Critiquing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and (Revised) Blooms Taxonomy (RBT) Instructional Design Models

“Design is thinking made visual.” – Saul Bass by Coston Daugherty

Revised Blooms Taxonomy (RBT)

When looking at instructional design models one often referenced in the college classroom with perspective teachers and revisited time and again in course design is (Revised) Blooms Taxonomy (RBT). This model has stood the test of time and innovation and has revised itself to meet 21st Century needs of today's students. This model focuses on using a system to promote higher order thinking by a variety of engaging activities each at a different level of critical thinking. Variety is abundant and key at each level.  To further demonstrate how this model has stood revisions and STILL works for instructional design even in the online classroom see the image below (with clickable links):

Bloom’s Revised Technology Taxonomy October 17, 2012 Katie Siemer

http://talktechwithme.com/2012/10/17/blooms-revised-technology-taxonomy/

To see a larger version of table please visit this link: http://talktechwithme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/blooms-tax-apps.pdf

"Educators often use Bloom's Taxonomy to create learning outcomes that target not only subject matter but also the depth of learning they want students to achieve, and to then create assessments that accurately report on students’ progress towards these outcomes" (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)

When looking in depth at RBT a teacher is focused less on memorization and more on peaking a student's interest in what they may be thinking and how the educator can take that thinking and turn it into retention. So how does a teacher teach with RBT and incorporate it in their daily lessons? I believe any good educator innately uses RBT and digs to get students on a higher level of thinking even when they may not realize it. Below are a few awesome resources that allow teachers to explore how they can teach with RBT, questions to ponder when creating assignments as well as a simulation tool to help them delve deeper into this time tested instructional model.

1) 4 Strategies For Teaching With Bloom’s Taxonomy

2) Blooms Taxonomy Questions

3) The Differentiator! (Make sure to watch the video attached and then explore the link)

Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) per Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching terms of use. 

Please use this link to view a larger version of the above graphic: https://www.flickr.com/photos/vandycft/29428436431

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Blooms Taxonomy (Revised) is only one of several design models now available for teachers when designing courses both in the face to face classroom and online arena. Another popular design model that many designers are embracing is the Universal Design for Learning Model (UDL) developed at NC State University. 

This model focuses on the various needs that every learner presents as well as ways to allow them expression of assignments in a way that will benefit them most for learning and retention. The UDL Model focuses on ALL learners and their ability to learn in any classroom whether face to face or online.  Accessibility for all students is taken into account when designing courses. Options for students is the guiding aspect of this design model. Not all students learn the same or express their work best in the same way so VARIETY is just as important as the CONTENT. If you explore the word cloud above you will see terms that describe all students including those labeled as gifted and those with learning disabilities. 

If you are a teacher not as familiar with UDL as you may be with RBT how would you go about incorporating this model into your design or classroom? First you can explore the graphic above as well as visit the following links:

1) UDL Q&A for Educators

2) Universal Design for Learning: Meeting the Needs of All Students

3) The UDL Guidelines

Check out this TEDx Talk below on how UDL is a student centered model and ways that UDL can help all learners!

 

Universal Design for Learning—A Paradigm for Maximum Inclusion | Terence Brady |TEDxWestFurongRoad. Published 2/10/2017 (CC BY -- NC -- ND 4.0 International)

As an educator you may ask yourself what kinds of things do I need to incorporate in my planning to use UDL in my classroom?

1) Address WHY your students are learning the material you are presenting. Give them goals!

2) Give students options on HOW they can complete assignments and express their work

3) Allow a flexible workspace. This may mean allowing a student to stand while working, using a wobble chair or a balance ball. 

4) Give detailed feedback with real world connections and examples to make the work they are completing relevant. A "Good Job" is not sufficient and should be paired with areas of excellence as well as areas of improvement in a students work

5) Make the work accessible. All needs of learners should be met when designing lessons. Audio, text, read speakers, captions, transcripts etc should be available.  

Comparing/Contrasting RBT and UDL

How do both of these models compare to one another and what keeps them as two separate instructional designs? 

slides of a pitch deck by Coston Daugherty

The main contrast I find between the two models is even though Blooms Taxonomy has many areas of variety for student learning and expression it does not address HOW to meet the learning needs of multiple learners and make the instructional design and course accessible to all students.

Universal Design for Learning on the other hand really focuses on the HOW, WHAT and WHY to student learning and making the course accessible to ANY student but it does lack the variety in the the multiple levels of higher order thinking as presented by RBT

With this being said, I do think that each model can be easily intertwined with one another to allow not only accessibility BUT also higher order critical thinking. For any instructional designer many methods and models may be used to achieve the best course for their intended audience. I dare say that no one model is strictly used in the design process.

I would even venture to say that many models could be meshed together to to form a new stronger instructional design model, particularly Revised Blooms Taxonomy and Universal Design for Learning...

Stayed tuned for a follow up blog post on how RBT and UDL can be "mashed up" when designing courses and how this "new" model can not only meet accessibility needs but also higher order thinking needs of students in order to increase retention of material presented.

Resources Used:

•  A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Complete Edition (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
• Photosforclass.com (All images CC0 Public Domain)
• Tedx
• Canva
• Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching

Incorporating Universal Design for Learning in my Online Science Classroom

One area of UDL I feel I am successful with in my courses is "Providing Multiple Means of Expression and Action". Students are engaged on a daily basis in my Earth and Environment Science course through a variety of assignments and submission choices. Since our courses are built using the UDL design it does make it easier to incorporate this in my daily work with students. Having a solid UDL foundation allows me to really be able to delve into how my students learn best and by what methods.  UDL uses the principles of the “what, why and how of learning” and with each student I have to look at what they are learning, why they need to understand this information and then how it is going to be best portrayed to them for understanding. One major thing I have learned in teaching an online course is that although we are reliant on technology as a method for how the information is portrayed it is important for us to use that technology correctly and in the best way to make sure student understanding is achieved. We cannot use technology for the sake of using it, instead as online teachers we have to look at the UDL model and determine how best to use the technology for student understanding.

For example even in such a technologically advanced world sometimes my students work best with pen and paper. I have an assignment in one of my courses where students need to design a brochure for an alien to come visit earth. I allow my students to submit these assignments in a variety of ways to allow for the most engagement and intrinsic motivation. I have some students that knock it out of the park on a brochure template or Smore while others do a phenomenal job by drawing the information and submitting screenshots of their hand drawn work. Please see the examples below from student submissions: (Note names have been hidden due to FERPA)

I think when using UDL in my courses it is most important to not limit the students learning and expression. I know that if all 90 of my students were only given ONE choice for this assignment I would not have gotten the best results from 100% of them. By allowing them to choose a different method for how they presented the information resulted in more understanding of the material from the student as well as allowed me to see a bit into the students personality. This is an important concept to master when building relationships with the students we don’t see face to face.

Another example of how I incorporate UDL in my courses is by the personalized feedback I give the students. For the above assignment a student may have received the following feedback from me:

“Wow John Doe! I loved your brochure. You really made it appealing to want to visit earth if I was an alien. Very factual and interesting information for the Earth’s History and Facts! You covered all aspects from the rubric! I liked your travel slogan and your hand drawn information. Very creative!

Just like visiting places on vacations you would want to know a little about the place you are planning to visit. Here are URLs to two sites containing fun facts about planet earth which may enhance the information you have already learned in this assignment.  ENJOY!

http://www.planetsforkids.org/planet-earth.html

http://theplanets.org/earth/”

One important part of UDL is giving regular feedback to students to let them know if they met the goals of the assignment. If the goals were not met where do they need to improve and what additional resources are available to them to meet the goals and/or enrich their knowledge of the topic.

One area that I can continue to improve upon in my courses is "Provide Multiple Means of Representation". In our Electronic Learning Community (eLC) we strive to provide information to students in a variety of ways BUT it is so easy to go back to the good ole powerpoint and fill in the blank notes. This form of representation is utilized in several modules in our Earth Science Course however we do incorporate video lessons, slide shares with audio, etc. As part of my yearly teacher improvement plan I am working on creating individualized videos with my voice and information to cover each module students will work on in my course. I think this will add a very personalized touch to my courses while meeting multiple learning needs via visual and audio representation.

I have learned that no matter how long you teach a course or how familiar you are with a design method each semester you have new students with new learning needs. It is important to continually adapt to these needs by personalizing how you represent, engage and allow students to express their work. What works one semester in how I allow students to express their work may not work as well the next. This rings true for how I represent the information to them. I may have a group of students that thrive off PowerPoints instead of video representation and vice versa.

Online teaching is a arena of constant change and adaptation so a teacher must be prepared to always want to change with their courses, students and their learning needs.  This may mean having to incorporate different design methods and/or revamping their current design method to meet their students individual needs.