Universal Design for Learning Grant
The Accessible Dartmouth Initiative (ADI) is a collaboration between The Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning, Student Accessibility Services, and Learning Design and Innovation (LDI). ADI supports faculty incorporating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into Dartmouth courses with the goal of better meeting the needs of all students, including neurodiverse students – those who learn differently due to conditions such as ADHD, autism, dyslexia – as well as first-generation college students, international students, English language learners, and students of other marginalized identities. In addition to supporting student learning, UDL benefits instructors by weaving accessibility and flexibility into the fabric of a course.
This course redesign grant engages faculty to incorporate UDL interventions identified in a UDL Institute into a current or new course.
The time commitment for the grant activities is generally expected to be 21-28 hours over the course of about 16 weeks. The activities listed here are described in further detail below.
• UDL Institute: 15 hours
• Consultations and work time: 5-10 hours
• Artifact creation and narrative: 1-3 hours
Faculty and staff educators completing all of the following steps are eligible to receive a $1500 stipend.
The grant program is structured as follows:
Step 1: UDL Institute
Attend a UDL institute, hosted by the ADI Team. Institutes will be scheduled 3 times per year (generally during June, December, and March). For live institutes, you will spend approximately 10 hours over 3 days with fellow Dartmouth faculty learning about specific aspects of the UDL framework and applying them to your course materials. Asynchronous institute opportunities are currently being developed.
Learn more and apply for the UDL Institute here.
Step 2: Institute Feedback Survey and Grant Opt-in
At the end of the institute, you will complete a short survey about the institute, including the option to opt in to grant activities. The opt-in will include questions relating to the course interventions you began during the institute. This will set the stage for the rest of the grant cycle.
Step 3: Consultations and Work Time
You will work with an ADI team member to continue the UDL course design work you started during the institute. Together, you will determine what interventions you will try during the next teaching term. At least 1 consultation to plan your intervention(s) is required.
Step 4: Teach your course
With the support of your assigned ADI team member, you will implement your UDL interventions. During the term, the ADI team will be available to guide you through collecting student feedback and reflecting on your experience.
Step 5: Share your artifact and narrative
Drawing your own reflections and any student feedback you collected, you will refine the course material(s), activity, or assessment(s) you changed during the redesign process. This refined material will be the artifact of your redesign that you will share with the ADI team. You will also create a short narrative to accompany your artifact. This narrative can be written, audio, video, or in any format that speaks to you. See the ADI Grant Completion Requirements (Prompt to Copy a Google Doc) for more information on requirements.
When you submit your materials, you will be prompted to indicate whether ADI has permission to share your reflection and artifact, either with credit to you or anonymously.
Once you have submitted your artifact and narrative, you will recieve a $1500 stipend. Grantees may complete up to 3 cycles and apply for funding, totaling $4500 over 3 cycles. Each of the 3 yearly institutes will have a different focus, to allow faculty to participate in multiple institutes each year.