Office of Instructional Innovation Shines a Spotlight on Cawthon and Her Course on Disability
A new spotlight on Dr. Stephanie Cawthon’s teaching practices and class design — with a particular focus on her hybrid course designed for undergraduate and graduate students, Culture of Disability in Education — has just been published by The Office of Instructional Innovation (OI2) at UT Austin’s College of Education.
When asked in the OI2 question-and-answer spotlight about which element of her instructional design makes the biggest difference, Dr. Cawthon points to her individualized approach.
“[The] major assignments in the course aren’t cookie cutter. Instead, students are immediately tasked with choosing their own learning pathway and continuously provided opportunities to individualize their learning and submit assignments that are uniquely tailored to their learning. I think students get more out of the course this way, as it lessens the stress without lessening the impact of the learning.”
It’s a strategy that also allows Dr. Cawthon to focus more on her students.
“I think the biggest takeaway is that by intentionally designing course assignments to be individualized and moderate in length, I am able to give meaningful feedback to all students. To me, I think this is the value of being at UT Austin; otherwise, you could just be enrolled in an online course with an instructor who doesn’t engage with you or other students.”