A case study of blended learning in an engineering programme

Wei Will Zhao
Red Deer College
Red Deer, Canada

New educational technology makes flexible learning possible. Blended learning offers significant advantages for students, faculty members and institutions for promoting learning, and offering flexibility, access, convenience and resources. The goal of this presentation is to showcase a blended learning programme in engineering education at Red Deer College. A three-dimensional teaching model has been adopted, which integrates media, various learning styles and interactivities to create an engaging learning environment for students.

Engineering courses have been offered in a blended learning mode since the winter semester of 2008. To meet the requirements of different learning styles and achieve the learning objectives, the following components are included: face-to-face lectures, seminars, laboratory work, a ‘hands-on’ design project, guest speakers and field trips, combined with online components -- including textual course material, computer simulation, video, a discussion room and surveys. The teaching-learning methodology has moved from a teacher-centric approach to a student-centred one. A sample of the online portion of the courses will be demonstrated during the presentation.

The course design aims to blend the best features of ‘in­person’ instruction with technology-enriched online experiences to create an educational atmosphere that promotes active participatory learning. By supplementing traditional face-to-face methods with web-based activities and resources, the course is made more accessible and interactive, and it cultivates increased student interest and self-exploration. Five valuable ideas have been incorporated into the design of the blended engineering courses, based on the principles proposed by Leonard and DeLacey from the Harvard Business School:

• Enable learning by doing. Practice is the best way for students to gain real mastery of engineering concepts and problem-solving skills. Laboratory experiments play an important role in students’ acquisition of engineering knowledge and concepts; and ‘hands-on’ design projects expose them to various engineering-related problems and enhance their problem-solving skills by applying theory to practice.

• Integrate learning into life. Making connections with real-life practice outside the classroom is critical because it provides a context in which the acquired knowledge can be used. Professional engineers have been invited to the class to provide students with diverse perspectives and role models of engineering practice, as well as various real-life engineering examples.

• Encourage learning by discovery. Research indicates that people retain information longer when they are given the opportunity to develop ideas and reach solutions from their own understanding. Design projects have been assigned so that students have opportunities to work on practical engineering problems, and learn to solve problems through teamwork and collaboration.

• Make it fun and visual. Students who are engaged are more motivated in the learning experience and a playful non-threatening environment helps them to benefit from it. Field trips to industry provide students with a chance to connect the theory they have learned in class with real practice, and they are also fun settings for them to explore. Computer simulation and streaming video are used both in face-to-face lectures and online to demonstrate engineering concepts and principles.

Learning is a social activity. Face-to-face lectures provide interaction between the instructor and students; group activities and projects promote the effectiveness of learning because of the basic nature of human beings as social creatures; and an online discussion board and chat room in the Blackboard system increases student participation and interaction.

We have learned two key points from this case study, viz.

1. Retention and quality tie in well with student satisfaction. Student feedback has shown that they gained satisfaction from the:
   • consistency in the Blackboard online portion of the course design and platform;
   • variety of instructional methods used to meet different learning styles;
   • real-life examples demonstrated and illustrated by the instructor;
   • student-instructor, student-student and student-content interaction;
   • instructor’s knowledge of the subject field; and
   • instructor’s availability to students.
2. Student and faculty orientation and/or training are needed before they go online:
   • For the student, this includes navigation in Blackboard and the major tools application, such as how to use a discussion board, upload files in the assessment tool and use the chat room.
   • For academic staff, the needs are two-fold: how to use Blackboard as an instructor and how to engage students to make full use of the online resources available.

In summary, blended courses can be a powerful medium for knowledge retention and transfer. A three-dimensional teaching approach, which integrates various media elements, different learning styles and a high degree of interactivity, is needed for a course to be effective. Not all solutions will work in all instances and flexibility is required to determine the best delivery of the content and be responsive to students’ needs.