Featured Publications, Presentations, & Projects
Dr. Williams’s work explores how learning design, curriculum, assessment, Universal Design for Learning, accessibility, artificial intelligence, and Human Performance Technology can be used to improve the systems that shape learning. Her work focuses on turning research, policy, and complex ideas into practical strategies, frameworks, and tools that educators and institutions can actually use.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Leveraging AI to Scale Universal Design for Learning Across Institutions
​Examines how AI-enabled course design and performance-support tools can embed Universal Design for Learning into routine instructional workflows and support more consistent, scalable implementation across institutions.
Tags: Artificial Intelligence, AI, Universal Design for Learning, UDL, Accessibility, Digital Equity, Human Performance Technology, HPT, Performance Improvement, Systems Thinking
Collaborative Excellence: Enhancing Instructional Innovation Across Your Career
Explores how collaboration and instructional design practices can strengthen teaching, support innovation, and improve learning experiences across different stages of an educator’s career.
Tags: Instructional Design, Equity, Student Success, Student Learning, Curriculum Development, Curriculum Alignment
Advancing Equitable Assessment Practices for Holistic Learning
Examines assessment practices that provide more equitable and meaningful ways for students to demonstrate learning, with attention to alignment, learner variability, and holistic evidence of achievement.
Tags: Assessment, Student Learning Outcomes, SLOs, Accessibility, Human Performance Technology, HPT, Performance Improvement, Systems Thinking
Continuous Improvment:Â A Best Practice for Teaching and Learning
Examines how misalignment among Student Learning Outcomes, instructional objectives, and course design can create barriers to student success and how Human Performance analysis can support continuous curriculum improvement.
Tags: Assessment, Student Learning Outcomes, SLOs, Curriculum Alignment, Human Performance Technology, HPT, Performance Improvement, Systems Thinking,
Job Aids & Infographics
Digital Readiness Layers
Illustrates digital readiness as a layered construct that includes access, navigation, academic technology skills, information vetting, data and AI literacy, and digital self-efficacy.
Tags: Digital Equity, Artificial Intelligence, AI, Student Success
Instructional Strategies Framework
Organizes instructional strategy decisions around how learning is structured, how concepts and skills are presented, and how learners are supported as they practice and apply what they are learning.
Tags: Instructional Design. Studeng Learning, Curriculum Development, Curriculum Alignment, Universal Design, for Learning, UDL, Equity, Accessibility
Integrating AI into Assessment: Partnering with AI to
Support Learning
Organizes responsible AI use in assessment around three elements: structure, support, and integrity, emphasizing transparent expectations, learner diversity, critical thinking, and authentic student voice.
Tags: Artificial Intelligence, AI, Student Learning Outcomes, SLOs, Assessment, Academic Integrity, Digital Equity, Student Success
Building Curriculum Infrastructure for UDL at Scale
Presents a systems model connecting shared language, observable outcomes, curriculum alignment, UDL-informed design, evidence review, and curriculum refinement to support sustainable implementation at scale.
Tags: Universal Design for Learning, UDL, Accessibility, Curriculum Development, Curriculum Alignment, Human Performance Technology, HPT, Performance Improvement, Systems ThinkingÂ
Inclusive Technology Use Framework: UDL-Informed, Human-Centered Decision Making for Digital Equity
A practical framework for evaluating technology decisions through a UDL-informed, human-centered lens, with attention to problem fit, learner agency, instructional and cognitive barriers, professional oversight, and ongoing evaluation.
Tags: Artificial Intelligence, AI, Universal Design for Learning, UDL, Human Performance Technology, HPT, Performance Improvement, Systems Thinking
Selected Presentations
From One More Thing to Sustainable System Infrastructure: UDL-Aligned Curriculum Workflows for Equitable Learning
Reframes UDL as a systems and workflow challenge, showing how it can be embedded into existing curriculum, SLO, assessment, and program-review processes without simply adding another initiative to faculty workload. [Presentation]
American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE)
October 2026
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Collaborator: Mia Keeley
Tags: Universal Design for Learning, UDL, Curriculum Development, Curriculum Alignment, Human Performance Technology, HPT, Systems Thinking, Performance Improvement,
AI with Intentionality:
A UDL Framework for Human-Centered Systems
Explores how Universal Design for Learning can guide intentional, human-centered technology and AI decisions that reduce barriers, preserve learner agency, and address the actual problem rather than defaulting to technology as the solution. [Presentation]
California Community Colleges Futures Summit
September 2026
Santa Clara, California
Collaborator: Mia Keeley
Tags: Universal Design for Learning, UDL Artifical Intelligence, AI, Human Performance Technology, HPT, Systems Thinking, Performance Improvement,
When Technology Becomes a Barrier:
Rethinking Digital Equity
Examines digital equity beyond devices and internet access, focusing on the hidden skills, workflows, confidence, and institutional expectations students must navigate before they can fully participate in learning. [Presentation]
Online Teaching Conference
June 2026
Anaheim, California
Collaborator: Kandace Knudson
Tags: Digital Equity, Instructional Design, Universal Design for Learning, UDL Artificial Intelligence, AI, Human Performance Technology, HPT, Systems Thinking, Performance Improvement,
You Can't Ask That:
Navigating Instructional Design & Academic Freedom
Explores the intersection of instructional design, faculty decision-making, and academic freedom, including where collaboration, institutional expectations, and professional expertise can create tension. [Presentation]
WCET Annual Conference
October 2024
Long Beach, California
Collaborator: Maria Aceituno
Tags: Instructional Design, Academic Freedom, Curriculum Development, Curriculum Alignment
Reframing the Curriculum Process: UDL as the Foundation for Equity & Student Success
Explores how UDL can be integrated into curriculum design through clearer outcomes, aligned assessments, intentional instructional strategies, and more equitable approaches to student learning.
[Presentation]
