Evaluating Universal Design for Learning and Active Learning Strategies in Biology Open Educational Resources (OERs)

During the shift to emergency remote teaching, undergraduate biology instructors were challenged with the unprecedented: transitioning lab and experiential-based activities online. Given this challenge—and in a discipline where faculty are not traditionally taught how to teach online—we wanted to understand which evidence-based and inclusive strategies were used in this lesson. This, we thought, would provide us with data that could serve as a baseline for designing and developing more targeted professional development initiatives when instructors were afforded the opportunity to take a more intentional approach (post-COVID).

Therefore, this article focuses on a collection of online biology lessons developed as Open Educational Resources (OER) in the journal CourseSource. Specifically, we analyzed and documented the implementation of evidence-based practices that enhance student engagement and learning, including universal design for learning (UDL) guidelines and active learning strategies. We found that biology instructors used a variety of UDL guidelines and active learning strategies to encourage student learning and engagement in online teaching environments. Understanding the diversity of approaches used provides valuable insights as we continue creating high-quality lessons, OER, and courses. These findings provide a glimpse of what was done to provide accessible engagement opportunities to students in courses that are challenging to teach online, and also provide a collection of OER online lessons that instructors and educational developers can use to inform the practice of engaging online students.

Read the TLI article here.