Supporting Disabled Physics Learners: Identifying Enabling, Mitigating, and Disabling Practices

Faculty have a significant stake and role to play in students' overall success within higher education environments. It is important for faculty to be sensitive to the numerous ways in which their actions can create, lower, or eradicate barriers to access and participation for students. In this presentation we will discuss one method instructors can utilize to consider variations in student needs, abilities, and interests when designing courses, delivering course content, and assessing learning. First, we will introduce the Variations Planning Tool (VPT) as a mechanism for instructors to critically examine who they are privileging and who they are simultaneously taxing based on the instructional practices. This analysis supports instructors to identify barriers to access and participation within their instruction. Finally, we will provide examples of enabling, mitigating, and disabling instructional strategies as well as examples of reformed practices from the COVID-19 pandemic.