students can be allocate into individual roles within group activities. This has been

implemented in the lesson plan with student task allocation during the creation of a poster and the option of

pair and group work throughout the lesson. According to Jahromi, Bryce and Swanson (2013) through the

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increase of self-regulation students with autism can be shown to have a higher engagement within school

over time, such as working with other students. Bauminger-Zviely, Eden, Zancanaro, Weiss and Gal (2013)

also supports this claim showing students with autism require higher functioning tasks to shift into more

engaging behaviour. What can be seen is the large impact engagement has upon a student, when giving John

the option to work in groups and allocating individual group roles it allows all students to participate while

focusing on singular responsibilities. This takes away the stress of normal group work but still allows the

same involvement, instead of isolating students within a task.

The second section of UDL is ‘representation’; this deals with the “what” of learning such as; language and

using different teaching methods to represent content (images and symbols). John does have trouble when

given verbal instructions, this is due to the lacking communication between teacher and student (Bölte,

Westerwald, Holtmann, Freitag & Poustka, 2011), UDL suggests customising the way information is

displayed. According to Humphrey and Lewis (2008) through the use of more mainstream representation in

the classroom an inclusive environment can take place, which has shown to help students with disabilities

including ASD. This has been accomplished in the lesson plan with the use of PowerPoints throughout the

lesson to keep students on track; the PowerPoint provides a visual element that can be easily reviewed at

anytime by the student. The use of information and communication technology (ICT) has also been

implanted to increase the clarity of tasks representation. The use of videos and ‘Kahoot’ quizzes have been

added to display and create tasks that are engaging but also clear for all students. The aim of these changes

is to further explain and produce students understanding as opposed to verbal instruction or worksheets that

have been shown to, at times cause confusion student in an educational settings (Fu, 2013). These changes

may increase John’s learning potential due to the elimination of lacking understanding due to the clarity of

tasks representation.

UDL suggests another method of representation is the use of more auditory and sound approach’s to satisfy

John’s understanding of information. This has been done with the use teacher explanation after the use of

lesson overviews, to recap information. According to O’Connor (2012) the use of auditory elements can

sometimes become difficult for students with ASD; changes in clear pitch and tone can have vast benefits

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for these students in understanding and retaining information. In the lesson tone and speed of speech have

been identified to adjust the clarity of verbal information from the teacher, this will not only make

communication easier for John but may have positive outcomes for his understanding of classwork.

The third and last element of the UDL framework is ‘Action and Expression’ that is aimed at the ‘how’ of

learning. In John’s case this is one of the areas in which John would require changes at the ‘Build’ level of

UDL, as he does not show any issues with physical action or response to navigation in the classroom.

However due to Johns learning disability he does have issues with showing signs of expression, for

instances John struggles to talk and get involved with other students during group work. Yet John does

become involve in drawing and building tasks, hence the lesson has been altered to help in these instances.

UDL suggests to change the way information is composed, because of this the lesson has been altered to

include more hands on activates such as: creating a poster that requires different levels of drawing and

researching that John seems to find interest. This change also opens the doors for more engagement among

all students in the class due to the individual task allocation process as mentioned in the ‘engagement’

section. According to Brigham, Scruggs and Mastropieri (2011) a more hands on approach is the preferred

method among students, which has been shown to lead to further educational engagement and minimised

unwanted behaviour. The idea of incorporating these methods of student involvement not only has vast

benefits for John and his creative ability but also other students as the task utilises a variety of skills such as;

drawing, researching, writing and collaboration (Appleton, Christenson & Furlong, 2008).

Adjustments made throughout the lesson plan have taken into account the main struggles of John such as:

communication, disengagement and lack of social/peer involvement while highlighting his positive aspects

of creativity and intelligence. However its important to note these changes can influence other students

needs in a positive way due to the broad spectrum UDL offers. According to Courey, Tappe, Siker and

LePage (2013) UDL should support all learners and the checklist of changes should keep in mind the large

scale of diversity among students. While the changes in the lesson plan have been suited to include John’s

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requirements, the changes will also improve the outcomes of multiple learners that may exhibit similar

learning difficulties or improve education for higher achievers (Elias, 2011).

Further adjustments through the use of ICT specific tasks have also been a great source when meeting the

needs of John. This has been accomplished through the use of videos, Kahoot quizzes, websites and

PowerPoints as mentioned. Overall ICT has many benefits such as: ease of access, communication and

clarity while giving students the option to revisit information when needed as opposed to teacher directed

tasks that can cause students to lose interest (Livingstone, 2012). According to Bingimlas (2009) when ICT

is implemented successfully it can greatly increase students understanding, this has been a main struggle

with John in terms of his lacking understanding towards instructions. Through the implementation of these

ICT methods it has the potential to limit the severity of these common issues among all students and move

these learners forward to reach the ‘expert’ level that UDL aims to provide (Gargiulo & Metcalf, 2017).

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Part 2: UDL Lesson Adjustments

UDL Colour key:

Engagement

Representation

Action & Expression

Time Teaching and learning actions Organisation

5 Students are directed to the PowerPoint that gives Mark roll (PowerPoint)
Min visual and directional instructions of the lesson. This
will remain on the board to keep students on track
during the lesson.
10 Students will answer the questions to assess if they Recap of lesson one (Kahoot)
Min have an understanding of previous learning material.
Resources:
Students will complete an online Kahoot Quiz and https://create.kahoot.it/#quiz/606658ac
are given the option to work in small groups and -94a0-4c27-bb03-d546cfefe547
pairs.

10 Examples of Questions to ask class Overview of Lesson (PowerPoint)

mins  What is social influence?
 What impact does society play in regards to
athletes, drugs and sponsorship? Teacher Note: Verbally review
 What pressures mentioned in the video have information with a slow and loud tone
caused athletes to push to drug use? to improve clarity.
 What are some links with drugs and
sponsorships?
 Positive to Drugs
 Positive to sponsorship
 Negative to drugs
 Negative to sponsorship

Teacher shows students (PowerPoint) the following

definitions of key words:
 Social
 Sponsorship
 Drugs
 Society

Students pick any two words and create their own

definition of each word.

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10 Students will watch the following video (Students Positive and negative consequences
mins may revisit video at anytime) and create a table or for Athletes drug use
diagram of what they believe are the positives and (PowerPoint/Video)
negatives of drug use.
Positives Negatives Resources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h
wyGoP5rT4M&ab_channel=CMeFly

5-10 Students given the option to work in groups of 2-4 Class Brainstorm (PowerPoint)
mins students Brainstorm ways (write on the board for
clarity) in which we can mange the impact of drug Teacher Note: Give all students the
use and impacts of sponsorship. Students may choose option to add onto the class
to focus on any of the following topics (PowerPoint): brainstorm.
-Family support
-Laws
-Investigation
-Implication of prevention strategies
-Counselling

20-30 Research task/ Poster: Research Task/Poster

mins
Students access ASADA website
Summaries the mission of ASADA
-In small groups students will create a poster that
highlights the mission of ASADA. The poster must
contain the following elements:
 Title
 Images/drawings
 Overview of ASADA
 In your group select one anti doping program
and give an overview of the procedure used.
Download the Rule of Law Institute of Australia PDF
to allow student access at all times online.
Teacher Note: Groups should allocate
different roles to each student before
starting the poster such as: drawer,
researcher, writer etc. in order to
complete the task.
Resources:
https://www.asada.gov.au/
https://www.ruleoflaw.org.au/wp-
content/uploads/2013/12/Rule-of-
Law-Institute_Booklet-Sport-and-the-
Rule-of-Law.pdf

Answer these questions

-What does the Rule of LAW principles show us?

Page 3
-What does the Australian commission do for drugs
and sport? Page 4
-How much is the fine for an athlete not attending a
drug interview?
-What do ASADA and WADA stand for?

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References:

Appleton, J. J., Christenson, S. L., & Furlong, M. J. (2008). Student engagement with school: Critical

conceptual and methodological issues of the construct. Psychology in the Schools, 45(5), 369-386.

Bauminger-Zviely, N., Eden, S., Zancanaro, M., Weiss, P. L., & Gal, E. (2013). Increasing social

engagement in children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder using collaborative

technologies in the school environment. Autism, 17(3), 317-339.

Bingimlas, K. A. (2009). Barriers to the successful integration of ICT in teaching and learning

environments: A review of the literature. Eurasia journal of mathematics, science & technology

Boutot, E. A., & Myles, B. S. (2011). Autism spectrum disorders: Foundations, characteristics, and

effective strategies (pp. 68-92). New York, NY: Pearson. education, 5(3).

Bölte, S., Westerwald, E., Holtmann, M., Freitag, C., & Poustka, F. (2011). Autistic traits and autism

spectrum disorders: The clinical validity of two measures presuming a continuum of social

communication skills. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 41(1), 66-72.

Brigham, F. J., Scruggs, T. E., & Mastropieri, M. A. (2011). Science education and students with learning

disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 26(4), 223-232.

CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. Retrieved from

http://udlguidelines.cast.org

Courey, S. J., Tappe, P., Siker, J., & LePage, P. (2013). Improved lesson planning with universal design for

learning (UDL). Teacher education and special education, 36(1), 7-27.

Elias, T. (2011). Universal instructional design principles for mobile learning. The International Review of

Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 12(2), 143-156.

Fu, J. S. (2013). ICT in education: A critical literature review and its implications. International Journal of

Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology, 9(1), 112.

Gargiulo, R. M., & Metcalf, D. (2017). Teaching in Today s Inclusive Classrooms: A Universal Design for

Learning Approach. Nelson Education.

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Hughes, C., Golas, M., Cosgriff, J., Brigham, N., Edwards, C., & Cashen, K. (2011). Effects of a social

skills intervention among high school students with intellectual disabilities and autism and their

general education peers. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 36(1-2), 46-61.

Humphrey, N., & Lewis, S. (2008). What does ‘inclusion’mean for pupils on the autistic spectrum in

mainstream secondary schools?. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 8(3), 132-140.

Jahromi, L. B., Bryce, C. I., & Swanson, J. (2013). The importance of self-regulation for the school and peer

engagement of children with high-functioning autism. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 7(2),

235-246.

Lancaster, P. (2008). Universal design for learning. Colleagues, 3(1), 5.

Livingstone, S. (2012). Critical reflections on the benefits of ICT in education. Oxford review of

education, 38(1), 9-24.

Loreman, T., Deppeler, J., & Harvey, D. (2010). Inclusive education: Supporting diversity in the classroom.

Allen & Unwin.

Matson, J. L., & Shoemaker, M. (2009). Intellectual disability and its relationship to autism spectrum

disorders. Research in developmental disabilities, 30(6), 1107-1114.

O’Connor, K. (2012). Auditory processing in autism spectrum disorder: a review. Neuroscience &

Biobehavioral Reviews, 36(2), 836-854.

World Health Organisation. (2018). Autism spectrum disorders. Retrieved from

http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/autism-spectrum-disorders