An Interview with Heather Brown, Learning Designer, Distance Learning by Michelle Bannerman Reading Time: 7 minutes Introduction We invite you to learn more about neurodiversity and bringing equity to the classroom in this conversation with Heather Brown, a Learning Designer at Northwestern and champion for neurodiverse learners, and Michelle Bannerman, a Graduate Student in the Northwestern Information Design & Strategy (IDS) program, parent of a teen with ADHD, and a career-changer pursuing a path in Learning Design to bring equity to the classroom. Heather and Michelle cover a variety of topics, from classroom accommodations to gender expression to learning design

Introduction It goes without saying that all instructors, whether teaching in face-to-face, hybrid or online classrooms, have a vested interest in student engagement. What “counts” as engagement can encompass active participation in discussions, meeting with faculty, and — of course — submitting assignments and activities for feedback and assessment. If students are engaging, then they are full participants in the individual and collective project that is completing a given course of study. But what is the engine behind that engagement to learn? What does it take to activate meaningful engagement? In a word: motivation.  In her theoretical framework of motivation,