Self-Regulation and “Time Off”: Evaluations and Reflections on the Development of a Blended Course

Abstract

Changes in both the landscape of education and digital technology are giving rise to interesting, innovative, and potentially effective pedagogical possibilities. As educators of the 21st century, we are witnessing continuous changes in the way we teach as well as the way students learn. This study is a part of an ongoing research program aimed at evaluating the pedagogical effectiveness of blended teaching. More specifically, this paper aims to describe some of our reflections as we developed, delivered, and carried out an evaluation of a university course taught using a blended format. Undergraduate students (n=109) in a fourth-year capstone course participated in this study. We report on the students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the delivery method of the course, while focusing on the struggles they encountered, including difficulties keeping up with the course content, particularly on the weeks where the lecture was online, as well as a struggle to stay organized and connected with their peers and their assignments. Self-regulation turned out to be a major determinant of success in this type of course. We conclude with suggestions to improve students’ social and academic experiences as they navigate learning in a digital world. Les changements survenus à la fois dans le paysage de l’éducation et dans la technologie numérique donnent naissance à des possibilités pédagogiques intéressantes, innovatrices et potentiellement efficaces. En tant qu’éducateurs du XXIe siècle, nous assistons à des changements continus dans la manière dont nous enseignons ainsi que dans la manière dont les étudiants apprennent. Cette étude s’inscrit dans le cadre d’un programme de recherche en cours qui a pour objectif d’évaluer l’efficacité pédagogique de l’enseignement hybride. Plus spécifiquement, cet article vise à décrire certaines de nos réflexions au fur et à mesure que nous élaborons, livrons et exécutons l’évaluation d’un cours universitaire enseigné selon un format hybride. Des étudiants de premier cycle (n=109) inscrits dans un tout dernier cours de quatrième année ont participé à cette étude. Nous présentons un rapport sur la manière dont les étudiants ont perçu l’efficacité de la méthode employée pour enseigner ce cours, tout en mettant l’accent sur les problèmes qu’ils ont rencontrés, y compris les difficultés à faire face au contenu du cours, en particulier durant les semaines où les cours magistraux étaient présentés en ligne, ainsi que sur leurs difficultés à rester organisés et connectés avec leurs camarades de classe et avec leurs devoirs. Il s’avère que l’autorégulation est un élément important pour la réussite de ce type de cours. Pour conclure, nous présentons des suggestions pour améliorer l’expérience sociale et académique des étudiants dans leur parcours de l’apprentissage au sein d’un monde numérique.

Developing Design Principles for Sustainability-Oriented Blended Learning in Higher Education

“…The programme theories emphasise the importance of an environment in which students can develop relationships with other people and feel safe to express themselves. This is confirmed by several reviewed studies [51,57,60,61]. These studies add some best practices and propose strategies how to foster emotional closeness online as well as in class.…”

“…Although self-regulation seems to be difficult for some students [57], they appreciate the opportunity to study anytime and anywhere [58,59].…”

“…In-class activities can foster emotional closeness. If a lecturer provides opportunities for interaction and thus creates a friendly atmosphere, social connections can be made [51,57]. This is especially important at the beginning of the blended course [58].…”

“…Different representations of content meet this diversity and help students to learn [69]. In BL, in most cases, a Learning Management System (e.g., Blackboard) handles the delivery of a variety of multimedia content-that is, video lectures [42,44,49,58,69,70], videos [45,63], interactive voice-over slides [70], instructional videos [71], an interactive online textbook [59,72], computer-mediated tutorials [60], podcasts [51], supplemented with synchronous in-class [43,49,54,57,73,74], and online lectures [54,57]. In addition, content can be prepared and delivered by students in face-to-face and online tutorials [67].…”

Understanding intention and use of digital elements in higher education teaching

“…An effective blended learning environment is necessary to implement innovative pedagogically valuable approaches in higher education (Kintu et al, 2017 ). The blended learning approach can increase interaction with students (Kastner, 2020 ), reduce the actual teaching time (Förster et al, 2020 ), and allow learning to take place at an individual pace (Spadafora & Marini, 2018 ). In addition, the blended learning approach generates higher student satisfaction than pure F2F or online teaching (Sheikhaboumasoudi et al, 2018 ; Suwantarathip, 2019 ).…”