This lesson should take about 10-20 minutes.

Barriers in Brief

While students differ in many ways, UDL seeks to guide changes to instruction that will improve the content for all learners. Of the many individual differences, one of the most frustrating for instructors is having a class full of learners who vary widely as to their prior knowledge and experience with the course topics. If the instructor tries to “aim at the middle,” this situation is frustrating to students, as well, with some challenged by a lack of requisite background knowledge and others bored by material they already know quite well. This situation is exacerbated in an online asynchronous or a hybrid (blended) course where the instructor cannot always perceive the existing differences in what students know or need to learn, as well as the speed with which they would like to move through the course content.

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Overview & Objectives
Lesson
Questions and Comments

Lesson Overview

This lesson will describe how to use Canvas MasteryPaths to differentiate instruction to address variances in prior knowledge, and to enable students to self-pace. The research shows that when instruction is designed to consider differences in learner prior knowledge, there are significant, positive effects on learning (Ausubel, 1968; Clark & Feldon, 2005; Jonassen & Grabowski, 1993). Well-constructed mastery path courses will not only address differences in prior knowledge but will also facilitate the UDL checkpoints across all three principles.” For example, such course design provides for...

Related to checkpoint 5.3, the authors of the UDLGuidelines say,

"Learners must develop a variety of fluencies (e.g., visual, audio, mathematical, reading, etc.). This means that they often need multiple scaffolds to assist them as they practice and develop independence. Curricula should offer alternatives in the degrees of freedom available, with highly scaffolded and supported opportunities provided for some and wide degrees of freedom for others who are ready for independence. Fluency is also built through many opportunities for performance, be it in the form of an essay or a dramatic production. Performance helps learners because it allows them to synthesize their learning in personally relevant ways. Overall, it is important to provide options that build learners’ fluencies."

This quote is a perfect description of what MasteryPaths allow. This lesson will utilize a MasteryPath as an exemplar to teach about MasteryPaths. Participants will have the opportunity to experience a MasteryPath from the student’s point of view.

Lesson Objective

By the end of this lesson, instructors should be able to...

Design and create a mastery path unit of study in their own course

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