ACCESSIBLE ACTIVE LEARNING: TO WHAT EXTENT IS ACTIVE LEARNING INCLUSIVE FOR SCIENCE UNDERGRADUATES WITH DISABILITIES?

While active learning teaching methods have been shown to improve student achievement, the altered teaching format could present challenges for students with disabilities who request accommodations from Disability Resource Centers (DRCs). DRCs are campus offices that provide academic services for students with disabilities. Accommodations for traditional lecture courses often include note‐taking services, preferential seating, extended time for exams, and closed captioning of videos. The typical model for receiving accommodations involves a student self‐disclosing their disability to the DRC and providing documentation, meeting with a coordinator to discuss potential needs and challenges, and then selecting a standard set of accommodations. However, it is unclear whether this traditional model is effective in providing services for students with disabilities in active learning science courses. Our research questions for this study were: What active learning‐related challenges have DRC directors identified for students with disabilities and what approaches have DRCs taken to alleviate challenges for students with disabilities in active learning science courses? In this study, we conducted semi‐structured interviews with DRC directors from 37 universities with large-enrollment science courses. We specifically asked about how they are accommodating students with disabilities in active learning classrooms. We used a theoretical framework of Universal Design for Learning, an approach that guides how to improve learning environments to enhance the learning for all individuals, in order to explore how active learning could be made more inclusive for students with disabilities. We identified that 100% of directors were aware of active learning. However, most accommodations for active learning are determined retroactively, which requires students to be responsible for identifying aspects of active learning courses that they struggle with in order to receive appropriate accommodations. We also identified a set of common challenges that DRC directors reported regarding specific active learning practices such as small group work, clicker questions, and online activities. However, despite their previous knowledge of active learning and experiences with student challenges, there were no DRCs that provided standardized accommodations specific to active learning. With this study, we hope to provoke a conversation about creating more inclusive active learning classrooms for students with disabilities.