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!

Welcome to Episode 158 of the Think UDL podcast: Humans in the AI Loop with Eric Moore and Kevin Mallary. Dr. Eric Moore is the Director of Learning Design and Technology and Kevin Mallary is an Instructional Design Specialist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. Both Eric and Kevin are Assistant Professors by courtesy at the John Hopkins University School of Education. Eric and Kevin have been doing some great work at the intersection of UDL and AI and have some sage advice on creating safeguards and guardrails as you approach using AI in adult education. In this conversation, we discuss the need for always centering the human perspective and keeping the humans in the AI loop at multiple intervals, and how to do that through PLCs, or Professional Learning Communities. You’ll find more information in the resource section just before the transcript on this episode’s webpage at ThinkUDL.org.

Welcome to Episode 157 of the Think UDL podcast: Perfect Intersection with David Pyle. David Pyle is an artist, educator, writer, and entrepreneur who has spent his career at the intersection of art-making, business, and learning. Currently, he serves as a Continuing Appointment Instructor in the Arts Management and Green+Gold programs at Colorado State University, where he teaches courses like Law and the Arts, Community Engagement and the Arts, and The Perfect Intersection: Art-Making as a Way to Learn (and Do) Anything. Trained in music, painting, chemistry, and education, he spent more than three decades in marketing, communications and leadership roles with some of the most iconic brands in the artist materials world. His book, What Every Artist Needs to Know About Paints and Colors (Krause, 2000), reflects his lifelong curiosity about how creativity, science, and art-making converge.

In 2020, he launched Pyle Creative Studio, where he now supports community art-making initiatives and develops content and community-building strategies with creative businesses. At heart, David is passionate about helping people explore the intersections between art-making, science and other disciplines to shape the world around them.

In today’s conversation we discuss visual thinking, art-making as a way to learn to do anything, storytelling and surprises! You’ll find the resources mentioned in this conversation in the resource section just before the transcript on ThinkUDL.org. As always, thank you for listening to the Think UDL podcast!

Welcome to Episode 156 of the Think UDL podcast: Math Choices and Contract Grading with Tracey Howell and Trina Palmer. Dr. Tracey Howell is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Dr. Trina Palmer is a Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Appalachian State University. In today’s conversation we discuss several UDL interventions in math courses including contract grading and various choices you can give your students in math courses. We will discuss the benefits and types of contracts you could use if you implement contract grading as well as student reaction to contract grading. We also discuss the use of technology and opportunities for choice in math classes and how these were received looking at student feedback. Trina and Tracey have graciously shared their slides from a presentation they gave on this topic and you’ll find it in the resource section just before the transcript on this episode’s webpage at ThinkUDL.org.

Welcome to Episode 155 of the Think UDL podcast: Accessible Initiatives with Carly Lesoski, Courtney Floyd, and Majo Brito Paez. Carly Lesoski is the Learning Innovation Program Manager at the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning. Courtney Floyd is a Senior Learning Designer in the Learning Design and Innovation’s Learning Lab at Dartmouth and Majo Brito Paez is also a Learning Designer in LDI’s Learning Lab at Dartmouth. In today’s conversation we will discuss the free and helpful resources that these brilliant minds have produced that we can now all use to help our faculty and staff incorporate UDL into our learning environments, including fantastic case studies that anyone can use for their own trainings on UDL in higher education, so that you are not left reinventing the wheel at your institution. 

Welcome to Episode 154 of the Think UDL podcast: Slow Pedagogy with Constanza Bartholomae. Constanza Bartholomae is the Interim Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island. I’ve worked with her several times and we share a passion for engaging environments and, of course, UDL. Today’s conversation centers on Slow Pedagogy and UDL. You’ll learn not only what Slow Pedagogy means, but also how to implement more thoughtful, deep-learner driven interventions into your teaching practice. And perhaps, give you another way to think about how your students learn and how to go about designing your courses. 

You’ll find the resources mentioned in this conversation in the resource section just before the transcript on ThinkUDL.org.