UDL Stories
UDL is not just a theory – From students to staff and faculty, UDL has reshaped many people’s tangible university experiences. The following interviews and stories from our UBC community explore the ways that UDL has impacted personal, educational, and professional lives across faculties.
2024 Cohort
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UDL Stories: Louise Longridge and Sarah Bean Sherman
Louise Longridge, lecturer in the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS), and Sarah Bean Sherman, Senior Science Education Specialist in EOAS and Skylight, discuss their ambitious project of adding alternative text and extended captions for over 800 figures in EOSC 116.
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UDL Stories: Paulo Tchen and Lyon Tsang
Paulo Tchen, lecturer and coordinator in the faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Lyon Tsang, Manager, Systems Administration and Support in the Office of Educational Technology and Learning Designs (OETLD) discuss how they designed a new elective course, PHRM 300F, and redesigned PHRM 471 to include multiple means of representation.
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UDL Stories: Michael Sider
Michael Sider, producer at UBC Studios, discusses how UDL principles can be used in media and shares tools that media creators and educators can use to make their content more accessible.
2023 Cohort
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UDL Stories: Isaac Holloway and Sunah Cho
Isaac Holloway, a Sauder School of Business professor in the Strategy and Business Economics Division, worked closely with Sunah Cho, Sauder’s CTLT Faculty Liaison, as part of the 2023 UDL Fellows Program. They discuss the strategies they used to break down learning barriers associated with complex economic concepts.
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UDL Stories: Rayna Friar
Rayna Friar is a 4th year undergraduate student and working as a UDL Student Facilitator. They share the ways that flexibility and UDL are important in the classroom and how they can help improve the university experiences of students with physical disabilities.
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UDL Stories: Robert Pammett and Jocelyn Micallef
Robert Pammett, Associate Professor Partner in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Jocelyn Micallef, Manager, Educational Development, talk about incorporating UDL practices in PHRM 441. They share their experience making online asynchronous learning more engaging and accessible.
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UDL Stories: Antoine Coulombe and Bosung Kim
Antoine Coulombe, Assistant Professor of Teaching at the School of Social work, along with CTLT Learning Design Consultant Bosung Kim, discuss the changes they made to their practice as well as the compatibility of UDL with social work.
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UDL Stories: Robert Russo
Robert Russo is a faculty member at the Allard School of Law and participated in the 2023 UDL Fellows Program. He shares the ways that he incorporated the UDL principles into his practice, breaking down barriers in traditional law education.
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UDL Stories: Patricia Hingston
From the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, Patricia Hingston, an Assistant Professor of Teaching in Food, Nutrition and Health, shares all of the ways she incorporated UDL into her practice and how many of her students have responded positively to the changes.
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UDL Stories: Xiaoying Zhang
Xiaoying Zhang is a UDL Student Facilitator who works closely with the UDL Fellows Program, sharing her perspective as a student. She discusses many of the learning challenges that arise at larger academic institutions and how UDL can be an important step in alleviating them.
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UDL Stories: Amir Shiva
Amir Shiva, Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Anthropology, participated in the 2023 UDL Fellows program. Here, he discusses how he has incorporated UDL into his practice and what makes UDL critical not just to the field of Anthropology, but to learning as a whole.
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UDL Stories: Lee Salmon and Frederick Qi
Together, Lee Salmon and Frederick Qi participated in the 2023 UDL Fellows Program with the goal of using education to make higher-level Forestry jobs more accessible. Through exploring virtual fieldwork in FRST 239, Lee and Frederick push the limits of how Forestry can be taught.
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UDL Stories: Weaver Shaw and Brian Wilson
From Vantage College, Academic English Instructor Weaver Shaw and Curriculum Manager Brian Wilson discuss the importance of a robust accessibility statement as well as the ways that UDL can improve the ease of course delivery.
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UDL Stories: Duncan McHugh
Duncan McHugh is a digital and instructional media producer at the Faculty of Land and Food Systems. As a co-instructor of LFS 400, Duncan discusses his experience with UDL, the challenges and rewards, and the importance of student feedback.
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UDL Stories: Polina Spakovsky
Polina Spakovsky was the Communications Assistant for the UDL Fellows Program. In her proximity to the program, she gained a greater insight into universal course design at UBC. She shares her thoughts about how UDL is changing the way we view accessibility, the importance of reciprocity, and the impact that a student perspective can make.