Think UDL

Welcome to Ep 163: Low Tech, No Tech Accessibility Considerations with Sarah Silverman. Sarah Silverman, PhD is an independent faculty developer and instructor of Disability Studies. As an autistic educator, she has a personal stake in Neurodiversity as well as extensive college teaching and faculty development experience. Her interests include accessible and feminist pedagogy, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the history of the neurodiversity movement. Her book Classroom Mindscapes: An Introduction to Neurodiversity for Educators is forthcoming from the University of Oklahoma Press in September. In this conversation, Sarah and I discuss options for faculty members who are considering low tech, no tech, or more analog classroom activities or educational environments. We talk about access friction and decisions that might need to be considered in order to meet the needs of current students with competing access and technology needs. Sarah has been recently working on this topic and will have an upcoming workshop on this on July 21st. If you are listening to this podcast before or after that date in 2026, you’ll be able to find the sign-up or the results of that session in this episode’s resource section just before the transcript on ThinkUDL.org. You’ll also be able to find the other resources we mention throughout the conversation there.

Aloha and welcome to Episode 162: Sensory Spaces with Hazel Gedikli, Holly Manaseri, and Manca Sustarsic. All three of my guests are from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Hazel Gedikli is the Interim Director of the Office of Faculty Development and Academic Support, or OFDAS, as you will hear my guests reference it in today’s podcast. Holly Manaseri and Manca Sustarsic are both Faculty Members at the Center on Disability Studies. Today we will discuss the Sensory Room Initiative, a grant funded venture from OFDAS and the Center on Disability Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, which created a sensory room for faculty, staff and students along with the research about its effectiveness. You’ll learn everything you need to know about how to start your own and why it could be important to your campus.

Welcome to Episode 161: Making Math More Human with Thomas Colclough. Dr. Tom Colclough is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Center for Knowledge, Technology, and Society at the University of California, Irvine. He earned a bachelor’s of science degree in Mathematics and Philosophy with Specialism in Logic and Foundations from the University of Warwick (“Worrick”!), UK, and then a doctorate in Philosophy from the department of Logic and Philosophy of Science at UCI. This background will be very important to our conversation as you’ll see in a few moments. In this conversation, Tom and I discuss the various trauma-informed practices such as safety, choice, empowerment, trustworthiness, and collaboration and how they can be applied in higher ed math courses. There are specific design choices that can be used to combat negative and restrictive mindsets that some students bring into math classes. And once these affective parts of the learning process are addressed logically and systematically, students can find greater success where they often previously found frustration. You’ll also see many connections with the UDL guidelines throughout this conversation with specific emphasis on multiple means of engagement.

Welcome to Ep 160 of the Think UDL podcast: Teaching Physics is Not A Solo Sport with Melissa Eblen-Zayas. Melissa Eblen-Zayas is Professor of Physics at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a previous Director of Carleton’s Pearlman Learning and Teaching Center. In this conversation we talk about what it means to be an effective teacher of Physics and how to lean into disciplinary identity, being a Physics Professor, to teach Physics better. There is much crossover from UDL that Melissa is able to pinpoint, apply, and share with others that is helpful for not only Physics professors but all other faculty who want to improve their teaching in their discipline. She also introduces the EP3, Effective Practices for Physics Programs, which is created by Physics professors FOR Physics professors to help not only in their teaching, but recruitment and curriculum design, and anything and everything that helps a college level Physics program succeed. But mostly, we talk about taking down barriers for students so that they can more effectively learn, and in this case, learn Physics!

Welcome to Episode 159 of the Think UDL podcast: Playful Pedagogy with Lindsey Hamilton. Lindsey Hamilton is the Director of the Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. A Neuroscientist by training, she entered into the field of Teaching and Learning and has been bringing not just the research and proven methods to teaching and learning to her faculty, but also the fun! In today’s episode we discuss how play, joy, and positive emotions can help us learn, and therefore can help our students learn if we employ a playful pedagogy. Play is serious business! And it can be seen as a little rebellious, too. And we know from UDL that the affective or emotional parts of learning are an important part of engagement. So please join us for a fun and engaging conversation where we talk about the benefits of a playful pedagogy!