UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Accessible Education Services

Supporting Holy Month of Ramadan

As the holy season of Ramadan approaches, please be mindful that members of our community will be observing this time of fasting and reflection. On UP’s inclusion site you can find resources to assist us each as we integrate support into our classes and services, as well as tips for students who are navigating exams during Ramadan. We are also excited to share this invitation to a free webinar hosted by Alliant International University and Oregon State University on Tuesday, April 13 at 4 pm entitled “Ramadan On-Campus, Higher Education Webinar on Best Practices to Support Muslim Students.” Observing students seeking accommodations should consult with their faculty members.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to oiedi@up.edu with further questions or suggestions as to how we might improve our support systems.

TLC Teaching Tip: Universal Design for Learning

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we teach and learn.  Your experience may be similar to those faculty who have told me they recently implemented Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to develop new teaching strategies that otherwise would not have been implemented had it not been for the remote-learning model caused by the pandemic.   In AES we have received countless student reports of the thoughtful ways in which you as faculty support student learning and growth in these challenging times. Most of you plan to update and implement new iterations of these strategies once the University returns to a completely in-person model, post-pandemic.

How does this trend impact pedagogy moving forward?   Both Inside Higher Ed and the Chronicle of Higher Education recently featured articles addressing UDL planning for a post-COVID higher education landscape.  We as a University community recognize and celebrate your tremendous efforts in adapting your teaching to meet ever-evolving learning needs this year. The work you do to update your pedagogy to meet current needs, while stressful, is also urgent, flexible, experimental, innovative, and deeply appreciated by students.  This ongoing pedagogical work informed by UDL is happening across the country in myriad disciplines, including surgical education, and facilities and technology planning.   As these articles suggest, this work is most effective when done as a community within a user-centered UDL planning process which integrates physical design and technology considerations, and includes perspectives of faculty, administrators, students and IS staff. We in AES look forward to supporting this ongoing work and welcome your feedback and questions at any time.  As always and especially now, thank you for your ongoing partnership in support of students.

For more information please contact Melanie Gangle,  AES Manager at gangle@up.edu.

Auto-Generated Captions Enabled on UP MediaSpace

Machine (auto-generated) captions have been enabled on any new videos uploaded to UP MediaSpace, according to Ben Kahn, academic technology services & innovation. Captions can be toggled on or off by viewers with the CC button on the video player. A video owner can edit or remove the auto-captions by navigating to Actions->Edit->Captions on their media page.

The accuracy of these auto-generated captions is fairly high and ATSI staff hope they will make videos usable for all, however, auto-captions are not at the accuracy level required for accessibility under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). As a reminder, if you are using video in a course or publishing a public video that needs to be accessible please contact atsi@up.edu to learn how to have a video asset captioned professionally.

TLC From The TLC: Accessible Education Services Resources

Does it seem like you have more students in your classes who have an Accessible Education Services (AES) accommodation plan?  Your intuition is correct, and it’s not just you, according to AES manager Melanie Gangle. Accessible Education Services is experiencing slow but steady growth, and is currently serving over 350 students with disabilities. This equals about 8.5 percent of the student population, and the vast majority of these students experience a non-apparent disability. The following resources and tips from AES are designed to support faculty in facilitating accommodations and accessibility in your teaching.

Did you know that Accessible Education Services has a Faculty Toolbox in PilotsUP for faculty regarding AES accommodations for students? Here you will find information on faculty responsibilities regarding accommodations, as well as tips on facilitating accommodations working with students with specific types of disabilities.

Are you looking for more general resources to support student learning in your course? Given the nation-wide growth in clinically significant anxiety and depression among college students, Kristel Gallagher and Shevaun Stocker developed a Guide to Incorporating Social-Emotional Learning in the College Classroom, which features a curriculum containing short weekly activities for students to complete outside of class  (apart from an initial activity for the first class day), suitable for adapting and adding to any course curriculum. These activities are based on exercises from the Greater Good in Science Center’s website, based at UC Berkeley.

Do you have questions about accommodations for a specific student in your class? Please reach out to Gangle at gangle@up.edu, or Susan Ayres, AES access counselor, at ayres@up.edu for information and technical assistance regarding student-related accommodation questions.

New Access Counselor: Susan Ayres

Susan Ayres has been promoted to the role of access counselor in Accessible Education Services (AES), within the Shepard Academic Resource Center. Ayres most recently served as AES Accommodation Coordinator and AES Program Assistant. In previous roles, Ayres has served as administrative assistant at All Saints Parish, staffing coordinator for Staffing Partners, vocational consultant supporting clients with disabilities for Great Northern Consulting, and job developer providing job placement for clients with disabilities for Dirkse Counseling and Consulting.

New Face in the Shepard Academic Resource Center: Ryan Henley

Ryan Henley has been hired by Accessible Education Services as testing and accommodation coordinator, within the Shepard Academic Resource Center. You might know Henley from his previous position at the University where he served as administrative assistant to the associate dean for students, College of Arts and Sciences. Henley previously served as administrative assistant for the Albertina Kerr Center. Additionally, for over ten years Henley has volunteered his time as an event graphic designer for a local nonprofit, My Voice Music, Inc. which serves at-risk Portland-area youth.

TLC From The TLC: Growth Mindset & Universal Design

Did you know that the majority of students with accessible education services (AES) accommodations have either a learning disability (LD), or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or both LD and ADHD? These two articles discuss the benefits of utilizing a growth mindset approach when teaching students who experience ADHD and LD. The surprise? These same growth mindset and universal design strategies also benefit learning outcomes for students without disabilities.

The Creativity of ADHD:  More insights on a positive side of a “disorder”, by Holly White in Scientific American. (Read this article in 5 minutes.)

There is a Better Way to Teach Students with Learning Disabilities, by Jo Boaler and Tanya Lamar in Time Magazine. (Read this article in 4 minutes.)

Are you interested in an introduction to Carol Dweck’s work on growth mindsets in learners? Check out her TED talk (10-minute video).  If you are looking for efficient strategies to incorporate in your course to support growth mindset, check out: A Growth Mindset About Mistakes: Support students in identifying a mistake and developing skills to learn from that mistake. (Read this article in 3 minutes.)

Would you like to incorporate growth mindset and universal design principles into your courses, or have general questions? Please email Melanie Gangle, AES program manager, at gangle@up.edu.

Service Dogs On Campus: What You Need to Know

You may have noticed more service dogs being used by people with disabilities in stores, in airports, at neighborhood meetings, and even on campus. Are you curious about what differentiates a service dog from a pet? Take a quick break and watch this enjoyable 4-minute video, which explains the myriad tasks performed by a service dog, as well as the roles of service dogs in the lives of people with disabilities.

What to do if you encounter a person with a dog in a campus building? When it is not obvious what service a dog provides, University faculty and staff may ask two questions only: (1) whether the dog is a service animal required because of a disability; and (2) what work or task the dog has been trained to perform. Service animals are almost always dogs; in rare exceptions, a miniature horse may be trained as a service animal.

Curious about the University’s policy on service animals?  It’s right here. For more information, contact  Melanie Gangle, accessible education services, at gangle@up.edu.

 

TLC from the TLC: Helping Students Utilize Services

gangle-copyDo you wonder why some students eligible for accommodations through accessible education services (AES) do not actually use their accommodations?  According to Melanie Gangle, accessible education services, in a recent qualitative study, students identified six key reasons:  (1) Desire for self-sufficiency, (2) Desire to avoid negative social reactions, (3) Insufficient knowledge about their accommodations, (4) Quality and usefulness of DSS and accommodations, (5) Negative experiences with professors, and (6) Fear of future ramifications.

Gangle has the following suggestions for faculty who would like to support more students in utilizing their AES accommodations and demonstrating their competencies in course assessments:

  1. On the first day of the semester when reviewing the syllabus, spend a moment highlighting the section about AES and make a brief statement such as: “If you have an AES accommodation plan, please schedule an appointment with me soon so we can plan ahead for your accommodations in this class.” This simple statement creates a welcoming atmosphere while reminding students of their responsibility to communicate proactively with you about their AES accommodations.
  2. During the semester when you announce a general reminder about an upcoming exam, include a statement such as: “And if you have AES exam accommodations, remember to talk with me no later than X date (1-2 weeks in advance of exam) so we have time to make arrangements for accommodations.” This strategy helps reduce last-minute accommodation requests while encouraging students to communicate with you.
  3. Would you like support in reserving space for exam accommodations that involve extended time and/or alternative setting?  Contact your dean’s office for assistance reserving exam space.
  4. The traditional time-limited exam format assesses course competencies while simultaneously assessing how quickly your students can read, write, analyze, etc. If reading speed, writing speed and analytic speed are not essential learning outcomes for your course, consider exam alternatives such as take-home exams; online exams (via Moodle – contact academic technology services for more information); cumulative papers, projects, or presentations; outside-the-box formats such as creating a content-rich video, or a Wiki with appropriate citations.
  5. Talk with a colleague in your department or across campus to explore new strategies for assessing student mastery of course learning outcomes.

The AES office thanks faculty for all that you do to create a welcoming, supportive learning environment for all students, every day. Would you like to discuss these ideas further? Contact Gangle at gangle@up.edu or x8236.

Oct. 6 UP Crossroads Guest: Melanie Gangle

staff & faculty portraits

UP Crossroads, a new speaker series that explores the intersection of teaching and technology, continues on Thursday, October 6 with guest Melanie Gangle, program manager for accessible education services. Gangle will spark a conversation about “Accessibility and Teaching Frameworks for Inclusion.” The event takes place at 3 p.m. in the Parberry Room on the second floor of the Clark Library. Light refreshments will be served. UP Crossroads is sponsored by academic technology services in collaboration with the Clark Library.