Research on blended learning on a ‘Computer Applications’ course

Zhang Yingfang and Chen Qiang
Shanghai University of Engineering Science
Shanghai, China

Blended learning is a method which aims to combine the best features of face-to-face teaching and online learning to produce an optimal learning outcome. The ‘Program in Course Redesign’ (PCR) led by Carol Twigg in the United States found five distinct blended learning models, three of which are discussed in this paper, viz. the supplemental model, the replacement model and the fully online model.

The supplemental model retains the basic structure of a traditional course, keeping the lecture portion intact, including the number of class meetings, but adds technology-based, out-of-class activities to encourage greater student engagement with course content. The replacement model assumes that certain activities can be carried out better online or in computer laboratories than in a class, and so reduces the class time. The fully online model requires the instructor to be responsible for all interactions, answering personally every enquiry and comment. As a result, faculty members often spend more time teaching online and interacting with students than is the case in classroom teaching.

‘Computer Applications’ is a first-year university course for non-majors which has been taught in a traditional lecture-laboratory format, with classes meeting for two hours a week for both lectures and formal laboratory sessions. To promote active learning, individually and collaboratively, and to provide much more individualized support for students, the three models noted above have been applied in combination to the course.

The supplemental model has been adopted for the concepts portion of the course (learning basic computer concepts), including computer hardware, peripheral devices, software etc., with students simply being required to complete online mastery quizzes each week outside the class. Because they have mastered the simplest concepts, basic operating systems and office software in middle school, the major goal of the course is to improve their operating skills in practice. The fully online model is very useful for this purpose, without a dramatic increase in academics’ workload. Some activities, such as multimedia, the Internet and web-pages, can be accomplished better online or in computer laboratories. The replacement model has been used to replace some class meetings with online activities and also make significant changes in what goes on in the remaining class meetings. The number of lectures per week has been reduced from two to one, with the time saved being used for web-based tutorials, short mini-lectures and laboratory-based group activities designed to support collaborative learning.

Three measures were used to compare learning in the traditional and the blended learning course: the amount of material covered, final course grades, and attitudinal surveys given at the beginning and the end of the semester. Our research shows an improvement in the quality of student learning, better student attitudes towards the subject matter, and increased instruction-used rates.