CAST: Universal Design for Learning

Principal Investigator(s)
Robert Dolan, Ph.D. CAST
Chris Wilder-Smith

Funder(s)
National Science Foundation

(a) Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate, Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, Advanced Learning Technologies Program
(b) Education and Human Resource Directorate

Description
For school-age children with disabilities, print-based textbooks and educational materials can present profound barriers to learning. In contrast, digital learning environments and materials can present the same content as printed textbooks but in ways that are flexible and therefore more accessible. Yet while existing research has shown the promise of computer-based multimedia to support the learning of students with disabilities, no means exists to provide individualized, pedagogically sound learning materials to students on a widespread basis.

The CLIPPS (Custom Learning Interface Production from Pedagogic Semantics) project is creating a new technology that recognizes individual needs and customizes the presentation of learning materials to meet those needs at the point of instruction.

At the heart of this effort is the development of an ontology of pedagogic intent —that is, a formal description or theory (ontology) of the relationship between the intended educational purpose of certain material (pedagogic intent) and the way that information is presented in a digital environment.

Using content marked up in advance by developers and a basic profile of a students preferences and needs, a prototype adaptive engine analyzes student decisions and infers which kinds of presentations (graphic, text, etc.) work best for each student based on their learning characteristics. It then automatically generates that content for the student.

Example
Consider how this works for Elena, a student who has dyslexia. Since we know Elena likes visual overviews of information, a concept map is presented at the beginning of each chapter in her digital book. As she also prefers visual representation of important concepts when possible (in part because text is still a difficult learning medium for her), illustrations and graphic explanations are inserted appropriately in the main content. Two types of background knowledge are also provided: links to vocabulary and links to key background knowledge of the science content itself, in the form of underlying concepts and processes from earlier chapters.

Impact
This project will result in (1) new models of curriculum design for middle school science that are effective for students with disabilities, (2) research results that will justify the adoption of new approaches to the design of educational materials by the publishing community, and (3) contributions to the enhancement of digital educational materials standards, such as the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS).