Requirements
"Provide multiple ways for students to demonstrate knowledge. For example, besides traditional tests and papers, consider group work, demonstrations, portfolios, and presentations as options for demonstrating knowledge."
The literature often lists this as demonstration of knowledge. However, this should probably be modified to demonstration of learning – whether it’s knowledge or performance, or even affect.
But let’s focus on the general characteristic inherent in the principle – separating the “what” from the “how.” There’s a difference between “what” students learn and “how” they can demonstrate that learning to us. Assessments often confuse the what and the how – so that the how becomes an implicit part of the what. Is it most important that a student be able to demonstrate an understanding of the issues that led to the Civil War or be able to write in class under time constraints? Sometimes, the latter actually is what’s being assessed – what can an individual demonstrate in a given amount of time. However, most often, that is not what’s being assessed.
By separating the “ends” – what should the result be – from the “means” – how can a student get there or demonstrate he’s arrived – we expand the possibilities for success. We don’t change or lessen the destination by any stretch – we simply widen the road for getting there (for more on settings useful UDL goals, see Rose & Meyer, 2002, Chapter 5; for a clear definition of ends and means, see Kaufman, 2000).