Opening the Pathway: An Example of Universal Design for Learning as a Guide to Inclusive Teaching Practices.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides a flexible framework for supporting a wide variety of learners. We report here on a conference that presented the UDL framework as a way to increase success of deaf and hard-of-hearing (deaf/hh) students in introductory biology courses. The Opening the Pathway conference was an NSF Advanced Technological Education project focusing on raising awareness about careers in biotechnology and student success in introductory biology, a key gateway course for careers in biotechnology. The participants were professionals who work with deaf/hh students at pivotal points in students' educational pathways for raising awareness of biotechnology career options, including community college faculty, high school faculty at schools for the deaf, and American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters. The conference goal was to provide an effective, meaningful professional development experience in biology instruction. The conference explicitly addressed the role of a UDL approach in building accessible, inclusive, productive learning environments, particularly for deaf/hh students, and demonstrated how to make effective pedagogical practices, specifically case-based learning, inclusive and UDL-aligned in an introductory biology context. We describe the conference, conference outcomes for participants, and in particular the application of the UDL framework to create an inclusive experience.

Vitality, mental health, and satisfaction with information after breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between satisfaction with information about treatment-related and survivorship issues and mental health outcomes, including vitality, in long-term breast cancer survivors. METHODS: Participants who had finished treatment for breast cancer at least 3 months before enrollment completed a survey instrument designed to evaluate satisfaction with diagnostic and treatment information and satisfaction with survivorship information. Mental health and vitality were measured using the Medical Outcomes Study SF-36, and distress was measured using the impact of events scale. Bivariate analyses and linear regression analyses were performed to investigate the relationships between satisfaction with information, mental health, vitality, and distress controlling for clinical and treatment variables. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 231 participants (response rate 83%). More respondents were highly satisfied with treatment information (87%) than with survivorship information (30%, p=0.0001). There was a strong positive relationship between satisfaction with information (both treatment and survivorship issues) and vitality, mental health, and a strong negative relationship with distress. In multivariate analyses, satisfaction with treatment information was independently associated with mental health (p<0.01), and satisfaction with survivorship information was independently associated with vitality (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Among patients who have completed treatment for breast cancer, satisfaction with diagnosis and treatment information is greater than satisfaction with survivorship issues and satisfaction with information may play an important role in mental health outcomes. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Given the relationship between satisfaction with information and vitality, interventions to improve informational support regarding survivorship issues are warranted.