Highlighting and Exploring Patterns, Critical Features, Big Ideas, and Relationships in Universal Design for Learning

Highlighting and exploring patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships is a universal design for learning (UDL) guideline that supports multiple means of representation. The UDL guidelines were developed by an organization called CAST. This article will explore how teachers and other educators can help a variety of learners recognize crucial concepts.

Highlighting and Exploring Patterns, Critical Features, Big Ideas, and Relationships in Universal Design for Learning

Highlighting and exploring patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships means helping learners distinguish the most important concepts in a lesson from less important concepts. Furthermore, this guideline means pointing out how these key concepts connect or relate to each other. Learners who do not know which details in a lesson to focus on may try to remember every detail. Conversely, learners who recognize the most important parts can focus on these details when they study or apply concepts.

Teachers can use many strategies for highlighting and exploring patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships. For instance, teachers can emphasize the most important aspects of text and visuals they show in class, such as:

• Presentations
• Handouts
• Diagrams
• Mathematical formulas
• Images or graphics

Moreover, teachers can remind students about important concepts as a lesson continues. For instance, learners applying new knowledge to a real-world problem need to recall which ideas will help solve it. Therefore, teachers should provide cues, prompts, or examples. For instance, the solution to a sample problem could outline the thought process of the person solving the problem.

In addition, teachers can provide outlines and graphic organizers that identify important elements and relationships in a lesson. Similarly, teachers can point out connections between the lessons in a unit. For example, teachers can discuss how prior knowledge gained earlier in a unit should help learners understand the most crucial ideas in the latest lesson.