Background

Central to Imperial College's Learning and Teaching Strategy is the commitment to make teaching and learning more inclusive, including of students with Specific Learning Difficulties/Differences (SpLDs) such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD as an SpLD. 8% of Imperial’s students disclose as having an SpLD on entry. Further students are identified as having an SpLD as they progress through their degree programme and they find specific aspects of their degree programme challenging, either in the way it is taught and/or assessed. Importantly, as we will explore, making learning more inclusive of these students means making learning more inclusive of all Imperial’s students. In particular many of these strategies will improve learning for students who speak English as an additional language.

This online course is designed to develop your understanding and offer strategies and specific techniques that you can take away and apply in your practice. In particular, we will signpost to new technologies and approaches that can assist in creating inclusive learning.

Run in partnership with the Disability Advisory Service, this workshop is part of a project funded through the Excellence Fund for Learning and Teaching Innovation. It is also designed to complement the EDU workshop Introduction to making teaching more inclusive.

The course is run in 2 parts:

Part 1: Complete online course: Understanding Specific Learning Difficulties/Differences (SpLDs) – inclusive strategies for learning (approx 2 hours to complete)

This part is designed to be completed asynchronously at any time of the year. You do not need to do Part 2 but may find it useful to talk to others.

Part 2: Group discussion about ways to implement new inclusive approaches in your teaching with tutors and colleagues on Teams.

Who should attend?

This workshop is for all staff who teach and support the learning of Imperial’s UG and PG students, including teaching fellows, learning technologists, departmental disability officers and lecturers. It may be particularly relevant for those involved in module design and pedagogical transformation aligned to the College’s Learning and Teaching Strategy.

Key areas

• Learning experiences and challenges for learners with SpLDs
• Principles for making learning resources accessible and inclusive for students with SpLDs
• Using technology to enhance learning for all
• Evaluation of existing learning resources and approaches
• How to develop more inclusive learning resources

Prerequisite

You may like to look at the Inclusive learning and teaching section of Imperial's Teaching Toolkit before attending this workshop.