Instructional Practices Affecting Learner Engagement in Blended Learning Environments

Semiral Öncü,Barbara Bichelmeyer

doi:10.17275/per.21.62.8.3

Abstract

Learners have to engage in academically purposeful instructional endeavors to be successful in school. Latest research indicates that the learners of today are not as interested in educational deeds as they need to be. Educational stakeholders should look for means to address this tendency to have a positive influence on educational results. This study explores the instructional practices that play a role in behavioral engagement (also known as involvement) of learners in schoolwork in the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) program – an information technology certificate program. Behavioral engagement in this context refers to learners’ active learning and collaboration with peers. A two-level hierarchical linear modeling was established to predict behavioral engagement from instructional practices while controlling for certain learner level (expectancy and value motivation, gender, and age) and teacher level (teaching and networking experience) variables. Learners who attended the CCNA program in the United States, totaling 773 high school and community college students, were matched specifically with 149 teachers who taught them. Student and instructor surveys were conducted online to gather data. The results show that the level of learner involvement in the program was poor, equivalent to the national student engagement survey of the period. However, if their teachers used collaborative and learner-centered practices, learners were more involved in schoolwork behaviorally. Learners were also very involved in the program if they placed a high value on the program. Female learners were not as active as male learners. In addition to the two instructional practices implied in this study, another major takeaway is that learners should be advised as early as possible about the detrimental impact of poor motivation in the program.

Highlights

Student success and career development can be significantly predicted from student engagement (Astin, 1993; Baker, Spiezio, & Boland, 2004; Kuh, 2003; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991)
This study explores the instructional practices that play a role in behavioral engagement of learners in schoolwork in the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) program – an information
This study focused on answering the following research question: How do instructional practices affect learner engagement? are there practices that facilitate active learning and collaboration? And, if so, how do the practices contribute to learner engagement?

Summary

Introduction

Student success and career development can be significantly predicted from student engagement (Astin, 1993; Baker, Spiezio, & Boland, 2004; Kuh, 2003; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). The problem with the highest significance in terms of urgency and persistency that should concern teachers and students is not poor learner achievement but rather poor engagement (Newmann, 1992). It is a struggle in contemporary educational settings to get students participate in scholarly activities in such a way that productive learning is feasible. Students too often get sidetracked by events taking place in everyday life around them Among those that can divert learners from concentrating on a matter are the growing prevalence of careers in addition to recent evolution in digital technologies. Student engagement is an essential educational reference point for achievement (Willms, 2003), incentivizing the exploration of methods for the participation of students in academic work

Methods

Results

Conclusion