Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology, University of British Columbia

UDL Student stories: Farah and Calista

Duration: 6:47 1112 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

Farah and Calista, both recent graduates at the University of British Columbia, share their personal journeys as students with disabilities who are now dedicated to accessibility advocacy. Farah, a graduate in chemical and biological engineering, emphasizes that her commitment stems from witnessing how previous advocates have paved the way for her success, inspiring her to support future students. Similarly, Calista, who holds a degree in interdisciplinary studies and is entering the education program, views accessibility as essential not only for self-advocacy but also for supporting others with similar experiences. Their stories highlight that true inclusion begins when professors are proactive and open about accommodations, creating an environment where disabled students feel valued, relaxed, and deeply engaged with the course material. The speakers describe specific classroom interactions that foster a strong sense of belonging, such as professors dimming lights to help Farah see presentations clearly or using high-contrast colors for written problems. Calista recalls how one professor encouraged interaction among classmates with similar career paths, allowing her to bond with peers and feel accepted within the group. Beyond physical adjustments, they identify recorded and live-streamed lectures as underutilized technologies that significantly benefit disabled students. By bringing the screen closer or using built-in device tools like closed captioning, pause functions, and speed controls, these formats make complex content more accessible. For instance, in engineering courses requiring programming, having code displayed directly on a nearby screen rather than projected allowed Calista to follow along more easily, reducing the intimidation factor of challenging subjects. Effective teaching strategies also extend to how feedback is delivered and how participation is facilitated. Both students note that tools like Mentimeter and Clutch Tricks can lower the barrier to entry for shy or discouraged students, encouraging them to participate more frequently and improve their grades. Furthermore, they argue that providing detailed written transcripts alongside image descriptions on platforms like Canvas prevents misunderstandings and ensures that learning materials are efficient and accessible to all. In terms of grading, Calista specifically highlights the importance of insightful written comments over simple scores; without explanatory feedback, students often struggle to understand their grades or how to improve for future assignments. Ultimately, when professors break down problem-solving processes, highlight key concepts, and provide clear explanations, it empowers students to learn effectively and succeed in their academic endeavors.

Read the full video transcript

Hello, my name is Farah. I am a recent graduate from a bachelor's of applied science in chemical and biological engineering. I think I really care about accessibility and accessibility advocacy as a visually impaired student because I have seen that the work that previous advocates have done allow me to be successful and I would like to do the same for future students. >> Hi, my name is Kalista. I'm also a recent graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in interdisiplinary studies and heading into the education program this fall. Um, I would say accessibility matters to me because as someone who has a disability and as part of the CFA, I really want to advocate for myself but also with other people with similar experiences. A key thing I've seen that has given me a sense of belonging in a classroom is when professors are very proactive about accommodations and very open about accommodations. And how that's looked like is when professors respond and acknowledge the accommodation letter. um are curious about the student's disability while being respectful, remembering that the student is disabled and the key aspects of how that impacts their experiences. I think how that's looked like for me in my personal time at UBC is when professors remember to dim the front lights so that I can see the presentation more easily or use contrasting colors when they're writing out a problem so that again I can see it more clearly. And this has really helped me feel like I'm valued in the classroom and a sense of belonging there. And then it's made me feel more relaxed and more engaged with the material. For me, I would say a sense of belonging would be the professor giving the space for students such as myself to really interact and engage with other classmates. Um, just an example, I would say um one of my L professors from last summer. She um really allowed us to work with our classmates that I'm still really close friends with now um because we're going through the same career uh pathways but also just being able to work on the same material classroom like lectures, discussions or activities. And she actively gave us a lot of activities that allowed us to bond and engage a lot. Um which really helped me feel a sense of belonging in that sense and made me feel more accepted in the classroom. A key technology that I think is being underutilized at the moment is recorded lectures as well as live streaming lectures. And the reason for that is because it allows for disabled students and non-disabled students to make it so that the material is closer to them physically and as well use the programs that are built into their devices to make the material more accessible. So that can include uh closed captioning, making transcripts of the lecture as well as when it's recorded, making it so that they can zoom in or read the lecture or pause it, speed it up, etc. Um I think how that's been played out in my time at UBC is through the engineering courses that require programming and programming to solve problems. when TAs or professors have live streamed the lecture where I can actually have the code more directly in front of me and closer rather than project it. I was able to actually see the code and understand it as well as follow along in the classroom. And that's made it so that a subject that I found very challenging as a disabled uh student with a visual impairment was able to feel less daunting in the moment. I would say tools and technologies that I would get my professors to continue using is Mentimeter and Colt Tricks as an example. Um especially for participation reasons because again as a student um sometimes participation can be quite daunting. As an example from my previous experiences in education, on one of my education classes, I had a professor using both of these platforms in participation activities quite frequently and it actually helped me participate more and more frequently and actually got my participation grade higher than if I was like not participating and they didn't have those options. I would feel definitely more discouraged to participate and sometimes feeling a little bit shy to participate. In a lot of engineering classes, a lot of the problems, assignments, etc. are based around problem solving. And I think that makes feedback a bit challenging because you don't want to just provide the answer uh to the students. So, what I've seen be more effective for myself and the students around me is when the professor actually goes through the problem and showcases how to think about a problem. And this includes like breaking down like what the learning objective of the problem was as well as reading out the problem and saying these are the key words that you should be focusing on and then overall yeah just how to think about the problem and design like and do any drawing that you need to. I think when it comes to that being provided on Canvas like through a PDF or etc however they choose to do that it's really helpful to have a written transcript so that there's no misunderstanding and that can be used by other assisted devices as well as any image descriptions so that people who are not being able to see it like myself can actually understand what is being depicted. Um, this has really made it so that I feel a lot more efficient when I'm like learning materials rather than being left behind and having to try to figure things out. >> I guess for me in terms of feedback, I think written feedback is definitely at least from an arts student perspective is really helpful. I mean, going just beyond like the grade itself and giving actual like insightful comments on your work really helps improve like my own learning and also what I can benefit moving forward for future assignments or whatnot. Um, I just find that if I had a grade, for example, in one of my classes and there's no comments or feedback regarding that assignment, I tend to sometimes question why I got that grade. Maybe it's if it's like especially if it's like a lower grade than I'm expecting. Um, I would just say, yeah, written feedback or comments definitely makes me or as also other students learn and have a good opportunity to just be able to succeed from further on.