Education Commons^™

Institutional Adoption Of Blended Learning In Higher Education, Wendy Woodfield Porter

Theses and Dissertations

Relatively little research on blended learning (BL) addresses institutional adoption in higher education. Graham, Woodfield, and Harrison (2012) proposed a framework for institutional BL adoption, identifying three stages: (a) awareness/exploration, (b) adoption/early implementation, and (c) mature implementation/growth. The framework also identified key strategy, structure, and support issues universities may address at each stage. In this series of articles, the authors applied that framework to institutions of higher education implementing BL. In the first article, the authors applied the framework to 11 Next Generation Learning Challenge (NGLC) grant recipients transitioning from Stage 1 to Stage 2 of BL adoption. The authors …

Perceptions Of Blended Learning: A Case Study On Student Experiences In An Advanced Placement Macroeconomics Course, Daniel A. Gagnon

Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to use a case study design to examine the impact of a blended learning instructional model on students in an Advanced Placement (AP) Macroeconomics course. Using an instrumental case study design, the researcher investigated blended learning and students’ perceptions of their own interactions with the materials as well as perceptions of overall performance in the course. The study also used grade point averages (GPA), LMS Usage Reports, and AP exam scores to triangulate with the interview data. The key factors influencing the students’ views were discussed, an enhanced model of blended learning was proposed, …

The Role Of Reusable Learning Objects In Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Education, Bryan M. Gee, Jane Strickland, Lisa Salazar

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Out of early research, Cisco Systems (1999) have built an impressive foundation that advocates for reusable learning objects (RLOs). As the need for online methods for delivering both formal and informal educational content has increased, the prospect of greater influence through carefully constructed RLOs has grown. RLOs are any digital resource that can be used and reused to enhance online learning. RLOs typically are small, discrete, self-contained digital objects that may be sequenced, combined, and used within a variety of instructional activities. RLOs have been implemented in nursing, pharmacy, and physician assistant programs. However, there is a lack of literature …

Automated Mentor Assignment In Blended Learning Environments, Chris Boesch, Kevin Steppe

Chris BOESCH

In this paper we discuss the addition of automatic assignment of mentors during inclass lab work to an existing online platform for programing practice. SingPath is an web based tool for users to practice programming in several software languages. The platform started as a tool to provide students with online feedback on solutions to programming problems and expanded over time to support different of blended learning needs for a variety of classes and classroom settings. The SingPath platform supports traditional self-directed learning mechanisms such as badges and completion metrics as well as features for use in classrooms, such as tournaments. …

Online Student Discussions In A Blended Learning Classroom: Reconciling Conflicts Between A Flipped Instruction Model And Reform-Based Mathematics, Lewis L. Young

Theses and Dissertations

Two ideas are prevalent in teacher professional development today. Teachers are finding new and innovative ways to incorporate technology into their classroom. The use of video and social media is increasing. One type of pedagogy that has emerged among the blended learning pedagogies is flipped instruction, where students participate in some of the instruction outside of the classroom. Another prevalent idea is the focus on inquiry learning and reform-based mathematics instruction. This pedagogy adheres to the idea that students can use their problem solving skills to understand complex mathematics. This qualitative content analysis outlines how one researcher sought to find …

The Effects Of Cooperative Grouping Strategies And A Three-Level Evaluation Tool On Student Soft Skills Achievement And Satisfaction Within A Problem-Based Instructional Model In The Soft Sciences, Kelly Stoneman Rippard

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

In education, many academic majors can fall within one of two main concentrations: the hard or soft sciences. The hard sciences are defined as the natural sciences and include subjects such as Engineering, Chemistry, and Biology while the soft sciences are defined as the social sciences and include subjects such as English, Sociology, and Anthropology. While instructional approaches have been created to help instructors teach and students learn within each of the scientific areas, few studies have sought to see if instructional approaches from one of the sciences can be used in the other. One such instructional approach is the …

A Study Of Hybrid Instructional Delivery For Graduate Students In An Educational Leadership Course, Alejandro Garcia, Jesus Abrego, Meagan M. Calvillo

Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper describes a qualitative study in which ways to improve instructional delivery for graduate students in an Educational Leadership course in Master of Education program in a predominantly Hispanic university located in South Texas were examined. Questions explored perceptions, attitudes, and reasons for choosing a hybrid instructional delivery model. Five themes emerged from the data: flexibility, assumption of responsibility in learning, emphasis on active learning, building peer relationships, and deepened learning.

Navigating Large Foundational Classes: Providing Scalable Infrastructure For Next Generation Blended Learning Classrooms To Enhance Student Learning Outcomes, Access And Choice, Nick Baker

Centre for Teaching and Learning Reports

Universities across the Province and around the world are struggling to meet the challenges of supporting a rapidly expanding, diverse, digitally literate, and time - poor student population who view education as a service for which they are paying (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004). As class sizes continue to grow and public funds available for expansion of physical campuses decline, there is an urgent need for universities to seek innovative and efficient approaches to utilisation of their existing spaces, leveraging technological and pedagogical advances to continue to provide high quality learning experiences for increasing numbers of students (Bates and Sangra, 2011; …

Ways Of Knowing In A Blended Learning Cohort, Dawn Michele Mcwilliams

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies: Doctoral Research Projects

The following is a report on the content analysis of threaded discussion boards from three blended learning cohorts. The purpose of the content analysis was to determine whether an individual’s way of knowing (WoK), or epistemology, could be perceived through a content analysis of historical data in the form of online threaded discussion boards. The research question in this content analysis was “What ways of knowing emerge from online discussion threads within a yearlong university cohort?”

The researcher used a priori coding scheme based on the literature surrounding WoK to explore the online threaded discussions of three blended learning cohorts. …

An Exploration Of A Blended Learning Cohort Through Social Network Analysis, Kelley Charlene Bliden

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies: Doctoral Research Projects

The following technical report is a social network analysis of online threaded discussions from three blending learning cohorts. The purpose of this social network analysis was to explore graduate level blended learning cohorts by investigating how the relationships and interactions among individuals shape and affect the overall cohort,to explore the evolution of each cohort overtime,and to investigate facilitator interactions within the blended learning program and how their contributions shaped and affected the network.

The threaded discussions were coded and analyzed based on literature about social network analysis, constructive-developmental theory, holding environments, and transformational learning theory. Eight selected weeks of discussions …

Shared Modular Course Development: A Feasibility Study, Alan W. Wright, Beverley Hamilton, Joy Mighty, Elaine Scharfe, Bill Muirhead, Susan Vail

Centre for Teaching and Learning Reports

This project evaluated the viability of shared course development (SCD) and identified the necessary baseline mechanisms, principles, policies, and procedures for future joint course development collaborations.

Although collaborative course design is still relatively new in Ontario, our institutionally-based project teams identified and researched a number of successful examples from Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

These successful models demonstrated the transformative possibilities of blended learning, expanded course variety, maintained or enhanced the breadth of course offerings, and reduced institution-specific development costs while maintaining delivery autonomy. They also focused on enhancing student learning and produced …

Automated Mentor Assignment In Blended Learning Environments, Chris Boesch, Kevin Steppe

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper we discuss the addition of automatic assignment of mentors during inclass lab work to an existing online platform for programing practice. SingPath is an web based tool for users to practice programming in several software languages. The platform started as a tool to provide students with online feedback on solutions to programming problems and expanded over time to support different of blended learning needs for a variety of classes and classroom settings. The SingPath platform supports traditional self-directed learning mechanisms such as badges and completion metrics as well as features for use in classrooms, such as tournaments. …

Teaching Tip: The Flipped Classroom, Heng Ngee Mok

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The flipped classroom has been gaining popularity in recent years. In theory, flipping the classroom appears sound: passive learning activities such as unidirectional lectures are pushed to outside class hours in the form of videos, and precious class time is spent on active learning activities. Yet the courses for information systems (IS) undergraduates at the university that the author is teaching at are still conducted in the traditional lecture-in-class, homework-after-class style. In order to increase students’ engagement with the course content and to improve their experience with the course, the author implemented a trial of the flipped classroom model for …

Sense Of Community In A Blended Technology Integration Course: A Design-Based Research Study, John Buckley Harrison

Theses and Dissertations

This design-based research study explored whether Sense of Community was maintained while flexibility in the course was increased through an adoption of a unique blended learning model. Data collected in this study show a significant drop in the sense of connectedness score from a mean of 50.8 out of 66 to a mean of 39.68 in the first iteration. The score then began to gradually increase, reaching 50.65 in the third iteration. Results indicate that transitioning to a blended learning environment may be a suitable option to increase flexibility while maintaining a Sense of Community in a project-based course. Future …

An Evaluation Of The Iowa State University Ecosystem, Cherie Mazer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose - This dissertation in practice is an evaluation study conducted at Iowa State University, entitled, Learning Ecosystem Assessment Review of Needs (LEARN). The evaluation posed these questions: (a) What educational technologies are currently used and what technologies will be needed in the future? (b) What are the attitudes and practices of faculty and students toward online and blended learning? (c) What academic technology support services are used? What are the perceptions of the support provided for the application of academic technologies? Methodology/design - The study was a mixed-methods design employing interviews with deans and focus groups and surveys of …

Supporting Middle School Students With Emotional Or Behavioral Disorders In Blended Learning: A Fraction Intervention Using Virtual Manipulatives, Barbara Serianni

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Students with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) are more likely than other students with disabilities to drop out of school (Blackorby & Wagner, 1996) and suffer societal consequences that include higher probabilities and rates of incarceration, poverty, drug abuse, homelessness, low wages, and unemployment (Bradley, Doolittle, & Bartolotta, 2008; Wagner, 1995). High school graduation is a critical factor to improve post-secondary outcomes for students with EBD; yet it is often mathematics, specifically algebra, that stands in the way of graduation (Blackorby & Wagner). Students with EBD often enter middle school lacking foundational mathematics skills, such as fractions, which sets them …

Blended Learning : A Program Evaluation In A Central Virginia K-12 School District, Edward A. Hoisington

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a general education course offered in a blended learning environment in a Central Virginia public school district. Three research questions were addressed in this study: How satisfied are students with a blended learning environment in a general education Economics and Personal Finance course? Is a student’s course grade affected by the following: Technology, self-efficacy, course organization, quality of instruction, and student satisfaction in a blended learning course? Is a student’s grade on a credential test affected by the following: Technology, self-efficacy, course organization, quality of instruction, and student satisfaction in a blended …

Preparing For And Thriving In K-12 Online/Blended Teaching Contexts, Leanna Archambault, Keryn Pratt, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

This panel will bring together leading experts to explore the research related to teaching roles in K-12 online and blended learning and the policies influencing teacher preparation for online environments. Currently, there is a dire need for teacher education programs to provide training in online pedagogy and instructional design so all teachers are prepared to teach in breakthrough learning environments. Keryn Pratt will present her work on OtagoNet: One region’s model for virtual schooling in New Zealand and the knowledge and skills teachers need to be successful in this environment. Michael Barbour will focus on roles of online and blended …

A History Of International K-12 Online And Blended Instruction, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

Many involved with the practice or study of K-12 online and blended learning are familiar with the American context. It surrounds us in the media and published research. However, online and blended learning is occurring in meaningful ways to address specific K-12 student needs all around the globe. There are several areas where the international practice is consistent with what we know about the United States (e.g., similar evolutions, early initiatives were government-funded, many of the labels are similar). At the same time, there are some key differences internationally (e.g., the prevalence of legacy forms of distance education, a lack …

State Of The Nation: K-12 Online Learning In Canada, Michael K. Barbour, Randy Labonte

Education Faculty Publications

This is the seventh edition of the State of the Nation: K –12 Online Learning in Canada, written on behalf of the Canadian eLearning Network (CANeLearn). This year’s report is slightly abbreviated as we transition CANeLearn’s involvement and develop an active data set that will be launched live on our website upon publication of this report (http://canelearn.net)

The State of the Nation: K –12 Online Learning in Canada report provides critical information and insight into how Canadian educational authorities and governments are integrating technology-supported approaches to prepare students for today’s economy and a future society in which the use …