“Face-to-Face Trumps Everything”: An Exploration of Tutor Perceptions, Beliefs and Practice Within Blended Learning Environments

Abstract

This paper explores the practices of higher education tutors in blended learning contexts. Significantly, the influence of their perceptions on practice was considered by investigating previous teaching and learning experiences, and their views of the affordances blended learning offers adult learners. The analysis was undertaken in relation to these learners’ perceptions of their tutors whilst studying part-time, vocationally relevant degrees, at a distance. A mixed methods approach was adopted to conduct a detailed exploration of eight tutors’ practice. Data analysis suggested that all tutors had negative experiences of online learning as students with these perceptions appearing to influence their practice. They generally avoided online pedagogies and adopted alternative approaches to their practice, namely a focus on face-to-face delivery with enhanced learner support, which was found to align with their described pedagogical beliefs. These tutors considered online teaching and learning as a deficit in this context.

Facing COVID-19 Challenges: 1st-Year Students’ Experience with the Romanian Hybrid Higher Educational System

“…If face-to-face is influenced and influences student interactions or university experiences, this traditional education system is also linked with better teaching or better explanations as argued by [ 27 , 30 , 36 ]. This situation is not new.…”

“…This situation is not new. Indeed, [ 36 ] considers that the tendency to shift the conversation to traditional environments where we are more comfortable is normal since it is closer to our pedagogical beliefs. Interviewed students opinioned that their teachers are well trained for both face-to-face and online teaching but in traditional education environment they exert higher impact due to nonverbal communication feedback.…”

Perception, knowledge and attitude of learners about the use of 3D technologies in manual therapy education – A qualitative study

“…This is in synonymous with ndings of previous studies that showed that 'preferred teachers' have a critical in uence on learner's academic success, professional and personal development 19,20 . Further, these participants perceived that face-to-face teaching was crucial for their learning and 'nothing could replace human interaction' 21 .…”

A Trauma-Informed Inquiry of COVID-19’s Initial Impact on Adult Education Program Administrators and Instructors in the United States

“…Their spouses/partners were also working from home. Many identified that they had no private space, free from distractions, to process information (Youde, 2020). Work tasks and class preparation were simply more "time-consuming, " and a momentary face-to-face interaction inperson to resolve an issue now involved multiple emails, a phone call, or a Zoom session.…”

“…In addition to allowing more time for processing, Major and Calandrino (2018) and Pawl (2018) advanced the concept of microlearning or presenting chunks of information that are scaffolded toward a larger learning task that could inform the work done by administrators and instructors. Related to cognitive processing, Youde (2020) suggested the creation of a “space,” often through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous activities (Kleisch et al, 2017), where adults can process information and reflect upon what they have learned. This additional processing and reflection time is critical for traumatized adults who need more time to synthesize content or are acquiring English as an additional language.…”