Institutional Adoption and Implementation of Blended Learning: Differences in Student Perceptions

Abstract

Blended learning (BL) has been a popular mode of course delivery in higher education, aiming to provide students with better learning experiences by integrating face-to-face (f2f) instructions and affordances of digital technology. However, lack of knowledge about how students perceive BL cross-disciplines can make it difficult for teachers to provide consistent learning experiences to students, yielding inequity in learning experiences. This study aims to explore how university students perceive BL, and to compare differences in perceptions across subjects. Participants were 407 university students from eight subject disciplines. Data were collected through a questionnaire and were analysed using SPSS. A one-way ANOVA was performed to compare the differences between the groups. Results showed, students were generally happy about use of BL, despite facing multiple barriers in using the learning approach. Results further revealed, students studying tourism/hospitality, and business subjects were more negative about BL, while students in science and engineering, and Islamic studies faculties were more receptive to BL compared to the rest of the university. Implications for adoption and implantation of BL, and teacher support are discussed.

The Perceptions of Tourism Students Towards Blended Learning: A Case From a Comprehensive University in South Africa

“…In other words, BL might take several forms. However, it frequently comprises f2f lectures followed by "online asynchronous learning" (Ali, 2023;Deale, 2023), or "online lectures followed by in-person tutorials", or "a combination of the two modalities" (Anthony Jnr, 2022;Anthony et al, 2019). BL has grown in popularity as a method of delivering information in HED, with the objective of providing students with greater learning experiences by integrating f2f instruction with the benefits of digital technology.…”

“…The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) has moved with the international trend towards blending face-to-face (f2f) with online instruction when developing new educational processes (Ali, 2023). The advantage of BL has been recognised by the South African Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation as a solution to the rapidly growing student population in South Africa (SA) (Chibisa & Mutambara 2022).…”

“…Therefore, lecturers are compelled to adapt their teaching practices with these changes, to remain relevant and exciting to the current student cohort. More recently, Ali (2023) evaluated how undergraduate students in Australia, perceived BL and examined differences of opinion between disciplines. According to Ali (2023), students studying tourism and business show less interest in BL, while students studying science and Islamic sciences enjoy BL more than others within the institution.…”

“…More recently, Ali (2023) evaluated how undergraduate students in Australia, perceived BL and examined differences of opinion between disciplines. According to Ali (2023), students studying tourism and business show less interest in BL, while students studying science and Islamic sciences enjoy BL more than others within the institution. This purports that many students in various disciplines around the world may have slightly different attitudes and behaviours towards BL from one institution to another.…”

“…Students show different learning interests and styles, which should be understood using multiple modalities for learning to deliver content effectively. Many empirical studies have investigated students' perceptions of BL in general and compared BL to f2f learning, but with conflicting results (Ali, 2023;Anthony et al, 2019;Rafiola et al, 2020). For example, while some researchers believed that BL improved students' AP (Li & Wang, 2022), others found that it did not (Hwang et al, 2019;Lo & Hew, 2020).…”