Ryerson offers new tools to remove barriers to learning

Over the past several months, learning and teaching have changed dramatically at Ryerson. The move to a remote academic year has raised the question of how to keep students engaged in a meaningful and inclusive way from afar.

In addition, the rising social justice and anti-racism movements in tandem with a global pandemic have made accessibility and inclusion even more critical. In fact, Ryerson’s Human Rights Services, part of the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion, says that faculty and instructors have a duty to remove barriers to learning so that BIPOC students and members of equity-deserving groups are not disadvantaged when it comes to their ability to learn and work.  

Universal Design for Learning is for everyone 

In light of all this, accessibility and inclusion have become popular topics at one-on-one teaching and learning consultations and workshops.  

“Faculty and instructors have been passionate about discovering more ways to make their courses accessible and inclusive to students,” says Michelle Schwartz, an educational developer in the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. “We’ve coordinated with Academic Accommodation Support, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee, and many other student services so instructors get the support they need to ensure their students are having a good experience.”

One of the pedagogical practices recommended to instructors is Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

The Universal Design for Learning working group, led by the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, is one of Access Ryerson’s working groups focused on removing barriers to accessibility. A UDL approach creates more accessibility at the start, which means improving accessibility proactively in addition to responding to individual accommodation needs.

“There’s no one way of implementing UDL; it’s unique to every course and instructor,” says Schwartz. “It’s about reducing barriers and designing a learning experience that is as proactively accessible as possible. All students benefit when UDL principles are applied in the classrooms because it gives them flexibility in the way they learn, participate and demonstrate what they’ve learned.”

Jan Matejovic, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biology at Ryerson, engaged with the team at the teaching centre over the summer after his first-year biochemistry course was moved online. With traditional in-person exams no longer possible, Matejovic implemented the principles of UDL into student evaluation.

“I thought to myself, how do I craft an assignment that not only reflects the students’ interests, but also who they are and how they best operate without me putting a limitation on them?” he says.

Thus, Food for Thought, a group assignment whereby students select a topic and address a societal or socioeconomic relevance to food, was born. Example topics include, “Green, yellow, orange, red: What’s up with them peppers?” and “The spice of life: What’s in the molecules of spices?” Once a topic is selected, students can present it however they choose, such as with an infographic, a Rick Mercer-style rant video, or an ad campaign.  

As Matejovic says, this assignment provides flexibility and doesn’t limit how students show what they’ve learned.

“I didn’t want the assignment to get in the way of the assignment. I wanted them to get excited, take it from their own view point and run with it.”

An empathetic approach

Recognizing the barriers that many students may be facing, especially during COVID-19, Lori Beckstead, a professor in the Faculty of Communication and Design, developed an infographic for faculty and instructors with tips for how to be more empathetic towards students – such as allowing more flexible deadlines and making all course materials available asynchronously.

Beckstead says that asking students what challenges they may be facing and how instructors can help mitigate them is key.

“Through feedback surveys, I ask students what I should be doing, what I should stop, or what more they need. It’s evolving as we go along, and we’re discovering what the pain points and inaccessible aspects are,” she says.  “I think students appreciate a human approach.”  

Marty Fink, a professor in the School of Professional Communication, says that this human approach goes beyond the way we’re using Zoom and other remote teaching methods.

“It’s important not to discuss technology needs for students in a vacuum: once they’re online, plugged in and able to access the lecture materials, we need to consider if they’re being represented in terms of race, class and gender,” says Fink. “Are we actually marginalizing and excluding BIPOC, trans, or disabled students through our pedagogical materials and curricula, even when we have all of the physical access aspects in place?”  

Similar to there being many ways of thinking about or implementing UDL, Fink posits that disability and accessibility also require an intersectional framework that includes anti-racism.

“If we always anticipate that the person who needs universal access to a building is white, we disregard the ways in which anti-Black racism, police brutality, or colonial violence can keep someone from accessing that same building,” Fink says. “Thus, if you are developing an all-white curriculum or class where people aren’t seeing themselves reflected in their instructor’s teachings, you’re already excluding them from universal design education. It’s the job of everybody to address anti-Black racism in our course design and curriculum, and until we do that, we’re never going to make an accessible learning environment.”

Duty and responsibility

Grace Vaccarelli, interim director of Ryerson’s Human Rights Services, says that removing barriers to full participation in the working, learning and living environments is a human rights principle.

“It’s important that faculty, instructors and supervisors are designing learning and work environments that are responsive to the different needs of the students, faculty and staff; that they understand their duty to accommodate and that they are fostering an environment free of discrimination and harassment.”

To help faculty and others understand their roles, Human Rights Services is available to work with all departments and faculty members to ensure that they are living up to the law and spirit of the Ontario Human Rights Code.

"Education and partnerships are huge parts of our work. We aim to support faculty, instructions and supervisors by providing them with proactive advice and support – rather than reactive measures – to create a campus community that is guided by human rights from the start."

In addition, Human Rights Services is developing a guide for faculty, instructors, and supervisors about how COVID-19 is affecting members of marginalized and equity-deserving groups. This guide clarifies the roles and responsibilities that Ryerson staff have in order to uphold the university’s values of equity, diversity and inclusion, as well as an environment free of discrimination and harassment; underscores their duty to accommodate individuals on the basis of all protected grounds; and ensures they are informed about the resources that are available within our community and externally.

Despite the winter semester being remote, Vaccarelli says that accessibility and inclusion are institutional issues that have always been, and will remain, priorities for the university. With the help of the teaching centre, Human Rights Services and many other Ryerson support services, coupled with the commitment from faculty and instructors, the goal remains that our campus and courses – be they remote or onsite – are accessible to and inclusive of everyone.