Daily Pioneer News

Members of the UWP team that attended the National Faculty Center conference in March included faculty and staff members Becky Peters, Tom LoGuidice, Rea Kirk, student Dana Zimmerman, Esther Ofulue, Chancellor David Markee and Albukhair Masoom.

PLATTEVILLE - A core team of educators wants to ensure that the learning environment at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville is effective for all students, including those with diverse backgrounds and traits. A workshop April 30 helped set the course for enhancing learning at UWP, and a fall seminar is planned.

The university has partnered with a number of institutions nationwide in a "Project to Enhance and Ensure Learning (PEEL) For Students with Disabilities." A team of UWP faculty, staff and administrators traveled tothe University of Arizona Feb. 29 through March 5 for a forum sponsored by the National Faculty Center. UWP Chancellor David Markee has spearheaded the effort at UWP and delivered the conference's opening address. UWP educators gained a perspective on the challenges students with disabilities face in the classroom.

"At that conference, we had two student panels, and when those students shared their experiences, it was a real eye opener," chair of UWP general engineering department Abulkhair Masoom said. "Not all faculty understood, or had an appreciation, for the differences. ... There's a lot of work to be done."

The National Faculty Center advocates a learner-centered instruction model, which strives to enhance the educational environment by incorporating the needs of all people, including minorities and students with both physical disabilities and learning disabilities. The University of Arizona has received grant funds for the project.

Tom LoGuidice, director of the UWP Teaching Excellence Center, says the traditional style of accommodating students with disabilities is analogous to adding ramps to make a building assessable, whereby the learner-centered approach is comparable to designing a building to be assessable to all in the first place.

"UWP already is making big strides in becoming a learner-centered institution," LoGuidice said. "It really changes the concept of how you work with students."

LoGuidice noted the rise in technology, which has given professors more tools to move away from the traditional lecture style.

"Technology has made a difference so that we're acquiring the information we need in new ways, and presenting information in new ways," he said. "We used to be limited in what we could do in the classroom. Researches are also identifying and understanding more about different learning styles and learning disabilities.

"I use to think that, with students with disabilities, accommodating them was enough," UWP professor of biology Esther Ofulue said. "But I realize that in addition to physical disabilities there are also learning disabilities. It helped to figure out how to identify these learning disabilities in my classes."

The UWP team has begun to increase awareness of the learner-centered instruction. At the April 30 workshop, team members shared what they learned and set the course for incorporating aspects of the learner-centered approach at UWP.

Masoom outlined the three steps to the process: awareness, application and advocacy. While UWP educators are trying to increase awareness, Masoom expects UWP professors to implement aspects of the learner-centered approach in the fall.

"If we can't raise the level of awareness, it's not going to work. We need to not treat the differences as weaknesses," Masoom said. "If you're going to be learner-centered, you have to be committed," LoGuidice said.

Students can get aid from UWP Services for Students with Disabilities, located in Warner Hall, which notifies instructors of disabilities, provides tools such as sign language translators for hearing-impaired students and can administer tests to students that may be aided by an alternative environment.

"With even one student I think we should do all that we can, because we should be inclusive with learning," Masoom said. The partnership with the University of Arizona and other colleges nationwide is vital. Through the National Faculty Center, UWP educators will be able to share knowledge and tools with instructors from other institutions such as the University of Nebraska, Iowa State and the University of Missouri. Ofulue herself is conducting research along with fellow biology professor Wayne Weber to identify different learning types and assess the effectiveness of different teaching methods in the classroom.

A seminar sponsored by the UWP Teaching Excellence Center is planned for the fall. There will be a student panel, a speech from Chancellor Markee and a number of detailed sessions on the learner-centered approach at the seminar from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 25 in the Pioneer Student Center. Faculty members who wish to attend may register online (http://www.uwplatt.edu/tec).