AISHE Journal - Special Issue with AHEAD on UD in Tertiary Education

The ‘All Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education’ (AISHE-J) and ‘AHEAD’ are delighted to launch a Special Issue on ‘Universal Design in Tertiary Education’ .

In 2023, AISHE-J and AHEAD invited submissions from staff and students on their experiences engaging with Universal Design for Learning (UDL), other inclusive pedagogical approaches, or any broader aspect of Universal Design (UD) in tertiary education, and encouraged joint student-staff submissions and student papers.

Following a fantastic response from the sector, this Special Issue provides an opportunity for researchers and practitioners to share experiences, perspectives and foster dialogue on Universal Design (UD) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in Irish tertiary education.

There is widespread acceptance of the need to make education more inclusive for all learners, reflected in the wide range of initiatives across the sector. This has been driven by a range of factors, including the advancement of national and international human rights instruments, and the significantly increasing diversity of the student population. UD, a process that aims to make products, environments, programmes or services more accessible to everyone through proactive inclusive design, makes an important contribution to these efforts. This is recognised at a national level by the inclusion of specific goals concerning the implementation of UD in the Further Education and Training Strategy and the National Access Plan for Higher Education.

The internationally recognised UDL framework contributes significantly to the UD approach in the teaching and learning context, providing evidence-based guidance to build more flexibility, accessibility, student voice and choice into our programme design and delivery. Other inclusive pedagogical approaches also contribute to the advancement of UD in teaching and learning. But in the broader tertiary education context, UD principles can also be applied to the design of physical spaces, supports and services, and the digital environment.

This issue captures a snapshot of the brilliant range of practice and research in this domain being undertaken in Ireland, but also features exciting contributions from Australia, Canada, Chile and the UK.

You can view this open access AISHE-J Journal Special Issue by visiting the AISHE-J website.

View the AISHE-J Special Issue on Universal Design in Tertiary Education