UDL Conversations: Assessment Design
How can we design assessments that reflect learner variability and support meaningful learning? In these UDL Conversations, U of T members share strategies for building flexibility, creativity, and equity into assessment design:
Design for access, inclusion, and belonging
Use reflection and transparency to strengthen engagement
Design assessments for learner variability and meaningful learning
Explore how AI can reduce and introduce learning barriers
Inviting Creativity through Assessment
Redesigning an anatomy assignment to support creativity and learner choice.
Danielle Bentley
Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Division of Anatomy, Department of Surgery, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, St. George
What did we talk about?
- Redesigning an anatomy assignment to invite creativity, flexibility, and learner choice.
- Moving from a highly structured, text-based format toward open, multimodal submissions.
- Giving students freedom to select topics that align with their personal or professional interests.
- Welcoming diverse formats—essays, podcasts, infographics, short films, and “creative masterpieces.”
- Reflecting on how loosening initial restrictions encouraged deeper engagement and more authentic demonstrations of understanding.
Call to Action
- “Add one or take away one”: Add one new element of creative flexibility or remove one unnecessary restriction and see how students respond.
Resources
Rethinking Experiential Learning and Research
Connecting theatre experiences and research practice to deepen understanding and engagement.
Douglas Eacho
Assistant Professor, Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies, Faculty of Arts & Science, St. George
What did we talk about?
- Introducing experiential learning in Drama 101: Students attend live performances across Toronto to connect course themes to real-world contexts.
- Building community and access: Shared attendance times and alternative options (e.g., curated video performances) support participation for all students.
- Encouraging reflective, low-stakes writing: Students translate their experiences into informal writing that develops critical voice and confidence.
- Redesigning the research component: Shifting focus from product to process through a library-based task where students explore physical books, take “shelf selfies,” and evaluate sources.
- Helping students recognize how knowledge is built: Showing that credible research develops through existing scholarship rather than emerging ex nihilo.
- Broadening perspectives on theatre and performance: Expanding examples beyond familiar references like Shakespeare or Broadway musicals.
Strategies to Try
- Use experiential learning intentionally: Connect course concepts to community or real-world experiences.
- Scaffold research as a process: Create checkpoints and reflection prompts that emphasize exploration over the final product.
- Help students examine how knowledge is built: Model how ideas evolve through research and collaboration.
- Offer flexible participation options: Provide alternative ways to engage when live or in-person experiences aren’t possible.
Scaling Support and Flexibility
Applying UDL principles to support flexibility and feedback in large courses.
Shirley Yeung
Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts & Science, St. George
What did we talk about?
- Scaling up UDL principles in large courses: Applying UDL practices in a 500-student anthropology course.
- Designing multimodal assignments: Inviting choice through essays, photo essays, and webcomics.
- Replacing traditional midterms with scaffolded supports: Using outlines, workshops, and feedback cycles to sustain progress.
- Co-developing rubrics with TAs: Enhancing transparency and reducing grading stress.
- Embedding Writing-Integrated Teaching (WIT) supports: Building a “nested” learning model for both students and TAs.
Strategies to Try
- Pair major deadlines with support: Schedule related workshops or feedback sessions.
- Expand expression options: Allow written, visual, or mixed-media formats.
- Co-create rubrics: Work with students and TAs to clarify expectations.
- Sustain feedback loops: Build a layered model where lead writing TAs mentor tutorial leaders.
Resources
U Design Learning | Teaching with Universal Design for Learning at U of T