Multiple Means of Engagement

UDL

Jul 24

This UDL guideline addresses the “why” of learning. Having engaged and invested students is critical to learning. Multiple means of engagement ensures that content is relevant, authentic, and valued by the students. It minimizes distractions, supports persistence in learning, fosters mastery, and helps students to utilize coping strategies when learning is difficult.

Tips to recruit and sustain student interest

Create learning environments and activities that:

Connect to the real world. Have students create therapeutic groups or programs, an informational newsletter, or a blog post to address a need within the community.
Promote reflection often. Have students grade themselves on activities or assignments to identify their thoughts about what went well and what could improve.
Establish touch points for feedback. Promote discussion and individual feedback throughout the learning activities, not just as a final grade. Expect students to be accountable to integrate feedback as opportunities arise through class activities and assignments.
Create peer feedback opportunities. Have students support each other in both graded and ungraded learning situations, with an emphasis of helping each other become better prepared for practice.
Upgrade and downgrade difficulty. Within learning activities, provide opportunities for students to choose tasks where they can demonstrate competence first, and then challenge themselves with more complex clinical problems or learning more advanced skills.
Emphasize the process used to complete an assignment to promote critical thinking and reasoning. Encourage students to learn the process, rather than achieve a grade.