First TEACHxWSU event set for Oct. 21 by WSU Teaching Academy
The Washington State University Teaching Academy has set Fri., Oct 21 as the date of the inaugural, annual TEACHxWSU event for faculty and teaching assistants, focused this year on learning about and practicing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in higher education.
Formatted much like TEDx presentations, TEACHxWSU 2022 will feature in-person presentations on the WSU Pullman campus with live-streaming to remote participants. University of Hawaii at Manoa professor Kavita Rao will be the keynote speaker, and guest experts from WSU will also share their knowledge. Recordings and transcripts will be posted to the Teaching Academy website post-event for maximum accessibility.
Save the Date
“The academy and campus partners such as the Access Center and Academic Outreach and Innovation are extremely enthused about bringing such a timely and popular topic as UDL to our university, and we encourage faculty and TAs to add this as a save-the-date on their calendars,” said Joy Egbert, academy chair and Regents Professor in the College of Education. She expects registration to open in early fall semester on the academy website.
UDL Principles
The principles of UDL form a “framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how people learn,” said the CAST website. UDL guidelines provide both theoretical and practical foundations of research across education, including the exploration of diverse populations. They also offer suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful learning opportunities.
UDL Next Faculty Book Club Topic
UDL ties to the new 2022-23 faculty book club hosted by the academy. Free copies of the shared book, Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education, are available, said Egbert. Interested faculty can email Egbert or Kate Watts.
Media contacts: Joy Egbert, WSU Teaching Academy, jegbert@wsu.edu
Beverly Makhani, DAESA Communications and Marketing director, 509-432-3430, makhani@wsu.edu