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1 – 10 of over 22000D. Kavitha and D. Anitha
Engineering graduates are expected to have certain attributes in addition to technical expertise that includes development in personal and interpersonal skills with societal…
Abstract
Purpose
Engineering graduates are expected to have certain attributes in addition to technical expertise that includes development in personal and interpersonal skills with societal concern. Pedagogical strategies have been continuously evolving to improve the graduate attributes. An efficient framework for blended learning that improves the graduate attributes is the need of the hour now.
Design/methodology/approach
A blended course model based on TPACK is proposed and the same is evaluated with Kirkpatrick evaluation method to assess the attainment of the attributes. A mapping strategy is developed for the relation between course outcomes and graduate attributes. The proposed model is tested with “Microcontroller” course in undergraduate program with students of three consecutive years in three different learning environments: offline, online and blended. The performance of the students in assessments, students’ feedback and their interest towards additional learning, project skills and job recruitment are the different elements taken for analysis.
Findings
The results obtained show that the impact of the proposed blended learning framework in improving the graduate attributes is greater than the offline environments. The analysis is done based on Kirkpatrick evaluation, which demonstrates the improvement in graduate attributes in blended learning by 18% compared to offline mode.
Research limitations/implications
It is seen that blended learning shall be implemented using TPACK model effectively and the proposed model results in improvement of graduate attributes. Though the findings are good enough, the case study is limited to a particular organization and so, the various underlying parameters may vary for different institutions.
Practical implications
The methodology proposed is viable in any institution and may be tested for any program. The effectiveness of the blended learning is known and in this case study, the analysis from the course to the level of program is done.
Social implications
The research work highlights the integration of technology, pedagogy and content knowledge to enhance engineering students' skills. Hence, it explores a new required norms of education, potentially shaping future teaching learning methodologies. By employing the Kirkpatrick evaluation, it offers insights into the model's effectiveness and influences educational practices in the need of the hour.
Originality/value
The proposed method and results signifies an innovative endeavor that combines technological expertise, pedagogical methods and subject matter knowledge to enhance the attributes of engineering graduates. Kirkpatrick evaluation adds a distinct dimension by objectively assessing the model's impact. The results are analyzed from the original data obtained from a particular institution.
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The chapter illustrates why blended learning should be the minimum threshold that teachers of higher education should meet to address the students' dynamic needs, demands, and…
Abstract
The chapter illustrates why blended learning should be the minimum threshold that teachers of higher education should meet to address the students' dynamic needs, demands, and preferences. It shows how COVID-19 disrupted the status quo of the global education system, warranting schools to transition to online education fully. The chapter starts by addressing the pre-COVID-19 learning strategies. Schools mainly adhered to traditional face-to-face teaching in classrooms. Nevertheless, the COVID-19-related restrictions (lockdowns) coerced them into introducing e-learning, which was a new experience for most teachers and students. This situation made educators realize they can successfully incorporate virtual learning into their pedagogy, allowing them to implement a blended system. Moreover, the section identifies the main blended learning models that teachers can use depending on their choices, students' preferences, and institutions' resources and capabilities. These frameworks are face-to-face driver, rotation, flex, online lab, and self-blend methods. They have different approaches as well as merits and limitations. The chapter contributes to active and transformative learning by introducing more attractive, relevant, and flexible teaching methods. Owing to the flexibility of the models, the number of students enrolling in diverse programs in the post-COVID-19 era has increased. The chapter highlights various strategies that educators can apply to ensure that learners achieve optimal outcomes from blended learning. Moreover, the segment highlights the prerequisites and compatibility of blended learning for economics classes. Before unveiling blended learning, professors should ensure that students can access digital devices and the internet and understand the operating software. Thus, educators should at least consider using this model in the post-COVID-19 era.
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P. Jones, A. Jones, G. Packham, B. Thomas and C. Miller
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the development of a blended e‐learning pedagogical model for an undergraduate enterprise programme. The proliferation of e‐learning…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the development of a blended e‐learning pedagogical model for an undergraduate enterprise programme. The proliferation of e‐learning programmes offers new opportunities and challenges for universities to meet the learning needs of new student markets. However, the use of e‐learning as an enabling mechanism for enterprise education remains largely unexplored within academic literature.
Design/methodology/approach
The case study methodology comprises a series of focus groups with key stakeholders in the project, namely online tutors, students and scheme leaders from a number of partner colleges involved in the delivery of the course.
Findings
The study charts the evolution of the blended learning pedagogy which was found to best meet the learning requirements of non‐traditional learners on an undergraduate programme. The blended learning pedagogy strategy which was developed replicated the best informal practice that had emerged through each of the partner institutions and the learning needs of the students. Constituent elements of the pedagogy included the provision of structured face‐to‐face events, a range of student supports systems and the creation of a code of practice for online tutors. As a result, a model of best practice for blended learning is proposed.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature in terms of proposing a working framework for online undergraduate enterprise education with identification of critical success factors including supportive induction, viable pedagogy and effective support systems. The framework can be utilised by practitioners and theoreticians as a guide to the effective management of pedagogical issues associated with blended online education.
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The study applied the Unified Theory of Technology Acceptance and Use Theory 2 (UTAUT2) to predict blended learning acceptance by students in universities in Zimbabwe. Blended…
Abstract
Purpose
The study applied the Unified Theory of Technology Acceptance and Use Theory 2 (UTAUT2) to predict blended learning acceptance by students in universities in Zimbabwe. Blended learning is a heterogeneous mode of teaching and learning that combines face-to-face (F2F) and online modes. Owing to advances in technology, and recently, the advent of pandemics, such as COVID-19, the need for multimodal teaching approaches, such as blended learning, to enhance access to education in universities has become very important.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative approach that used a structured questionnaire for data collection from a sample of 432 postgraduate students was used. Data validation was done using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The structural equation modelling technique was used for data analysis.
Findings
Results showed that out of the seven factors of the UTAUT2, the factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influences, facilitating conditions and hedonic motivation significantly and positively influenced the behavioural intentions of students in universities to accept blended learning. On the other hand, habit and price value did not significantly influence university students' behavioural intentions to accept the bended learning mode. It was further shown in the study that behavioural intentions significantly influenced the acceptance of blended learning by university students. In light of the above results, it was concluded that the UTAUT2 could be used to predict the acceptance of blended learning by university students.
Research limitations/implications
The main study limitation was that it was only carried out at universities that had information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure challenges owing to the fact that the economic situation in Zimbabwe is depressed. Limited ICT infrastructure in the universities might have had some impact on the nature of behavioural intentions of students to accept blended learning as a learning mode. Further research could be carried out in countries with better economies that are able to fund ICT infrastructures of their universities and to establish whether the results of the current study could either be confirmed, disconfirmed or enriched.
Practical implications
The paper suggests that universities need to increase investment in ICT infrastructure as well as in capacitating students with the necessary ICT skills for the effective use of institutional ICT when learning using the blended learning mode. Without adequate and appropriate ICT infrastructure as well as necessary ICT skills, students may develop low motivation levels and negative attitudes towards blended learning, which may eventually may affect their acceptance of the learning mode.
Originality/value
There is no known study that has been conducted using the UTAUT2 to establish antecedents of behavioural intentions of students to accept blended learning in the context of Zimbabwean universities. This study therefore opens new ground on factors influencing the acceptance of blended learning in the context of Zimbabwean universities. Also, the results showed that habit and price value do not significantly contribute to the behavioural intentions of university students to accept blended learning, which is not consistent with findings of past studies. This inconsistency opens new opportunities for further studies on the conditions under which these two factors can be used to significantly contribute to the development of behavioural intentions of students to accept blended learning.
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Anders Norberg, Charles D. Dziuban and Patsy D. Moskal
This paper seeks to outline a time‐based strategy for blended learning that illustrates course design and delivery by framing students' learning opportunities in synchronous and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to outline a time‐based strategy for blended learning that illustrates course design and delivery by framing students' learning opportunities in synchronous and asynchronous modalities.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper deconstructs the evolving components of blended learning in order to identify changes induced by digital technologies for enhancing teaching and learning environments.
Findings
This paper hypothesizes that blended learning may be traced back to early medieval times when printed material provided the first asynchronous learning opportunities. However, the digitalization of contemporary learning environments results in a de‐emphasis on teaching and learning spaces. When time becomes the primary organizing construct for education in a technology‐supported environment, blending possibilities emerge around five components: migration, support, location, learner empowerment, and flow.
Research limitations/implications
This study enables the readers to conceptualize blended learning as a combination of modern media, communication modes, times and places in a new kind of learning synthesis in place of traditional classrooms and technology with the teacher serving as a facilitator of a collective learning process.
Practical implications
The major implication of this paper is that modern learning technologies have freed students and educators from the lock in of classroom space as being the primary component of blended learning, thereby emphasizing learning rather than teaching in the planning process.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a new model of blended learning in which physical teaching environments give way to time. Time and synchronicity become the primary elements of the learning environments. In addition, the authors suggest that the time‐based model as an educational “new normal” results in technologies as enablers rather than disruptors of learning continuity.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on all facets of education. This led to educational institutions deploying blended and online systems for teaching and learning…
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on all facets of education. This led to educational institutions deploying blended and online systems for teaching and learning. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of blended learning in promoting quality education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative research design was deployed in this study and enabled the researcher to collect data via in-depth interviews. Twenty-five (25) tertiary institutions accredited by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) were randomly selected to participate in this study. The registrars of the institutions were purposively selected and served as the participants for the study. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the data collected via the interview. Ethical considerations were adhered to during the study.
Findings
The study established that COVID-19 had a devastating effect on tertiary institutions; multiple technological and open-sourced systems were deployed for teaching and learning; blended learning was adopted to augment the traditional face-to-face mode of teaching and learning due to its ease of use, usefulness and accessibility as it was used for quizzes and assignments, accessing lecture notes, among others. Despite these, the deployment of technological and blended systems was met with challenges that somehow affected effective teaching, learning.
Research limitations/implications
The study was limited to 25 tertiary educational institutions in Ghana. It was again limited to the COVID-19 era.
Practical implications
This research aids in understanding the extent of the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and learning and how blended learning is currently deployed and used in tertiary institutions in Ghana. The findings are relevant to policymakers and management of educational institutions as it informs them of the right method and tools to deploy for teaching and learning during pandemics.
Originality/value
As educational institutions globally are dealing with the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is prudent to look into how tertiary institutions in Ghana deploy blended learning to facilitate teaching and learning. Thus, this paper is original as it fills the relevant literature gap in terms of scope, setting, methodology and findings.
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E-learning is a very popular concept in the education sector today, and one of the best ways to implement this is through blended learning. However, the implementation of blended…
Abstract
Purpose
E-learning is a very popular concept in the education sector today, and one of the best ways to implement this is through blended learning. However, the implementation of blended learning program at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is quite new in Bangladesh. The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of blended learning, how to construct a blended learning program, the benefits of blended learning and some prerequisites to implement blended learning program successfully at HEIs in Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
Nature of the study is explanatory, descriptive as well as evaluative. Primary data were collected through face-to-face interviews using structured questionnaire having both open- and close-ended questions including personal observations. Secondary data comprise relevant documents available from government agencies, archives, and library and research organizations.
Findings
By utilizing the blended learning tools, HEIs in Bangladesh can achieve radical improvements in education quality as well as in the accessibility and cost-effectiveness of learning programs. Moreover, any innovative educational reform will be successful only when it is fully accepted and adopted by all the key stakeholders: students, parents, teachers, academic administrators, researchers and policy makers.
Practical implications
Several practical solutions have been presented in this paper: how to create a blended learning program, how to overcome the obstacles for successful implementation of blended learning and how to create a flipped classroom with the aid of technology.
Social implications
A country’s soul and economic well-being depends to a large extent on the quality of their citizen’s education. Implementing innovative teaching programs within the education system will enhance the quality of education at HEIs in Bangladesh, creating more efficient labor force hence benefiting the overall society.
Originality/value
Originality in terms of exposing the hurdles that needs to be addressed for successful implementation of blended learning programs at HEIs in Bangladesh and providing an easy guideline to educators on how to create flipped classrooms.
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Kirpa Chandan, Carmel Kealey, Patrick Timpson and Brian Murphy
This study investigates a blended learning model which incorporates online learning for a competency-focused, work-based learning (WBL) programme within allied healthcare. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates a blended learning model which incorporates online learning for a competency-focused, work-based learning (WBL) programme within allied healthcare. The case-study is centred on hearing aid audiology.
Design/methodology/approach
The study evaluated the feedback received through a tripartite group of stakeholders (learners, academic staff and employers).
Findings
Results showed that although there was universal support for blended learning, incorporating online learning, each stakeholder contributed different perspectives. The authors identified that in terms of curriculum design, a comprehensive analysis of the holistic perspective across all stakeholders is essential to ascertain the suitability of this learning mode for WBL. The study may provide the basis of a preparatory framework for the development of a generic, competency-focused model that can be applied across allied healthcare WBL programmes.
Originality/value
Although previous studies of WBL have been reported, to the knowledge of the authors, there is no current reference in the literature to studies that examine thematic areas relevant to all three stakeholders across a programme of this nature in hearing aid audiology.
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Neema Florence Vincent Mosha and Edith Talina Luhanga
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in full or partial lockdowns of higher education institutions (HEIs) in most countries worldwide. On the other hand, HEIs around the world…
Abstract
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in full or partial lockdowns of higher education institutions (HEIs) in most countries worldwide. On the other hand, HEIs around the world were faced with the difficult questions of how to continue to provide training, learning and research activities to students during outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics. Online and blended learnings are relatively new modes of teaching and learning activities which enable HEIs to offer either online only or a combination of online and physical-based programs of study respectively. Adoption of such learning practices helped ensure continued HEIs operations during outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics. However, there are HEIs which still have no or limited investment in online and blended learning. This chapter outlines the different models of online and blended learning that HEIs can adopt, demystify the benefits, values and challenges posed by these models, necessary infrastructure including information and communication technologies (ICTs) as well as required staff and student support services to ensure effective and efficient uptake and usage. It further shows that with a deliberate initial investment in the necessary infrastructure, staff and student support services, the resources of and potential for online and blended programs can be enormous. It also outlines remote learning models that HEIs can adopt, how to support students’ readiness for online and blended learning, the benefits and challenges posed by employing online and blended learning in HEIs and the necessary infrastructure and support services.
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