Miranda Forbes wins GIASR grant

Congratulations to Miranda Forbes (BA Spanish; BS Linguistics ’21, Spanish MAE ’23) for winning a $750 grant from the Office of Student Research. Working closely with her mentor Dr. Stacy Davis, her Grant-in-Aid-of-Student-Research (GIASR) project will investigate how the tenets of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can be implemented by professors in language classrooms at Truman State University in order to promote equity and meet the social-emotional needs of language learners in a collegiate setting. UDL refers to an approach to education that accommodates the needs and abilities of all students by providing multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression in the classroom. This design framework for education is essential and crucial for the inclusion and engagement of all students in any learning environment. UDL empowers learners by offering choices in assignments and multiple options to demonstrate their knowledge and learning, creating equitable and accessible classrooms by embracing and engaging all learners.

Upon the conclusion of her project, Miranda will present her findings at the Student Research Conference and lead two professional development opportunities for the CML and Education departments regarding effective strategies for the incorporation of UDL in the classroom to promote equity and social-emotional learning in the language classroom.