Deanna House from the University of Nebraska at Omaha presented at the 2022 Lilly Conference Online on “Wisdom Walls as a Mechanism for Early Group Project Engagement.” House shared the learning outcomes for the session that included the UDL principle of multiple means of representation and a “plus one” for students to engage with course content. House explained the why, what, and how of learning as multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression. I like this way of explaining UDL and teaching. They started by explaining an in-person class assignment with presentations. Students are placed in groups very early and find information from their clients. House used checkpoint 8.1: Highlighting salience of goals and objectives and Checkpoint 8.3: Foster collaboration and community. For options for comprehension, Checkpoint 3.1 Activate or supply background knowledge is emphasized. Checkpoint 5.1 Use of multiple media for communication was used to emphasize the recording assignment students provide. Students receive advice from peers. House spoke about using Wisdom Walls to create a video with advice for future students. Students read prompts that the video should be one minute or less and will be used for future semesters. The result is, in this case, a wall of videos and advice. House shared some video clips from students and their experience working on the project. This was a powerful segment of the session as you can then share this wall of wisdom with future students. This is the main goal that House emphasized. Wisdom Walls are an assignment we could use to have future students review as part of the first segment of the course.
