A Qualitative Case Study into Faculty Use of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in Higher Education for Students with Disabilities

This multiple-bounded collective case study used an online questionnaire, rating scale, and semi-structured interviews to examine faculty use of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Participants were comprised of seventeen faculty members from two- and four-year public and private universities within the United States. Each participant reported using UDL in three or more online courses where they had control over course content and instruction. All data collection focused on three research questions, which explored faculty knowledge of UDL, what UDL strategies they used for online learning, and any barriers to implementation. Thematic analysis was used to extract the major themes from triangulated data. The first theme was to create inclusive college courses through UDL training. The second theme was for faculty to use UDL guidelines and checkpoints appropriate for their course(s). Lastly, there was a need for campus support to aid in UDL implementation. The results from this study also highlighted that extensive training was not needed for faculty to incorporate components of UDL into their course content.