Background

As recipients of the 2019 Wickerson Foundation Award, co-instructors Dr. Catherine Thibeault and myself, Dr. Ann Celestini, collaborated to redesign NURS 1000: Individual as Nurse, a foundational, large first-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) course, with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) inclusive pedagogical strategies (Meyers et al., 2014).  The primary aim of this framework is to use multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression to develop expert learners who are purposeful, motivated, resourceful, knowledgeable, strategic, and goal directed. Before the course redesign, weekly classes were historically delivered in large theatre-style classrooms for 1 hour and 50 minutes by one of the co-instructors. Weekly 50 minute instructor-led seminars were held with nine smaller groups of 25 learners to encourage an individualized application of the knowledge in a supportive environment.

Our desire to redesign the course stemmed from concerns for students’ learning. Enrollment continues to rise in post-secondary nursing education programs, resulting in increasingly diverse learner backgrounds, abilities, and needs (MacDaniel, 2020; Statistics Canada, 2021). However, course curriculum remains stagnant, inflexible, and standardized in traditional approaches such as lecturing and multiple-choice testing, which may create barriers to learning for certain individuals (Hitch et al., 2019). While some specific academic accommodations are available to learners, they are typically limited to students who qualify and choose to disclose a need (Burgstahler 2020; Neal-Boylan & Miller, 2017). Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an inclusive pedagogy that educators can proactively use to minimize learning barriers among students in this setting (Meyer et al., 2014).