Heidi: Welcome back, UDL explorers
Venecia: to our BCcampus UDL Challenge Series.
Heidi: My name is Heidi
Venecia: and I’m Venecia.
Heidi: So our next challenge in this series comes from the principle of engagement, specifically recruiting interest. Why is this important for UDL?
Venecia: Well, according to Cast.org, recruiting interests and specifically making connections between what students are learning and their personal experience is really important.
Heidi: When I’m teaching, I often hear students say, so what? Why do I need to know this? Or How is this relevant for me?
Venecia: Yeah, I hear those questions too. So when we are able to connect what students are learning to their personal experience, that really consolidates the learning. Heidi, how do you do this in your class?
Heidi: I ask my students to participate in a discussion post about a past dental experience that they’ve had and how they can share ideas on how that helps them in their practice with patients. So this is a really powerful experience and it helps them learn how to show empathy in their practice as a certified dental assistant.
Venecia: That’s important. It also connects with their future. In my class on negotiations, I always ask my students to give me an example of when they were successful doing a negotiation so either with family or with friends. And it really gives them an opportunity to connect it to their experience, but also for me to learn more about my students.
Heidi: Yeah, I like that. It’s a successful negotiation.
Venecia: Yes, successful.
Heidi: So our challenge for you this time is to look at your course content and create one, or maybe you already have some opportunities, but create an opportunity for students to share their personal experiences.
Venecia: And as usual, we have some resources and examples below to help you. We are excited to see what you come up with.
Heidi: Happy exploring.