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The Effective Integration of �Blended Learning �in Courses and Programs

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Norm Vaughan

Mount Royal University

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

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Overview

  • Student engagement
  • Blended learning “unpacked”
  • The roles of a successful teacher
  • Case study

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Handout- � http://tinyurl.com/dalapril2014

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Student Engagement

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Student Engagement

What does this term or concept �mean to you and your students?

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Google Doc

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Or in the words of MRU’s First President�“enabling the young mind to catch the gleam”

(George W. Kerby, Principal’s Report to the Board of Governors, July 3, 1912)

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The 3 R’s of Engagement

  1. Relevance
  2. Rigour
  3. Relationships

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Dennis Littky, 2004

http://bigpicture.org/

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Optimal Flow

. . . the mental state of

operation in which the person

is fully immersed in what he

or she is doing by a feeling

of energized focus, full

involvement, and success

in the process of the activity.

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Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, 1996

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  1. Autonomy
  2. Mastery
  3. Purpose

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Pink, 2009

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  1. Purpose
  2. Passion
  3. Play

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Fullan, 2012

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What did you do in school today?

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Dimensions of Student Engagement

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Social Engagement

Academic Engagement

Intellectual Engagement

Participation in the life of the school

Participation in the requirements for school success

Participation in learning with serious psychological and cognitive investment in learning

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What did you do in school today?

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National Survey of Student Engagement

  1. Amount of time and effort that students put into their academic studies that lead to experiences and outcomes that constitute student success�
  2. Ways the institution �allocates resources �and organizes learning �opportunities and �services to induce �students to participate �in and benefit from �such activities

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National Survey of Student Engagement

Five clusters of effective educational practice (benchmarks)

    • Active and collaborative learning
    • Student interactions with faculty members
    • Level of academic challenge
    • Enriching educational experiences
    • Supportive campus environment

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Blended Learning

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Blended Learning – Your Thoughts

Definition?

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Opportunities?

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Challenges?

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  • Share and discuss your results with a partner
  • Google Doc

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Blended Learning Described

  • . . . organic integration of thoughtfully selected and complementary face-to-face and online approaches and technologies. �
  • . . . an opportunity to fundamentally redesign how we approach teaching and learning in ways that higher education institutions may benefit from increased effectiveness, convenience and efficiency. �

(Garrison & Vaughan, 2008)

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ONLINE

S

Y

N

C

H

R

O

N

O

U

S

ON-CAMPUS

Blended Learning

ASYNCHRONOUS

Traditional Higher Education

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ONLINE

S

Y

N

C

H

R

O

N

O

U

S

ON-CAMPUS

Blended Learning

ASYNCHRONOUS

Online Learning

Traditional Higher Education

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Traditional Higher Education

ONLINE

S

Y

N

C

H

R

O

N

O

U

S

ON-CAMPUS

Blended Learning

ASYNCHRONOUS

Blended

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Learning

Online Learning

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ONLINE

S

Y

N

C

H

R

O

N

O

U

S

ON-CAMPUS

Blended Learning

ASYNCHRONOUS

Online Learning

ONLINE Blended

Learning

Blended

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Learning

Traditional Higher Education

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ONLINE

S

Y

N

C

H

R

O

N

O

U

S

ON-CAMPUS

Blended Learning

ASYNCHRONOUS

Online Learning

Traditional Higher Education

ONLINE Blended

Learning

Learning

Blended

Sunchild E-Learning Community

SCcyber eLearning Community

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Designing for Blended Learning

  • Synchronous
    • spontaneous
    • ephemeral
    • peer influence
    • passion
    • preferred
  • Asynchronous
    • reflective
    • permanent
    • < intimidating
    • reason
    • > rigor

integrate

complement

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Why Blended Learning?

  • Potential to create sustained communities of learners �(e.g., engagement)

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    • Enhances student learning (effectiveness)
    • Maximize institutional resources (efficiency)
    • Access; retention (convenience)

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BL Performance

  • A meta-analysis found that instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction.

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  • Taken as a whole, the findings suggest that the observed advantage of blended learning is a product of redesigning the learning experience, not of the medium per se

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A Meta-Analysis of Online Learning, 2010

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Synthesizing Lessons Learned

  • Whole course redesigns have better odds for positive impact�
  • Mathematics appears to be a blended learning “sweet spot”�
  • Many of the positive impacts for students come from implementations of blended course models �that had been through multiple cycles of �implementation, data analysis, and �refinement

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Means & Yarnell, 2014

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National Centre for Academic Transformation

  • Improved student learning outcomes �
  • Increased completion rates �
  • Reduced instructional costs

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Summary of NCAT Program Outcomes

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Case studies

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Challenges - Students

General

  • Transition – from a passive to an active & collaborative learning approach
  • Study and time management skills
  • Expecting that fewer classes equates to less work
  • Accepting responsibility for completing individual & team activities

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Technical

  • Obtaining high-speed Internet access
  • Using more sophisticated technologies

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Power & Vaughan, 2010

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Challenges - Teachers

  • Managing risk factors
  • Resistance to change
  • Managing with scarce support for course redesign
  • Developing new skills and learning to use new technology
  • Managing potential technology crashes

Power & Vaughan, 2010

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Challenges - Teachers

Betts, 2014

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Advantages - Teachers

Betts, 2014

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Challenges - Administration

  • Vision
  • Action plan
  • Collaborative leadership
  • Incentives
  • Sustainability
  • Academic Recognition

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Power & Vaughan, 2010

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The roles of a successful teacher

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The Role?

What are the roles of a successful blended teacher?

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  • Share and discuss these roles with a partner
  • Google Doc

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Teaching Roles

Models of Teaching Roles in a Computer Conferencing Environment ��

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Berge, 1995

Paulsen, 1995

Mason, 1991

Anderson, Rourke, Garrison & Archer, 2001

Managerial

Organizational

Organizational

Instructional design and organization

Social

Social

Social

Facilitating Discourse

Pedagogical

Intellectual

Intellectual

Direct Instruction

Technical

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Categories of Teaching Presence

Categories

Design &

Organization:

Setting curriculum & methods

Facilitating Discourse:

Shaping constructive exchange

Direct Instruction:

Focusing and resolving issues

Indicators

  • Setting the curriculum
  • Designing methods
  • Establishing time parameters
  • Utilizing medium effectively
  • Establishing netiquette
  • Setting climate for learning
  • Drawing in participants, prompting discussion
  • Encouraging, acknowledging, or reinforcing student contributions
  • Identifying areas of agreement/disagreement
  • Seeking to reach consensus/understanding
  • Assess the efficacy of the process
  • Present content/questions
  • Focus the discussion on certain issues
  • Confirm understanding through assessment and explanatory feedback
  • Diagnose misconceptions
  • Inject knowledge from diverse sources e.g., textbook, articles, internet, personal experiences (includes pointers to resources)

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7 Principles of Blended Learning

  1. Design for open communication & trust
  2. Design for critical reflection & discourse�
  3. Create and sustain sense of community
  4. Support purposeful inquiry�
  5. Ensure students sustain collaboration
  6. Ensure that inquiry moves to resolution�
  7. Ensure assessment is congruent with �intended learning outcomes

Vaughan, Cleveland-Innes, & Garrison, 2013

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ako

  • In te ao Māori, the concept of ako means both to teach and to learn. �
  • It recognises the knowledge that both teachers and students bring to learning interactions, and it acknowledges the way that new knowledge and understandings can grow out of shared learning experiences. �
  • This powerful concept has been supported by educational research showing that when teachers facilitate reciprocal teaching and learning roles in their classrooms, students’ achievement improves �(Alton-Lee, 2003).

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Visible Teaching - Learning

When teachers SEE learning through the eyes of their students

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When students SEE themselves as their own �teachers

(Hattie, 2011)

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Improvement in higher education will require converting teaching from a “solo sport” to a “community-based research activity”.

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(Carnegie Mellon University)

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CASE STUDY

Mount Royal University

Calgary, Alberta

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Classroom Survey of Student Engagement (CLASSE)

Five clusters of effective educational practice (benchmarks)

    • Active and collaborative learning
    • Student interactions with faculty members
    • Level of academic challenge
    • Enriching educational experiences
    • Supportive campus environment

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CLASSE, 2014

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First Year Undergraduate Courses�

  1. BIOL1202 – Introduction to Cell Biology�
  2. COMM1610 – Tools for Information Designers �
  3. CYCC1110 – Fundamental Skills in Interviewing�
  4. ECON1101 – Principles of Microeconomics
  1. GNED1102 – Controversies in Science �
  2. MGMT2262 – Business Statistics I �
  3. MGMT2275 – Creativity in the Workplace

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Data Collection

Online surveys

    • CLASSE (NSSE) + EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR)
    • Administered to both students and faculty
  • Student focus group lunches
  • Blackboard usage, final course grades and withdrawal/retention rates
  • Instructor interviews
  • Instructor focus group lunch

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Final Marks vs Active & Collaborative Learning Indicators

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Blackboard as the Course “Base Camp”

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Final Marks vs Blackboard Use

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Correlations between Engagement, Blackboard Use and Intensity of Technology Use

Engagement Indicators

Blackboard Use

Intensity of Course-related Technology Use

Active and collaborative learning

r=0.177**

r=0.482**

Student-faculty interaction

r=0.189**

r=0.413**

Level of academic challenge

r=0.187**

r=0.339**

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**p<0.01

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Course Satisfaction

97% - agreed/strongly agreed that the � technologies used in this course � were appropriate for performing � the assessment tasks required�

92% - agreed/strongly agreed that � they would recommend

this course to other students

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Most Effective Aspect of Courses

Interactive Technology Tools and Resources

    • Blackboard Plus

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Class Projects

    • In and out of class; in person and virtually

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Instructor

    • Knowledge of the course content
    • Desire for students to succeed

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Least Effective Aspect of Courses

Workload

    • Overwhelming work load
    • Fast paced
    • Too much reading�

Out of class time

    • Lack of clear directions
    • Online labs and tutorials�

Inquiry based learning

    • Emphasis on self-directed learning

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Questions?

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Handout: � http://tinyurl.com/dalapril2014

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Contact Information

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Dr. Norman Vaughan, Professor

nvaughan@mtroyal.ca�

Mount Royal University

Department of Education & Schooling

Faculty of Teaching and Learning

4825 Mount Royal Gate SW� Calgary, Alberta, Canada

T3E 6K6

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