Working Breakfast · Friday, August 1, 2026
Universal Design
for Learning
Anticipating and responding to the diverse needs
of every student in the room.
INSTITUTE FOR INTRODUCTORY STATISTICS INSTRUCTORS�SPONSORED BY EAPOST: EXPANDING THE ART & PRACTICE OF STATISTICAL THINKING
The Core Idea
2
When a student struggles, the first question
UDL asks is not
"What's wrong with this student?"
but
“Where is the mismatch between
this student and this environment?”
What Is UDL?
3
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for designing learning environments that reduce barriers proactively — before a student has to ask for help.
Engagement
the WHY
Why should
students care?
Addresses motivation, interest, and self-regulation
Representation
the WHAT
How is information
being presented?
Addresses perception, language, and comprehension
Action & Expression
the HOW
How can students
show understanding?
Addresses physical action, expression, and executive function
How UDL Helps Instructors
4
UDL doesn't tell you what to teach. It helps you anticipate where your design might leave students out — and make deliberate choices before that happens.
1
Notice the mismatch:
A student is disengaged, confused, or failing — not because of ability, but because of a gap between how the course is designed and what that student needs.
2
Ask the UDL question:
Is this a WHY problem (motivation, relevance)? A WHAT problem (how information is presented)? Or a HOW problem (how students can demonstrate understanding)?
3
Identify the consideration:
UDL offers specific guidelines — checkpoints — that name the design choices instructors can make to address the mismatch. These are the cards on your table.
4
Design proactively:
The goal is to anticipate mismatches before they happen — not to retrofit accommodations after the fact. UDL is design, not remediation.
The Cards on Your Table
5
Each card names a specific UDL consideration — a design choice instructors can make. They are sorted by principle, but the boundaries blur. That blurring is intentional.
Engagement
Use student-relevant
real-world contexts
to develop content
understanding
Representation
Build and connect the
Concrete–Pictorial–
Abstract continuum
Action & Expression
Focus on sensemaking
NOT answers and speed
You don't need to know which principle each card belongs to. Use them as starting points — "does this card apply to the student you're about to discuss?"
Now — meet your student.
On your table you have a one-page student profile.
Read it together. Then use the cards to ask:
which UDL considerations would change this student's experience?
What's the mismatch
between this student
and this environment?
Which cards speak
directly to what
this student needs?
What would you
change first —
and why?
This Morning in Session 2A
7
You'll go deeper on UDL in Session 2A — Every Student in the Room (11:30 am–1:00 pm).
▶
Experience a lesson as a student
Work through STUB Lesson 1.1 and then ask: what did the design make possible? What did it assume?
▶
Map UDL onto a real lesson
Use the UDL mapping handout to identify specific design choices in Lesson 1.1 — and brainstorm one move for your own course.
▶
Leave with something actionable
One UDL adaptation you could make in your next lesson in under 20 minutes of preparation time.
Keep the student profile from your table — it will come up again.