Online Blended Learning Research Articles

Virtual Chemistry Laboratory in Blended Online Learning Mode: The Influence on Students’ Motivation and Achievement

This study aimed to seek the influence of ViChem-Lab in blended online learning mode towards students’ motivation and achievement in chemistry. A quasi-experiment with prie and post-test non-equivalent control group design was implemented. The findings illustrate that the use of ViChem-Lab in blended online learning gives the strongest influence on self-efficacy, curiosity, attention, and satisfaction, respectively, as part of students’ motivation. It implied the rise of students’ achievement.

Evaluation of Blended Online Learning in Three Spinal Surgery Educational Courses

ABSTRACT COVID-19 pandemic created a need to improvise and redefine blended learning to be executed fully online. Background information on the effectiveness of fully online blended learning activities, especially for surgical disciplines is limited. This study describes a fully online blended learning course format on spinal surgery and aims to provide data regarding it effectiveness. Fully online blended courses on three topics of spinal surgery designed as six-week asynchronous and followed by 3-day live parts. Learning gaps (LGs) were identified with a survey at the beginning of asynchronous part, at its end, and at the end of the live part. The effectiveness of the asynchronous and live parts was assessed by LGs and a quiz, login statistics of learners and faculty and a post-course survey. Participants’ LGs decreased in all courses, statistically significant in two. Faculty and learner login rates significantly correlated with each other. Faculty and learner satisfaction was very high. A fully online blended learning course can be delivered effectively on spine surgery with a high participant and faculty satisfaction rate. The asynchronous part contributes to learning significantly.

КРЕАТИВНІСТЬ ТА ЕМОЦІЙНИЙ ІНТЕЛЕКТ У СТРУКТУРІ УПРАВЛІНСЬКОЇ КОМПЕТЕНТНОСТІ КЕРІВНИКА ЗЗСО

The purpose of this article is to describe the results of the study of the components of managerial competence of heads of general secondary education institutions in Ukraine in accordance with the profile of managerial competence generated on the basis of empirical data; to confirm the need for the development of creative thinking and emotional intelligence as important personal qualities and competencies of the leader in the field of education; to analyze the formation of creative thinking and emotional intelligence in the heads of general secondary education institutions of the city of Kyiv. The managerial competence of the school leaders determines their level of professionalism and provides an opportunity for effective implementation of all educational reforms, which in modern Ukraine is a necessary and determining component of the education system of the country. Management effectiveness is the ability to choose the most effective management methods for a given time and circumstances. The range of issues that must be addressed by the head in the educational environment is becoming wider every year, so the level of competence should be appropriate. A clear example of this is the situation that has arisen because of Covid-19 and other unexpected influences, which has radically changed the traditional social order in many areas, including education. Education leaders find themselves in a situation of uncertainty and emotional instability due to a lack of information and excessive responsibility for the new challenges of distance, blended online learning. Heads of educational institutions have been forced to restructure the system of student education and personnel management in many countries around the world. Not everyone has coped with this difficult task. Thus, there is a need to disclose and specify the relationship of managerial competencies and determine the level of development of those professional achievements and personal qualities that contribute to effective management. These problems determined the purpose and objectives of the presented study. This article discusses the soft skills of education leaders, namely creativity and emotional intelligence, in the structure of managerial competence of school leaders. The results obtained during the study showed that in the new conditions of social transformations, the managerial competence of the leader in the field of education is changing significantly. The publication presents the authors' approximate profile of managerial competence. The levels of development of creative thinking and emotional intelligence were determined by experimental research and correlations between the components of these properties were established, as well as the necessity of their development was substantiated.

Assessing the Perceptions and Preferences between Online and In-Person Classroom Learning among University Students in Rwanda

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many schools rapidly rolled out online learning due to school closure or lockdown. This study assessed the online learning experience of 193 students in different universities of Rwanda during COVID-19. The reported main advantages of online learning revolved around the comfortability and self-responsibility in their studies. However, internet access and stability remained the biggest challenges. Respondents reported online learning not stimulating, lacked interactions with other students and with instructors, and they were distracted easily and had difficulty to maintain their discipline. Many students indicated they prefer in-person classes over online learning. Investment to provide students stable internet access and to training instructors to design more interactive and engaging online learning materials according to best practices could improve the students’ online experience. The use of blended online and in-person classroom learning to maximize students learning experiences and outcomes should be explored.

Research on Blended Learning Based on Rain Classroom and DingTalk Live Broadcast under the BOPPPS Model

The development and progress of the society has brought about in-depth changes in the education industry. The current education model pays more attention to people-oriented and modernization, aiming to provide students with a more convenient and higher-quality education curriculum system and promote the all-round development of students. With the large-scale promotion and application of Internet technology, the way people receive knowledge and information has undergone earth-shaking changes. The traditional offline classroom model is limited by venue and time, and cannot provide students with teaching services anytime and anywhere. The epidemic of COVID-19has also promoted the online distance teaching model, and online teaching platforms such as Rain Classroom and live broadcast of DingTalk have been widely used in teaching practice at this stage. Among them, the BOPPPS model, as a systematic and scientific teaching design mode, can be combined with the online teaching platform to bring new changes to the education system. This paper analyzes online Blended Learning under the BOPPPS model, and proposes a specific plan for teaching.

Big Steps, Little Change: A Case Study in French University Teachers’ Cognitions in the Context of Pedagogical Innovation

The rate of failure of French students during their first years at university is substantial, with only 42% graduating in the expected three or 4 years. As a result, French universities have called for a “pedagogical transformation” encouraging innovative teaching practices to improve undergraduate students’ academic success, notably the introduction of blended learning methods. In 2015, teachers from the three marine stations of Sorbonne Université created the online blended learning platform e-marin’lab for their marine science programs. In this paper, we investigated the participating teachers’ cognitions with regard to teaching and learning. Despite the success of the project that relied on their substantial voluntary commitment, the teachers demonstrated an adhesion to more traditional views (i.e., directive teacher-student transmission of knowledge is more efficient for students’ learning). Perhaps more paradoxically, our data reveal that the same teachers saw themselves as teaching in a student-oriented way, and that their students’ lack of engagement in class was due to their poor study skills and intrinsic motivation. Among other factors that will be discussed, we believe that these results are influenced by a context that does not provide many teacher training opportunities and that places little importance on teaching in university professors’ career recognition. Finally, the importance of the e-marin’lab platform in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic situation from 2020 and the massive use of distance teaching in marine sciences during national lockdown periods is discussed.

Online Education in the Post COVID-19 Era: Students’ Perception and Learning Experience

Students’ learning experiences and perceptions are markedly influenced by the use of digital technology during the COVID-19 pandemic. Exploring students’ perception of blended online learning, amid the adaptations of the higher education sector in the wake of uncertainty, has become more critical than ever. This paper reflects on the experience of learning and teaching the Research Methods and Techniques subject in the postgraduate programme of MA Urban Design at Cardiff University during COVID-19 in the UK. To do so, we designed and carried out an online survey to explore students’ perception of online teaching and learning activities, feedback and assessment, and digital platforms based on their experience during the subject delivery period in the 2020–2021 academic year. One of the significant findings of this paper was that students agreed with the impact of eye contact on their virtual learning experience but as long as this was aligned with their rights to see others, including their peers and instructors, rather than reciprocal rights to be seen. In addition, students felt that facilitating synchronous communication through effective interaction among diverse peers has been quite challenging in small-group online reading seminars. The majority of respondents also reported that attending live online lectures was more helpful than watching pre-recorded lectures. Online formative feedback and synchronous interim reviews also allowed students to reflect on their progress and develop their projects further before their summative assessment. The outcomes of this paper can effectively assist educators who consider delivering programmes, adopting a blended online learning environment design model, in the post COVID-19 era. The findings of this study can also provide guidance for further developments and improvements in using digital technology and blended online learning in urban design education and pedagogy.

BLENDED ONLINE LEARNING: COMBINING THE STRENGTHS OF SYNCHRONOUS AND ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE LEARNING IN EFL CONTEXT

The ubiquitous use of digital technology brings the inevitability of online learning and its varying degree of teacher-student interactions, both in synchronous and asynchronous online learning modes. This present study reviews the strength and weaknesses of the two online learning modes to propose the use of blended online learning as the combination that harvests the strengths of asynchronous and synchronous modes of online learning with the opportunity to cover each other's weaknesses. The recent study employed Aveyard's literature review model as a method for gaining a comprehensive understanding of a specific topic using data and arguments from previous studies. Thirty-six articles published in reputable international journals or accredited national journals published in 2015-2020 were used. This review revealed that blended online learning combines the strengths of synchronous and synchronous learning in terms of authentic learning activities, flexibility, access, interaction, development of critical thinking, comprehension, and mastery, and student-centered nature of the learning. However, it still retains challenges in terms of network and connection issues from both online learning modes. This finding implies that blended learning can be the middle-ground to facilitate online learning with benefits from both synchronous and asynchronous online modes by minimizing the students’ exposure to the weaknesses from the two modes.

Refugee Higher Education & Participatory Action Research Methods: Lessons Learned From the Field

Refugee access to higher education is devastatingly low. Recognizing the complex barriers facing refugee learners, global educational initiatives are innovating flexible learning models which promote blended online and in-person learning modalities. This article describes the implementation of a five month, online-based internship pilot offered to 21 refugee participants in qualitative and quantitative research methods, through a participatory action research (PAR) framework in five different countries -- Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, and Lebanon. The internship is part of the Global Education Movement (GEM), which brings refugees accredited online college degree and career development opportunities. Through direct engagement, observation of the internship and feedback from staff and participants, we highlight the ways in which the PAR model can serve as a dynamic learning approach to engage refugees in research practice and an evaluative tool of the GEM program. While the use of online learning presented several clear advantages, such as engaging multiple GEM sites simultaneously or insulating students from delayed studies due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it also revealed variations in student competencies across program sites. In this article, we review the GEM PAR internship, its lessons learned and propose recommendations for future programming.

Online Blended Learning in Small Private Online Course

In this work, we studied the online blended learning model of computer network experimentation, focusing mainly on the problem of traditional network experiments being limited by location and time, and explore the applicability of the small private online course (SPOC) advanced teaching concepts to computer network online experiment teaching. Based on the structure of a combination of virtual and real, real and not virtual, an online network experiment platform and management system has been designed and constructed, enabling students to carry out remote online computer network hardware experiments anytime and anywhere, without being restricted by time, space, or content. Using the online network experiment platform, we can organize the experimental modules and knowledge points via the SPOC course concept, by developing online network experimental content, modularizing and fragmenting of the experiments, creating the pre-experimental explanation and experiment preview videos, and evaluating the assignments via peer grading to analyze students’ learning behavior. By exploring online network experimental teaching methods and management models, offering experimental guidance in an interactive manner, and highlighting the openness and sharing characteristics of online experimental teaching platforms, we can improve the utilization rate for teaching resources, and provide ideas for applied scientific research methods.

A Review on State of the Art in Flipped Classroom Technology A Blended E-Learning

Flipped is an emerging mode of blended e-learning, as blended is mix mode of learning to enhance the skills of students, saving the time and cost either sides (students and educators). Flipped classroom is such as an e-learning blended approach in which instructions can be hovered into individual and groups, interactively to exchange and solving the assigned problems. Flipped classroom approach presents the dynamic, interactive and user’s friendly environments for in class and online blended learning. This kind of mode leads students to enhance their interpersonal skills, collaborate the experiences, and innovate new horizons by mutual activities for the given problems. The flipped mode has at least four dimensions; friendly easy environment, supporting culture for learning, contents availability when offline, minimizing time cost, trained educators/professionals and reducing repetition of learning content’s cost. In Flipped model of learning, first students go to seeking the exposure of problems by visiting the contents, materials, videos and other materials before getting in the classroom in person, fully aware to share or inquire the problem related matters in the class, its inverse approach against traditional institutional learning model. This is very effective mode of learningfor activity based and assignment-based learning strategies prior commencing class, fruitfulfeedback can be shared and reducing the tutorial part.

Research investigating individual device preference and e-learning quality perception: can a one-solution-fits-all e-learning solution work?

BackgroundCOVID-19 caused a paradigm shift for educators, and raised many questions about the future of technology in the delivery of educational content. Literature highlights numerous benefits of using e-learning solutions, yet many still consider ‘online learning’ as the cheap/‘low-quality’ alternative to traditional ‘face-to-face’ models. In this research we ask two questions that are critical to the effective development of future e-learning solutions: Do students prefer face-to-face (traditional) learning methods or e-learning technology enabled solutions? Does perception of e-learning, and/or device preference, vary between individuals? MethodsA three part, quantitative questionnaire was developed, based on previously used questionnaire items, which collected: demographic data, student preference concerning learning, and individual variance - via use of the Cultural Value (CV) Scale dimension test. Data was collected from 518 participants using convenience sampling from a range of universities in Pakistan. EFA and CFA showed that questions and factor loading was good. CV Scale results show clear loading and model fit at the individual level, allowing application of results beyond Pakistan. ResultsBy considering the CV Scale dimensions, our results highlighted three distinct technology preference clusters: i) students, with a high-power distance score, who prefer traditional face-to-face teaching methods; ii) students with low power distance and high uncertainty avoidance scores, who prefer use of e-learning on their mobile devices, and iii) students with low power distance and low uncertainty avoidance scored, who prefer to use laptop devices. ConclusionsThis paper highlights that the majority of students are happy to engage with online blended learning solutions, however a one-solution fits all approach to technology use in education fail to satisfy the interaction preferences need of all student groups. Only by embracing flexible and mixed blend delivery models, supporting interaction across a range of pervasive devices, can we maximize student perception towards education service provision.

A Study of Blended Learning Using the Smart Class Teaching Module on Psychosocial Dysfunction Course During the Training of Undergraduate Occupational Therapy Students in China.

BackgroundOnline blended learning, also known as “smart classes”, has benefits when compared with traditional teaching methods that use books and lectures. This study aimed to compare the use of the Smart Class teaching module with traditional teaching on the topic of psychosocial dysfunction during the training of undergraduate occupational therapy (OT) students in China.Material/MethodsWe recruited Grade 2017 OT students as the Smart Class teaching module group and Grade 2016 OT students as the Traditional Class teaching module group to participate in the study. The objective evaluation (assignment score, practical exam score, written exam score, and final score) and subjective evaluation (data from student questionnaires and information from interviews with the lead teacher and assistant teachers) were performed in both groups.ResultsNo significant difference was found in the final scores (P=0.874) and students’ questionnaire results between the 2 groups. However, data from the student questionnaires and teacher interviews indicated a preference for combining the Smart Class teaching module and the Traditional Class teaching module.ConclusionsThe advantage of the Smart Class teaching module is that it can effectively integrate excellent teaching resources across geographical restrictions and it is conducive to promoting independent learning for students and all-around supervision for teaching. The Smart Class teaching module was comparable to traditional teaching methods for the training of undergraduate OT students in China, but was preferred by the students.

Experiences of teaching and learning in K-12 physical education during COVID-19: an international comparative case study

ABSTRACT Background The COVID-19 pandemic has led to widespread adaptations and unprecedented realities in the way teaching and learning in physical education (PE) is currently being implemented and experienced globally. Understanding the similarities and differing realities of some of these experiences across contexts and countries can help to inform formal responses going forward to further enhance teaching, learning, and professional development during and beyond this period of time. Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ experiences of teaching and learning in K-12 PE settings during COVID-19 across countries. Three research questions guided the study: (1) What realities has the event of COVID-19 brought for teaching and learning for these K-12 PE teachers?, (2) In what ways have these teachers similarly responded to and addressed these realities in their local practice?, and (3) What support mechanisms have these teachers experienced and what additional support do they feel is required? Research design This qualitative study utilized an international comparative case study design; 10K-12 PE teachers working in a variety of public, private, and alternative education settings in eight countries (Australia, Brazil, China, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, and the USA) agreed to participate using photovoice and interviews. The Miles and Huberman Framework for Qualitative Data Analysis (1994) was implemented, involving a three/four-step process including data reduction, data display and drawing and verifying conclusions before presenting findings thematically. Findings/discussion The following thematic findings were constructed from data analysis: figuring out (in)flexibility; personal connection; social and emotional support; looking forward; and unearthing inequity. The initial impact of COVID-19 led to these teachers across countries collectively transitioning to online remote learning as the standard operating procedure for teaching and learning. The possibility for uniform experiences to occur across contexts was hindered by issues around inequity. Many of the realities and inequities spoken about previously existed such as issues around flexibility in implementing curricula and assessment; narrow and traditional pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning in PE emphasizing physical activity and exercise; establishing a personal connection; a lack of social and emotional support for students; and equitable access. Additionally, the need to provide continued professional development for teachers on how to utilize remote online blended learning and technology is apparent. Conclusion This study demonstrates how traditional and conventional approaches to teaching and learning in PE fell short while others were adopted, adapted, and enhanced. Further opportunities for teachers to reflect on their experiences of teaching and learning during this time are needed in order to better understand how this period has impacted PE classrooms and what this means for the subject going forward.

Pharmacy Students’ Perceptions towards Online Learning

Aim: This study aimed to describe the perceptions of pharmacy students towards online learning in Saudi Arabia.
 Methodology: This study included an online survey that was self-administered to be filled by pharmacy students. Results were downloaded and stored in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and the results were analyzed descriptively and represented by numbers and percentages.
 Results: Most of the students said that they prefer viewing lectures by traditional in-class learning (66%). Only 40% said that they would be able to keep pace with the course by viewing lectures weekly for fully online courses that include lectures available only on blackboard. Additionally, 50% of the students prefer to attend pharmacy curriculum courses by both traditional delivered lecture style and blended online learning.
 Conclusion: Pharmacy students showed some interest in online learning methods within the pharmacy curriculum but the majority of them preferred traditional dedicated-instructor delivered lecture style. It is important to use both the traditional learning with online learning during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Impact of Online Learning Readiness on Students Satisfaction in Higher Educational Institutions

Recent pandemic has fueled the growth of online learning like never before among the students of all levels. It has opened up tremendous opportunity to evaluate teaching practices through empirical investigation. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the learners’ readiness and their satisfaction towards online education. Online learning readiness is defined as skills needed by students to learn. It emphasises on self-learning management and understanding experiences of selflearning (Smith, 2005). Literature suggests that there are studies that explored the relationship between online learning readiness, academic motivation, perceived learning, cooperative working, achievement and continuation of education (Davis, 2006; Horzum, M. B., Kaymak, Z. D., & Gungoren, O. C.,2015). However, scholars paid less attention to the relationship between online learning readiness and student satisfaction among undergraduate engineering students. Research by Gunawardena and Duphorne (2000) has identified a direct connection between learning readiness and satisfaction of learning experiences. However, their study was on the adult who had undergone distance study through computer conferencing model. The present study considers a blended online learning model. Data were collected from 155 students who are studying an undergraduate course in Indian universities. The proposed causal relationship was examined with SmartPLS 3, as it is more suitable for the moderate sample size. The research showed a positive relationship between students’ online learning readiness and satisfaction. The findings demonstrated a significant relationship between the increasing levels of online learning readiness and student satisfaction. Administrators who are at the helm of responsibility of educational institutions should provide all the required facilities for the teachers to embrace online teaching.

An effective blended online teaching and learning strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic

The shift to distance teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a real challenge for both instructors and students. To face these difficulties in teaching undergraduate Chemistry courses at the University of Santo Tomas, a blended learning strategy in the context of teaching and learning of Physical Chemistry 1 and Analytical Chemistry for Chemical Engineering students were employed. Here, we present an online strategy that facilitated the transition from traditional face-to-face learning to full online instruction. This is a five-component blended learning strategy referred to as Discover, Learn, Practice, Collaborate and Assess (DLPCA). In DLPCA, the asynchronous part of the teaching was achieved through broadcast of pre-recorded lecture videos on YouTube to allow students to study and progress with learning at their own pace. The synchronous part of the teaching was conducted using video conferencing platforms, such as Zoom or Google Meet. The DLPCA strategy was presented and discussed to the students prior to its implementation. The analysis of the teaching and learning experience based on three indicators (i) student’s learning experience, (ii) student’s academic performance and (iii) instructor observations showed that DLPCA had a positive impact on students and instructors. The identified challenges were stability of internet connection and instructor’s familiarity with readily available internet-based teaching tools, such as video conferencing software. Instructors must also find means to improve their interaction with students and maintain student interest and engagement during online classes. The survey also indicated that most of the students are satisfied with the DLCPA strategy. Hence, this strategy is considered a manageable and effective alternative that can be adapted to full online instruction to other undergraduate Chemistry lecture courses. Overall, the findings and insights in this study will add valuable resources for further hybrid instruction in the post-COVID-19 time in higher education.

An Innovative Prototype Model of Management to Confront with Corona virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Case Study of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University

The purposes of this research article were 1) to analyze crises situation and measures to prevent the epidemic of Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), 2) to conduct lessons learned on management of the Coronavirus Outbreak situation 2019 (COVID-19) of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU), and 3) to propose an innovative prototype model of management to confront with Coronavirus epidemic situation (COVID-19) of MCU. Action research was conducted as it was a research method that suitable for urgent situations where action must be taken to resolve problems promptly. Target groups were personnel and students of MCU who work or live in the area of MCU. The research tools were interview question guidelines, issues in group interviews, and field record. Qualitative data analysis using content analysis and analytic in duction was conducted. Results indicated that 1) the outbreak of the coronavirus 2019 affects the university administration that was unable to operate normally. For disease prevention measures, five measures were established consisted of 1) measures for the performance of university personnel; 2) measures for educational management; 3) measures for staff and students living in university; 4) measures for public communication; and 5) a measure of internal management within the university area. All five measures will be carried out with the university's center for the control and prevention of the epidemic of COVID 19. 2) The sixth prototype was being conducted from lessons learned on management of the coronavirus epidemic situation (COVID-19) of MCU. 3) An innovative prototype model of Seven ways of New Normal Confronting with COVID-19, there are 7 ways consisted of 1) method of new normal life focusing on health care, 2) method of new normal working using online communication, 3) method of new normal teaching and instruction using online blended learning, 4) method of new normal research and academic management focusing on online working, 5) method of Dhamma public communication in new normal focusing on social distancing, 6) method of sharing expression in new normal using sharing pantries, and 7) method of coexistence in university following Buddhist New Normal

The role of expert feedback in the development of pre-service teachers’ professional vision of classroom management in an online blended learning environment

This study investigates the effects of online video analysis, enhanced by online expert feedback, on preservice teachers’ professional vision of classroom management (PVCM). Preservice teachers composed analyses on videos of other teachers concerning classroom management facets (monitoring/managing momentum/rules and routines). While the control group only analyzed the videos online, the intervention group additionally received online expert feedback on their analyses. The results show that preservice teachers in the intervention group improved their PVCM, while members of the control group showed no significant increases. This study emphasizes the importance of expert feedback during video analysis to foster preservice teachers’ PVCM.

Lessons learned teaching during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Incorporating change for future large science courses

Due to the COVID‐19 pandemic we were confronted with the transition of a large, on‐campus introductory soil science course into an online setting. This created several challenges, such as providing meaningful learning experiences to engage first‐ and second‐year students, and restructuring course content for the online environment. The objective of our article is to document the transition from on‐campus to online teaching and learning, through the consolidation of existing course material and the development of new resources to engage students in an introductory soil science course. We compare on‐campus, distance education, and online blended teaching and learning approaches for the same course, and provide lessons learned that may be applicable to other large introductory science courses. Our experience included the use of virtual laboratories, traditional online course materials, synchronous and asynchronous discussions, and the use of question banks for online exams. Recognizing the narrow preparation window, we focused on developing resources that provide benefits beyond COVID‐19.