Overview | bcgoldrush

What do teachers sometimes struggle with?

Student engagement & motivation in learning! It can be challenging to get students to see the relevance or importance of historical events that they don't connect with.

How can we engage & motivate our learners?

We need to get our students to connect to topics. We can do this by employing the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework while keeping in mind the theory of self-determination. When we use multiple means of representation (materials), multiple means of engagement (activities), and allow our students to express their learning through multiple means, we engage our students. Additionally, when we use UDL, we allow the three basic needs of our students (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) to be met, which promotes intrisically motivated learners.

If I want to provide multiple means of representation, how do I do it? What about muliple means of engagement? Multiple means of expression?

Multiple means of representation - provide a variety of learning materials/resources so students have more options. Use materials that guide information processing and reach different learning styles and needs. Do this by having photographs, auditory information, videos, definitions of key vocabulary, different genres, etc. available.

Multiple means of engagement - provide students with the opportunity to engage with the information in a variety of ways. For example, individual/group/whole-class work, role-plays, writing activities (stories, reflections, songs) etc.

Multiple means of expression - allow students to choose from a variety of options how they will prove their learning to you. For example, instead of all students doing a PowerPoint presentation about the Fraser River Gold Rush, students could choose between a song, small-group play, story, etc.

I want to employ the self-determination theory in my social studies classroom. How do I do that?

You need to let students meet their basic needs of autonomy, relatedness, and competence:

Autonomy - let students have choice in source of information and means of expression (covered through UDL). Also use multiple teaching strategies within learning activities, and utilize student self-assessment.

Relatedness - use learning material that's relevant to students and promote a caring classroom climate so that students can feel comfortable collaborating with peers

Competence - employ the UDL framework so students can have choice and feel capable. Also make sure the learning materials and sources provided are age-appropriate.

What is the big connection between social studies and UDL & the theory of self-determination?

Since social studies is such an inquiry-based and project-based subject, UDL and the theory of self-determination are so applicable to social studies teaching. When teachers are knowledgeable on the universal design for learning and theory of self-determination, they are able to get disengaged students to become immersed in their learning and in the process of inquiring and investigating. Historical topics are not immediately interesting to some students, and it is our job, as educators, to gather multiple resources and devise various activities that allow students to acquire information and express their learning in a way that it is meaningful to them. It's also vital that teachers get input from their students so they know just what their students' interests are, which will help with planning. UDL and the theory of self-determination make social studies more student-centered and that is just what we are working towards with British Columbia's new curriculum.

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