Universal Design for Learning: A Field Experiment Comparing Specific Classroom Actions

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) aims to increase accessibility to learning by extending the concepts of Universal Design (UD). UD arose in the field of architecture and suggests that one can increase the accessibility of an architectural feature if certain considerations are made to the design of that feature prior to its construction. The essence of UDL is to extend accessibility of a learning module to the largest possible group of learners by considering particular design principles prior to construction of that learning module. This paper describes an experiment in which UDL principles were applied in a “treatment” section of a graduate management information systems course but not in an identical “control” section of the same course. The paper methodology section opens with a list of specific classroom actions that support UDL principles, and continues with descriptions of the experiment and data analysis, then a discussion, and finally some conclusions.