Dr Emma Murphy (HERC) at AHEAD conference

HERC postdoctoral researcher Emma Murphy presented a paper at the AHEAD (Association for Higher Education Access and Disability) International Conference 2015, which took place on March 19-20 at Dublin Castle’s Conference Centre. The conference addressed the theme 'Universal Design for Learning: A License to Learning'.

The conference is aimed at academics, students, policy makers, faculty staff and disability support professionals with an interest in fully including all students in the learning experience in Further and Higher Education. An important focus of this year’s conference was ‘Universal Design for Learning’, a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn, including Students with Disabilities. This growing movement aims to improve the educational experience of all students by introducing more flexible methods of teaching, assessment and service provision to cater for different styles of learners.

Keynotes speakers included Dr. David Rose, founding member of the Universal Design for Learning movement and Dr. Tim Cordes, Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. HERC postdoctoral researcher, Emma Murphy presented a paper entitled "An exploration of UDL and interaction design to enhance the experiences of older adult learners". Her presentation provided an overview of her current interdisciplinary research investigating the potential of UDL and interaction design to create inclusive representations of information to support older adult learners.

More information and online proceedings are available on the AHEAD website.