How can Universal Design be applied to curriculum?
A model for applying Universal Design to curriculum was developed by Simmons and Kame’eniui (1996). They identified the following features: • Big ideas. Curriculum emphasizes major concepts, principles, categories, rules, techniques, and hierarchical structures related to critical ideas and themes. • Conspicuous strategies. Curriculum includes explicit instruction on steps to complete required tasks. • Mediated scaffolding. Curriculum includes questioning, feedback and prompts. • Strategic integration. Big ideas are explicitly linked within and across curricula. • Judicious review. Previously taught content is reviewed and linked to applications. • Primed background knowledge. New content is linked to and builds on students’ background knowledge.
