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Assignment 2 Inclusive Education: Case Study

Student Profile
Name: Ruben Johns Learning Difficulty: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Age: 14 Stage: 4 Year: 8

Ruben is a very enthusiastic student. He thoroughly enjoys exploring scientific ideas through

experiments and has a genuine thirst for knowledge. He excels at research tasks using

electronic devices, and follows direct instruction. He has a loving support network at home

and his guardians actively work with the school to ensure Ruben meets his education goals.

He is passionate about soccer and enjoys watching his favourite team the Western Sydney

Wanderers. Ruben also enjoys playing video games such as Minecraft and watching

YouTube videos on his computer (Knight, Spooner, Browder, Smith & Wood, 2013). Whilst

Ruben excels in his factual knowledge and vocabulary he often has difficulty with dense texts

and prefers verbal instruction (Ryan, Hughes, Katsivannis, McDaniel & Sprinkle, 2014).

When working in pairs or groups, Ruben often fixates on his subject of interest during

conversation and sometimes misses verbal or physical ques from other group members

(Daubert, Hornstein & Tincani, 2015). Due to this, Ruben has poor motivation during group

tasks and may disengage which acts as a barrier to his learning (Daubert, Hornstein &

Tincani, 2015). Whilst Ruben follows instructions well, during class he often needs to have

directions repeated (Knight, Spooner, Browder, Smith & Wood, 2013).

Part 1: Universal Design for Learning

The Salamanca Statement of 1994 calls for all students to have an equal education, regardless

of student disability. The classroom has become more diverse with students from various

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backgrounds, learning needs and abilities (Nelson, 2013). The need for inclusive education

has required teachers to adjust teaching strategies to assist learners with varying abilities

(Capp, 2016). This has informed teachers to develop learning activities that benefit all

students, this framework is referred to as Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL is a

framework for curriculum design that enables all students to have an accessible education,

this is achieved through simultaneously removing educational barriers and providing students

with support (Nelson, 2013; Ralabate, 2011; Loreman et al., 2011; Maxam & Henderson,

2013). By utilising three principles from within the UDL framework, this paper seeks to

justify modifications to improve a year 8 Science lesson. The justifications will be informed

by a case study of a student named Ruben who has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum

Disorder (ASD).

Curriculum, broadly refers to content imparted from teacher to student in the form of

knowledge, skills or attitudes (Loreman, Deppeler & Harvey, 2011). Unfortunately, the

curriculum is not immediately accessible to all students, thus, it is the role of a teacher to

manipulate curriculum to enable students (Loreman et al., 2011; Ralabate, 2011). The UDL

framework consists of 3 principles, representation, engagement and expression. These ideas

refer to the planning and implementation of curriculum into carefully devised activities to

enable learners. Teachers can utilise representation by providing students with options

through various modes of information, these can include but are not limited to: visuals aid,

direct teaching, group learning, auditory (Loreman et al., 2011; Nelson, 2013). Similarly,

teachers can use expression to vary the way in which students present their knowledge which

can include more than just written answers (Loreman et al., 2011; Nelson, 2013). Lastly,

engagement, refers to the continued involvement of students throughout the lesson, teachers

need to incorporate students interests and goals to promote motivation for learning (Loreman

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et al., 2011; Nelson 2013). To be successful with the implementation of UDL teachers need

to be informed from the 3 principles. As Capp (2016) suggests, teachers need to be

responsible for the removal of learning barriers through planning with the UDL framework,

and that students of diverse needs will benefit greatly from this implementation. The UDL

framework enables greater choice for students within the classroom, these changes enable all

students to have greater accessibility to curriculum (Loreman et al., 2011).

The lesson plan, with UDL modifications in red, can be found below as Part 2: Science

Lesson Plan (Part 2), with the lesson focus, human body systems. The lesson involves

students cooperating with group discussion and practical work and carries minor elements of

inclusion. The lesson required many modifications to properly incorporate the three

principles from within the UDL framework. These modifications seek to improve the

learning for all students.

Science content, requires students to maintain an extensive vocabulary, whilst also being able

to access prior knowledge to understand naturally occurring phenomena (Knight, Wood,

Spooner, Browder & OBrien, 2015). This can be difficult for all students and even more

difficult for students with special needs (Knight et al., 2015). Originally, this lesson did not

incorporate a connect the learning activity, changes needed to be made to incorporate UDL.

By adjusting the lesson introduction to include a short summary of the previous lesson, the

teacher will be able to assist students with connecting knowledge. Skowron (2015), suggests

the opening activity for a lesson should enable students to connect prior knowledge with new

knowledge to improve student learning, this specific example will help Ruben as well as

every other student.

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Understanding scientific content also requires students to be able to make inferences from

abstract concepts as well as grasping metaphors relating to science, students with ASD often

have difficulty within this context (Knight et al., 2015). By adjusting the worksheet to

incorporate different modes of representation students are provided with greater options,

some students may prefer to use their computer, some students will prefer the physical

worksheet and other students will benefit from the visual imagery on the worksheet,

providing these options benefits all students as part of UDL (Loreman et al., 2011). Ruben

may prefer using the computer as a resource for learning as some students with ASD have

shown to prefer learning with a computer, as well as this being a personal interest of his

(Knight et al., 2015).

Google Classroom is used to enable students to have additional choices for material use in the

form of e-documents and access to their answers and additional feedback at any time they log

into the online classroom (Loreman et al., 2011; Izenstark & Leahy, 2015). The lesson was

adapted to incorporate a virtual classroom to allow students to access information prior and

post class time, before this modification students did not have as many means of

representation. Links to 4 relevant video clips on specific body systems, the body system

worksheet, ideas board and teacher feedback will all be viewable for students. The video

clips are the same 4 videos that can be used to replace 2 stations during the practical

component if students choose this option. The use of Google Classroom is to enhance

students learning, provide greater means of representation as well providing an engaging way

for students to access information (Izenstark & Leahy, 215). In doing so, all students are

provided with greater access to classroom materials and has been informed by UDL

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(Loreman et al, 2011; Nelson, 2013). Similarly, these changes also benefit Ruben who enjoys

using his computer to study and will be able to access the informative videos on demand.

The stage 4 Science syllabus, under outcome SC4-5WS, requires students to, collaboratively

and individually produces a plan to investigate questions and problems (Board of Studies,

2012). Part 2 involves a collaborative heavy lesson, with group activities consisting of greater

than 50% of the lesson. Peer-peer support is regarded as a strong support for students with

ASD, and the interaction provided by students of the same age may also enhance overall

achievement within the class (Boutot, 2007). The lesson has been modified with student

engagement in mind, to ensure students have clear goals and expectations from the lesson the

teacher will continue to provide explicit guidelines throughout the lesson for all students

(Loreman et al., 2011). The explicit instruction will relate to turn taking during group tasks,

the teacher will call out stop or time to signify a change for student interaction or body

system station. This strategy will be used to assist Ruben with clear guidelines, students with

ASD have shown problems with social interaction and turn taking and by reinforcing

expectations all students will have a clear goal for what is expected during group learning

(Daubert, Hornstein & Tincani, 2015). Importantly, Ruben often has difficulty in group

situations, Boutot (2007), recommends giving students with ASD the opportunity to work

with regular students to foster and develop bonds. By applying UDL to Part 2, students are

given a greater amount of choice when it comes to group tasks, this gives Ruben the choice of

how many peers to work with. They can work in pairs and/or swap out a maximum of 2

stations for educational video clips on the body system of their choosing. This enables

students to have greater choice and options that benefit their learning style within class and

places more autonomy on students (Loreman et al., 2011). The teacher will proactively assist

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students as they undergo the practical component of the lesson and answer student questions

as they arise.

Formative assessment is used throughout the lesson via the classroom Ideas Board, which

acts as a collaborative learning space for the whole classroom. The way students choose to

express their answers can vary depending on their choice of physical paper or Google

Classroom submission. Students will be required to perform 2 updates to either the Ideas

Board or Google Classroom, during the first activity and the end of the lesson. This will be

used to help students assess their own learning in a reflective way to compare their prior

knowledge with new knowledge upon lesson completion. By doing this, students will be

appropriately given feedback during the lesson to inform their learning (Dixon & Worrell,

2016). Formative assessment plays an important role for all students, which allows the

teacher to provide feedback dynamically throughout the lesson to benefit all students learning

which has been informed by UDL (Dixon & Worrell, 2016). The multiple means of

expression, through digital, verbal, and written have been included as part of UDL to provide

students with various methods of assessment to benefit all learners (Loreman et al., 2011).

There is an increasing need for the UDL framework to be considered when planning lessons

and is needed now more than ever due to the increasingly diverse learner needs within

modern classrooms (Loreman et al, 2011; Nelson, 2013). The three principles which portray

multiple ways of representing, engaging and expressing, have informed content delivery and

assessment to improve outcomes for all students as well as Ruben a student with ASD. As

outlined by Capp (2016) and Ralabate (2011), teachers need to be dynamic, they need to

adjust lessons and material per student needs. The professional standards of teaching, know

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your students and how they learn require teachers to understand these diverse needs (AITSL,

2010). Education has been referred to as a tree with students being required to climb to the

top. In this analogy, the students are represented as various animals with varying abilities that

assist or impede (special needs) their goal to reach the top. The UDL framework suggests

modifications and adjustments are to be made to the tree prior to students engaging, to make

this tree accessible for all students and to provide an equal learning environment for all

students (Loreman et al., 2011).

Part 2: Science Lesson Plan

Body Systems (UDL Modifications)

Time Learning activity Classroom Design
5 mins Introduction to lesson and group work Randomised seating arrangement
Connect lesson with previous lesson.
With clear expectations for group work.
20 Classroom discussion: Students remain in seating arrangement
mins
Explicit instruction: each student may Students may write ideas in books, devices
only provide one answer to allow more or Google Classroom.
students to answer and engage.
Think Pair Share Students work in
pairs:
Explicit instruction: Students are to take
turns discussing content, 1 min each. Set up Ideas board
Ideas Board: Students share ideas. In a highly visible location, highlight key
terminology
Answers need to be written large and
clear. Students will be selected at random to
allow more students a chance to answer.
25 Group Practical: Stations set around the classroom
mins

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Provide students with worksheet and Stations are clearly labelled with relevant
explanation of each station (4 in total) equipment and with enough space in walk
ways.
Worksheet includes clear and
appropriately sized font and visuals Teacher to assist students around
images, and will be available on Google classroom during practical.
Classroom.
Teacher to use stopwatch throughout
Teacher to clearly state goals and activity calling out 2 minute and 4 minute
expectation of groupwork. intervals to ensure students are taking turns
and rotating between stations.
Students may choose to substitute 2
stations for short educational YouTube Students work in groups of 4
videos that have been selected to
Choice of group size, 4 max.
demonstrate the information gained from
those stations
10 Conclusion: Ideas Board Comparison Ideas Board set up
mins
Completed through verbal, e-text or Place in a visible location. Highlight key
written format and a group speaker may terminology.
be allocated from each group.
Compare board from before activity and
after activity.
Take pictures to upload to Google
Classroom so it is accessible for all
students online. The ideas board acts as
formative assessment that gauges student
learning.

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References
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Loreman, T., Deppeler, J., & Harvey, D,. (2011). Inclusive education: Supporting diversity in
the classroom (2nd ed.). Crows Nest, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
Maxam, S., & Henderson, J. (2013). Inclusivity in the Classroom. Journal of Cases in
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