Best Instructional Practices

New research is advancing our understanding of teaching and learning. The best instructional practices for students with disabilities are often the same as those without disabilities.

All students benefit from a course that:

• is well organized
• provides clear instructional objectives
• employs instructional materials that allow multimodality input and output
• allows practice and opportunities to apply new skills in real situations     provides opportunities for clarification of new information
• allows for ample review
• is flexible in ways that students can demonstrate mastery.

Therefore, effective teachers are:

• organized
• clear
• knowledgeable
• practical
• creative
• structured
• flexible

A comprehensive guide to effective teaching has been put together by educators at Berkeley. You can access the Berkeley Compendium for Suggestions for Teaching with Excellence at: http://uga.berkeley.edu/sled/compendium/.

For Instruction of All Students: Some Ideas for Starting Off

There are some practices that will easily allow instructors to get students off to a good start and greatly ease the learning process for all students:

Prepare a syllabus that clarifies and guides objectives and instructional expectations. There many examples of excellent syllabi on Emory’s site for faculty seeking resources for teaching individuals with diverse learning characteristics: www.portals.emory.edu.

1. Be sure that the course goal and the instructional objectives stated  are clearly stated at the onset.  Write these in your syllabus as “learner outcomes” that are objectives that you can measure.  To “appreciate post-impressionist art” cannot be measured; to “compare Cezanne and van Gogh” in their use of form and color” can be measured.
2. Establish how and when each objective will be measured.
3. Invite students with special needs to speak privately with you early in the semester. Include this “invitation” on the first page of the syllabus.
4. Suggest that students meet regularly with you or an assistant (at least twice a semester) to discuss the course and their progress.
5. Provide alternative ways of meeting course objectives.
6. Clarify and summarize main points as you go along.
7. Evaluate your own performance after each class and act on your self-evaluation.

For Instruction of Students with Disabilities: Some Additional Ideas

1. Define the “essential” components of your course. These should be the same for students with and without disabilities.  What do you want all students to get out of their interactions with you and the materials you provide for learning?
2. Consider alternatives in how you present information so that both auditory and visual modality inputs are available and in how you evaluate outcomes
3. Understand that students with similar disabilities may have very different needs. Individualize the accommodations as needed. Check with the Office of Disabilities Services about any changes in the accommodations you are providing. If an accommodation does not seem appropriate in your course, be sure to discuss this with the personnel in the Disabilities office before you make a change.
4. Announce on the first day of class that you want to meet with students who have special needs and give a time and place for those meetings. Write your request to meet with students on your syllabus. One way to state this is offered below.“It is the policy of Emory University to provide appropriate accommodations to students with documented disabilities. If you require such accommodations in this class, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible before the xth class meeting. Please bring your accommodation letter to that meeting.”
5. Try to order textbooks that come in alternative formats, such as computer disk, large print, and ask for an extra desk copy to be used by the Office of Disabilities Services.
6. Stick to the syllabus as much as possible. If it needs to change, be sure to give the Office of Disabilities Services ample time to prepare additional materials or to arrange for support.
7. If you suspect a disability because of a student’s attendance or performance, talk to the student about your observations without labeling. Ask the student to describe what he/she is experiencing. Offer advice about how to approach studying or improving performance in your class. Follow-up if needed.
8. If the student continues to experience difficulties, refer the student to the Office of Disabilities Services for a consultation.
9. Maintain confidentiality regarding all communications with a student with disabilities. Do not discuss conversations or give information about situations of concern or interest to other faculty, their peers or members of their family, including their parents. All requests for information should be sent to the Office of Disabilities Services.
10. Contact Wendy Newby (404-727-6766) for information about instructional practices for students with disabilities and for general information about faculty responsibilities and resources.

It is your responsibility as an instructor to make information accessible to all your students. If you are developing a web site, be sure that it meets the current accessibility guidelines. The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), which can be found at http://www.cast.org provides information on how to meet guidelines for accessibility.