How iLEARN Modular Scaff olding Supports Student Outcomes and Accessibility in a First-Year Graphical Communication Course

Background: The flipped classroom space lacks a clear design framework that describes the day-to-day structure and implementation of a flipped classroom experience in a way that can be reproduced and be meaningfully compared across contexts. The ILEARN framework aims to address part of this problem by more clearly defining how course content is organized and presented to guide student learning through increasing levels of personal accountability.

Purpose: The following describes the approaches instructors used in adopting the iLEARN framework into their course sections.

Methods: End of course surveys were completed by students across two semesters, the second semester for two instructors with large variability in implementation style. Proportions of ratings in agreement and confidence were compared as well as numerical approximations of means to compare implementation variations using t-tests.

Results: Students generally agreed that the iLEARN framework was able to guide them through the learning process while achieving confidence in the course learning outcomes despite varied implementation styles.

Conclusions: The iLEARN framework provides a clear, well-organized modular format for a flipped classroom environment, enables a high degree of course flexibility, and is well received by students and instructors.