The Role of Universal Design for Learning in Inclusive Engineering Education Programs for Hearing Impaired Students

The article discusses key decisions to ensure the availability of the content of STEM disciplines (on the example of chemistry) and sociocultural disciplines for students with hearing impairments in inclusive programs of engineering education at a technical university of a general type. The “Bauman model” of the implementing inclusive programs corresponds to the social model of understanding disability in vocational education and includes a combination of the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), assistive and cognitive learning technologies with taking into account individual cognitive features and limitations of students. Accessibility is considered in terms of minimizing physical, organizational and cognitive barriers to learning. The implementing UDL principles is shown on the example of teaching the discipline “Chemistry” as a component of STEM-disciplines and socio-humanitarian disciplines as well. The UDL principles are being implemented in a digitally transformable educational environment equipped with assistive technical and surdotechnical means and technologies, which as a result becomes multimodal, capable to meet the individual cognitive needs not only of hearing impaired students, but also ordinary ones. The universality of their applying for all university disciplines is shown.