Blended Learning Context Research Articles

INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF CHATBOTS IN DIFFERENT LEARNING CONTEXTS ON STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND CRITICAL THINKING

Technology integration in education has been a topic of interest for many years. Among those technologies, chatbots have been used in many educational settings. However, the impact of chatbots on students' engagement and critical thinking in different learning contexts has not been fully explored. This study aimed to investigate the impact of chatbots in different learning contexts on student engagement and critical thinking. A literature review was conducted to examine the previous studies on using chatbots in different learning contexts and relevant theoretical frameworks on student engagement and critical thinking in online and blended learning contexts. This study's results revealed that chatbots could improve students' engagement in different learning contexts and support the development of critical thinking skills. However, the design and features of chatbots should be aligned with the learning context to achieve optimal results. This study fills a gap in the literature by providing insight into how chatbot-mediated instruction may vary in different learning contexts and its possible impact on student engagement and critical thinking. The findings of this study have implications for chatbot design and instruction in different learning contexts, and it could be considered a valuable reference for educators, instructional designers, and researchers.

Investigating the Communities of Inquiry in Blended Learning Environments

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the Community of Inquiry supports deep approaches to learning and especially within blended learning contexts. The research was conducted through quantitative methods. For the inquiry a questionnaire was delivered to participants in electronic form. All the participants were students from three universities in Belgium (Flanders and Capital Region) – only the departments that used blended learning within their teaching strategies. The survey was conducted from November 2014 until June 2015. The results of the inquiry agree with international studies that within blended environment, Cognitive Presence is highly related with deep learning (Akyol & Garrison, 2011; Akyol, Garrison, & Ozden, 2009; Garrison & Cleveland- Innes, 2005). Though, further research should be conducted, focusing on linking quantitative comparatives of the development of education and learning approaches.

Things to Consider in Blended Learning Context: Students’ Vocabulary Learning Strategies

The move from teacher-centered to learner-centered pedagogy, which empowered students to take charge of their learning, has attracted the researcher to conduct this study. This paper explored the types of vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) used by intermediate learners of English as a foreign language in Lampung universities and the relationship between VLSs and their speaking ability. It also attempted to find out the most-used and least-used strategies for learning the vocabulary of the English language. It adopted a quantitative correlational research design. One hundred seventy-nine participants as intermediate learners from nine different universities in Lampung participated in this study. An adopted 50-item questionnaire of vocabulary learning strategies was used for data collection. This questionnaire was distributed in two separate sessions: online via the Google Form link and offline through a printed questionnaire. The descriptive statistics analysis of the questionnaire's responses showed that the participants were medium strategy users (mean=3,11). Determination and memory strategies were the most frequently used, while social was the least used. Pearson correlation coefficient on SPSS revealed a fragile relationship between VLSs and the participants' speaking ability where the value is r< 0,30 (r= 0,089). Finally, it is recommended that the teachers help their students become initiative and take responsibility for their success by providing them with a sense of vocabulary learning strategies to enhance their vocabulary knowledge. Moreover, teachers should present a wide range of (VLSs) to their students for both a classroom-related setting and self-directed vocabulary learning.

Exploring Factors of English Teachers’ Effective Teaching Behavior in Blended Learning Contexts

This study aims to investigate effective teaching behavior (ETB) for undergraduate students among college teachers in China and to analyze their perceptions of ETB that contribute to academic success. In this study, a questionnaire was used with 152 college students as participants, and data analysis was conducted using SPSS ver. 23, including t-test, ANOVA, and factor analysis. The results revealed that teachers’ perception of ETB in blended learning (BL) contexts consists of four dimensions: classroom teaching organization, online learning management, diversified assessment, and individualized instruction. Among these dimensions, classroom teaching organization was perceived as the most effective, followed by online management, while diversified assessment and individualized teaching were considered less effective in implementing ETB in teaching practice. Furthermore, the study identified two categories of factors affecting ETB: internal factors of teachers (beliefs, capacity, and motivations) and external factors (online platforms, institutional environment, and students’ performance). The research findings suggest that the online platform factor and environment factor have the highest correlation coefficient with ETB, while the teacher factor has the lowest. Based on the findings, the study proposes implications and suggestions, such as building online resources and enhancing the multifaceted roles of instructors in BL contexts, to optimize teaching practices in higher education and enhance students’ satisfaction and academic achievement.

Social presence as a training resource: comparing VR and traditional training simulations

From immersive simulations to interactive tutorials, Virtual Reality (VR) is transforming the way we learn and practise new skills. Especially for social skills training, a growing number of simulations have been designed in which trainees learn to master difficult communicative situations. One of the factors to which the effectiveness of VR as a learning technology is attributed to is the users’ feeling of social presence during the simulated interaction. This paper presents the evaluation of (1) a role play training, (2) a learning app and (3) a VR training application in a workshop series. Social presence was perceived as equally convincing and engaging for the prototypical VR scene as for the traditional form of role play, although the course of the interaction in VR was highly determined compared to the interaction dynamics of a human role play. In our interpretation, this confirms social presence as a valuable resource for training social interaction, which spans across various learning settings and methods in increasingly blended or hybrid learning and working contexts.

English Teaching Behaviors, Learner’s Characteristics, and English Learning Effectiveness of Chinese Non-English Majors in EFL Blended Learning Context

In this post-COVID era, blended English learning can effectively address both the high demands society places on English learning and learners’ personalized learning requirements. However, blended learning has a relatively short history in China, and there is still room for improvement in terms of learning outcomes. This article aims to survey the relationship among English teaching behaviors, learner characteristics, and English learning effectiveness. It was found that teacher’s online learning management, teacher support, face-to-face classroom teaching, diversified assessment, and individualized teaching significantly impacted learners learning outcomes and students’ learning motivation, learning strategies, learning attitude, learning behavior, self-efficacy, and meta-cognition greatly influenced the effectiveness of blended College English learning. This article is intended to provide practical solutions to the enhancement of blended College English learning from the perspectives of teachers and students.

The Role of Mobile Technologies in Blended Learning Environments

Mobile technologies exist in a wide spectrum and have a great impact on today’s world. One of the reasons of mobile technologies’ becoming a vital part of everyday life may be various features they possess such as easy access to content with no time and limit boundaries. This has brought up the question whether they may assist language learning. Considering Web 2.0 tools in the context of mobile technologies, for this study a well-known Web 2.0 tool has been chosen to investigate its effects, Duolingo, on students’ academic performance when used in blended learning settings to support formal language education. The academic performance levels of students are determined before and after the intervention in a high school in accordance with an instructional design prepared to support students in and out of school hours. Data were analyzed by using descriptive analyses techniques. The results of the study are discussed considering the significant difference in students’ academic performance after the intervention. It can be concluded that there are possible advantages of integrating a Web 2.0 tool in blended learning contexts.

The Association between Perceived Teacher Support, Students’ ICT Self-Efficacy, and Online English Academic Engagement in the Blended Learning Context

The present study intended to examine the relationship between perceived teacher support, students’ ICT self-efficacy, and online English academic engagement in the blended learning setting, especially in mobile-assisted foreign language instruction contexts. A sample of 960 Chinese undergraduate and postgraduate students was recruited to participate in the online questionnaire. SPSS version 24.0 was used for descriptive, correlation, independent samples t-test, and mediation analysis of the three variables. The results showed that: (1) there is a significant correlation between perceived teacher support, students’ ICT self-efficacy, and online English academic engagement; (2) students’ ICT self-efficacy partially mediates the relationship between perceived teacher support and student online English academic engagement; (3) students’ ICT self-efficacies differed by sex and level of education, but not by major; (4) students’ sense of self-competence in ICT self-efficacy has a significant positive influence on engagement with online English learning. The findings reveal that students’ ICT self-efficacy positively impacts students’ online English learning, and perceived teacher support also affects students’ learning engagement. School administrators should encourage teachers to focus on students’ online self-efficacy, especially the sense of environmental control. Implications and further directions for future research are presented at the end.

English for tourism and AR-assisted context-aware ubiquitous learning: a preliminary design-based research study

With the rise of augmented reality (AR) and context-aware ubiquitous learning (CAUL), pedagogical designers in computer assisted language learning are increasingly developing authentic English for Specific Purposes (ESP) learning environments. However, there has been little research regarding the development of evidence-based principles for English for tourism purposes (ETP) through AR-based CAUL. The purpose of this study was to provide a preliminary analysis of the design principles and develop a learning model based on a rigorous four-phase Design-Based Research procedure. The researchers first developed a location-based AR application for ETP and formulated the first set of design principles. This application was further tested and refined in an iterative process, with data collected from three different sources. The data collection methods included an online questionnaire, onsite observations, and semi-structured expert interviews. All the data was triangulated and analyzed, and a team of experts evaluated the design principles. Results showed that the technical affordances of mobile AR devices should form the basis for the design. The application needs to seamlessly provide multimodal scenery-based AR learning supports to fulfill individual needs in blended learning contexts. Furthermore, a user-friendly interface with personalized functions and a portfolio recording the learning progress needs to be included. Multimodal authentic ETP dialogs and terminology are also necessary in order to build students’ ETP speaking competence. Moreover, the learning material should be compatible with the main theories which drive language learning in CAUL. In light of the findings, a learning model was established to guide AR-based ETP learning and serve as template for future studies in other ESP fields.

Peer leadership in collaborative argumentative writing: A qualitative case study of blended design

Collaborating with peers enables learners to face up to challenges in argumentative writing. Leadership constitutes an integral part of peer collaboration. Nevertheless, putting learners in groups cannot ensure fruitful teamwork, especially in a blended learning context. To probe into peer leadership in blended collaborative argumentative writing, the current study adopted a qualitative approach and focused on leadership performances of five EFL learners. By analyzing group discussions, written products and semi-structured interviews, this case study examined how EFL learners performed leadership behaviors to facilitate collaborative argumentative writing during offline and online learning. Offline leadership was mainly employed to generate and develop claims, and elaborate upon sub-arguments, while online leadership helped clarify claims, pinpoint evidence and reasoning, synthesize sub-arguments and revise argument. Peer leadership fluctuated in terms of type, agent and argumentative focus across the offline and online contexts. Leadership performances in the two contexts intersected with and complemented each other to contribute to collaborative argumentative writing. These findings unpack the nature of leadership in collaborative argumentative writing, and reveal its fluidity within a blended learning design.

Creative Problem Solving Process Instructional Design in the Context of Blended Learning in Higher Education

The Creative Problem Solving (CPS) process is a conceptual model that focuses on using higher-order thinking skills in order to overcome authentic problems during learning. The CPS process offers a structured methodology to enhance every learner's solid critical, creative, and innovative thinking skill. The application of the CPS method has been growing, including its implementation in the blended learning environment in universities. However, its application still requires a strategic framework that is by the blended learning conceptual model to facilitate the CPS process. Properly organized instructional design is an important element in maintaining the success of the CPS process in blended learning to encourage and promote learner creativity to solve problems. The application of the CPS method in the context of blended learning is integrated through synchronous and asynchronous patterns facilitated by the Moodle LMS-based e-Learning facility. This research aims to produce a CPS process instructional design in a blended learning context that is valid, practical, and effective and can systematically guide instructors or lecturers in facilitating students to be skilled in critical thinking and creative thinking in problem-solving processes. This development process is based on the incorporation of ideas related to the conceptual model of blended learning with the principles of the CPS process design strategy that has been developed. Instructional design was developed by applying the Research and Development (R&D) method, which implements several stages between Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. The validity of the resulting model product was measured using a validation sheet of learning design experts, learning technology, media, materials, and linguists with the title of professor. Questionnaire responses from lecturers and students measured the product's practicality, and the product's effectiveness was measured by conducting testing of critical and creative thinking skills. The research data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to provide a quality score on the resulting instructional design. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that this learning design is valid, practical, and effective in improving the thinking skills of prospective teacher students. This proves that the instructional design developed has the feasibility to be used in learning, which can effectively improve the creative problem-solving process in the context of blended learning.

Designing a Mobile Game Based on Augmented Reality Application for Learning Media

Designing games for educational purposes needs to consider various aspects that help lead to the making of a good game. This study aims to describe users’ responses towards the potential of the game for blended learning, the design stages and the trial which encompass pre-design input taking, design stages, trial, and evaluation. The inputs from the pre-design stage have been the basis for the media design; the trial stage inputs from the prospective users and two experts provide feedback for the validity of media both in content and construct aspects. The research subjects involved 100 Junior high school students, 5 English language teachers, and 1 game design expert. The tools of data collection are questionnaire and semi-structured interview which were developed by the researchers. The intended subject for which this game is designed is reading comprehension and the study is planned to be conducted in approximately eight months. Both types of feedback were used to evaluate the readiness of the media for the real use for blended learning model. The results showed that the validity in content and construct aspects were both very good. The trial result also suggests that the game is considered a decent product, attractive and easy to use for independent learning. Thus, the final evaluation suggests that the media is readily usable for the real context of blended learning.

ANALYZING ENGLISH TEACHERS’ INSTRUCTION AND MEDIA INVOLVEMENT OF BLENDED LANGUAGE LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Previous researchers have widely investigated the analysis of teachers’ instruction as a micro-learning. These researches need to be continued by analyzing other teaching aspects such as the involvement of learning media and blended learning model. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the teachers’ instruction in Higher Education by using learning media in the context of the blended learning model. By employing a qualitative descriptive analysis approach, this research examined five samples of blended classes’ instruction, including two online synchronous learning, one offline synchronous learning, and two online asynchronous learning. These samples are observed, transcribed, and analyzed to highlight the specific instruction in the classes.Meanwhile, the employment of learning media was gathered using an interview with the teachers. The result of data analysis found that various teachers’ instruction can be implemented in synchronous and asynchronous classes of blended learning context to support students centered learning. Meanwhile, slide shows, Zoom, G-meet, and LMS are the media often used. Moreover, blended learning can support student-centered learning as well as offline learning. This finding contributes to the student-centered approach implementation, which aligns with the 21st-century learning model.

Non-traditional students’ preferences for learning technologies and impacts on academic self-efficacy

Blended Learning (BL) as a pedagogical approach has increased in significance during the COVID-19 pandemic, with blended and online learning environments becoming the new digital norm for higher educational institutions around the globe. While BL has been discussed in the literature for thirty years, a common approach has been to categorise learner cohorts to support educators in better understanding students’ relationships with learning technologies. This approach, largely unsupported by empirical evidence, has failed to adequately address the challenges of integrating learning technologies to fit with non-traditional students’ preferences, their BL self-efficacy and the associated pedagogical implications. Focusing on student preference, our study presents findings from a pre-COVID survey of undergraduate students across four campuses of an Australian regional university where students shared their learning technology preferences and the self-regulated learning that influenced their academic self-efficacy in a BL context. Findings show students want consistency, relevance, and effectiveness with the use of BL tools, with a preference for lecture recordings and video resources to support their learning, while email and Facebook Messenger were preferred for communicating with peers and academic staff. Our study suggests a quality BL environment facilitates self-regulated learning using fit-for-purpose technological applications. Academic self-efficacy for BL can increase when students perceive the educational technologies used by their institution are sufficient for their learning needs.

Research and Practice of Precision Evaluation in Blended Learning Context

Precision evaluation plays a vital role in improving students’ blended learning performance. In accordance with the teaching philosophy of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) and education requirements in China, this paper put forward a Three-stage Blended Learning and Evaluation (TsBLE) method to improve students’ learning performance. The TsBLE method assumes that the blended learning process can be divided into three stages: pre-class online autonomous learning, in-class off-line in-depth research and after-class consolidation. Based on this assumption, the TsBLE method emphasizes that precision evaluation in blended learning should be multi-dimensional and fine-grained. Teaching practice was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the TsBLE method. The results showed that this method can effectively improve students’ learning performance and help teachers adjust teaching strategies in time.

Investigating a blended learning context that incorporates two-stage quizzes and peer formative feedback in STEM education

Researchers have expressed concern about the state of STEM education. To improve this situation, new pedagogies, such as blended learning, have been proposed and tested. The last decade has seen an increase in the use of blended learning to support learning; however, the effect of blended learning on learning remains unclear and often mixed. The two studies in this paper draw on data from pre-university science students in the following courses: (1) Electricity and Magnetism (E&M) and (2) Waves, Optics & Modern Physics (Waves). In study 1, the treatment group (blended learning coupled with two-stage quizzes & peer formative feedback) performed significantly higher than the control group (lecture format with online homework & instant feedback) in the standardized final exam. In contrast, in study 2, there was a non-significant main effect of groups, indicating that the treatment group (blended learning with online homework & instant feedback) and the control group (lecture format with online homework & instant feedback) performed similarly in the standardized final exam. The finding of study 1 suggests that the effect of an instructional pedagogical framework embedded in a blended learning context improves performance in STEM education. Whereas the finding of study 2 suggests that a blended learning context without incorporating any instructional framework or support for cognition other than the lecture is comparable to a traditional face-to-face course.

Instructional design with ADDIE and rapid prototyping for blended learning: validation and its acceptance in the context of TVET Bangladesh.

Following COVID-19, the global educational landscape shifted dramatically. Almost every educational institute in Bangladesh undertook a strategic move to begin offering online or blended learning courses to mitigate the challenges created by the pandemic. The TVET sector, particularly the polytechnic institute of Bangladesh, endeavored to explore the blended learning approach as an immediate and long-term solution to address the educational dislocation caused by the pandemic. This study attempts to conceptualize a pedagogical design based on the ADDIE and rapid prototyping model to make a reliable and robust instructional design to be used in the blended learning context. A content validity index (CVI) was used to validate the proposed model; a technology acceptance model (TAM) was employed to examine its acceptability to students; and finally, students' academic performances were analysed to evaluate the overall performance of the proposed instructional design. The findings reveal that the proposed instructional design can be a reliable and valid pedagogical approach to be implemented in the blended learning context for polytechnic students. The proposed instructional design may help TVET educators and course designers to create a robust blended learning environment in the TVET sector and in other similar disciplines, such as science and engineering education.

First-year university students' self-regulated learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative longitudinal study

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, many universities switched to fully online teaching. This unexpected switching to online teaching was challenging for both teachers and students, and restrictions that were put in place because of pandemic made this challenge even greater. However, new ways of teaching might also open new opportunities for students’ learning. The research question driving our study was as follows: how do students regulate their learning and specifically their choice of resources and peer learning in university mathematics classes that are fully taught online as offered during the COVID-19 pandemic? We report on a longitudinal, qualitative study in which students recorded a brief audio diary twice a week over one whole semester (14 weeks). We focused on three students who completed 70 interviews in total and finished the semester with varying degrees of success. The results show how the students structured their studying (e.g., the roles that deadlines or synchronous teaching events played). They illustrate the strengths and limitations of digital materials provided by the lecturer and the use of complementary media. Further, the pandemic uncovered the double-edged role of simple, often anonymous exchanges (e.g., via Discord servers), with few binding forces for either side, and the significance of stable learning partnerships for students’ success. Our research highlights aspects that should be focal points when comparing traditional instruction and online instruction during the pandemic from a self-regulatory perspective. Practical implications refer to how these aspects can be combined sensibly in fully online courses, but also in blended learning contexts.

Balance between Guidance and Self-Regulated Learning: Teaching and Learning Strategies in Online, Hybrid and Blended Learning in Higher Education

This special collection brings together five studies and practices that illustrate how aspects of guidance and self-regulated learning in online, hybrid and blended learning contexts in higher education can be combined. The articles highlight the importance and usefulness, as well as some challenges, of strategies that lead to students’ self-regulated learning and autonomy (e.g., self-assessment, co-assessment, co-design, co-creation, learning pathways), while having at their disposal different types of guidance mediated by digital technology. Although the special collection aimed particularly to bring to light educator perspectives along with the students’ views, all papers have a stronger focus on the student’s side regarding their self-regulation, autonomy and agency in learning, whereas the educator perspective of this balance is not a central topic in any of the articles. Therefore, we suggest that future researchers in the field of educational technology consider the educator perspective as a main focus for flexible learning and for the balance between guidance and self-regulated learning.

The self-regulation for learning online (SRL-O) questionnaire

The Self-Regulation for Learning Online (SRL-O) questionnaire was developed to encompass the breadth of motivational beliefs and learning strategies that are often used in online and/or blended learning contexts. No current measure meets all these needs. This study used two non-duplicate samples to provide evidence of the psychometric properties of SRL-O using exploratory factor analyses (sample 1, n = 313), and confirmatory factor analyses, convergent and content validity and reliability (sample 2, n = 321). The SRL-O has a 10-factor structure, made up of (1) online self-efficacy, (2) online intrinsic motivation, (3) online extrinsic motivation, (4) online negative achievement emotion, (5) planning and time management, (6) metacognition, (7) study environment, (8) online effort regulation, (9) online social support, and (10) online task strategies. The SRL-O was also found to have two superordinate factors (motivational beliefs and learning strategies). The SRL-O was demonstrated to be a psychometrically sound measure of online SRL for learners studying in online and blended learning contexts. There is no other online self-regulated learning questionnaire that currently covers such a wide range of motivational beliefs and learning strategies.