ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines an action research project undertaken in an alternative education school for disengaged, at-risk youth aged between 15–18 years located in New South Wales, Australia. It was identified that many students were present on school grounds, however, who were not attending all science classes. Using an action research process, the research question posed was: Could the development of a comprehensive understanding of the UDL framework impact teacher practice to positively affect student engagement and student attendance in science classes? The spirals of inquiry framework (Halbert & Kaser, 2007) was used as the methodology in reporting the process of the project and formed the basis of instructional coaching sessions. Spirals of inquiry is an action research cycle that supports teachers to become open to new learning and take informed action. The project enabled the teacher to have a concentrated focus on the use of the UDL framework, allowing for better understanding of its components and opportunities to trial several differing framework-grounded approaches. Data collected showed that as the teacher intentionally planned units of work and lessons using the UDL framework, student engagement and therefore attendance increased. The project demonstrates that with intentional use of the UDL framework as an approach to design units of work for the New South Wales Standards Authority (NESA) Syllabi for the Australian Curriculum, there can be enhancements to student engagement, increased attendance, and improved student learning toward the achievement of syllabus outcomes.
