An Assessment of Design Principles for Blended Learning Courses

<p>There is limited research defining how efficient and successful blended learning processes can be systematically designed and evaluated. Bitzer et al. (2016) provide seven principles for blended learning design. Their approach is the most comprehensive that appears in the research literature. However, their principles were formulated for corporate training. The purpose of this study is to determine whether and to what extent the principles can translate to the higher education domain. Blended learning is a method that integrates the strengths of synchronous (face-to-face) interactions with asynchronous (online) learning controlled by teachers who restructure their classroom and teach in new time-efficient ways. For instructional design, blended learning is about how to design courses that maximally benefit the learning process. To create effectively-blended courses, a total redesign of teaching methods is required to produce a meaningful and engaging integration between in-class and online learning. To achieve the research objectives of this study, a qualitative method was adopted to determine the efficacy of the use of Bitzer et al.’s (2016) principles of blended learning for higher education courses at Saudi Electronic University (SEU). The data collected through focus groups, and interviews with lecturers and technology support staff. Three case studies were conducted, each one related to an existing SEU blended learning course. These case studies allowed me to have a better understanding of the usage of blended learning in SEU and to know which of the seven principles was applied in SEU. I employed the seven blended learning principles and the three main areas of the TPACK framework to redesign the syllabus of the three courses.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Information Systems and Technology, PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Restricted to Claremont Colleges Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Center for Information Systems and Technology

Year dc:date.available

2020

Author dc:creator

• Almusfar, Latifa Abdullah

Contributors dc:contributor

• Deborah Faye Carter
• Shamini Dias

• Blended learning
• Saudi Electronic University
• Online learning
• Higher education domain
• Educational Technology
• Science and Technology Studies

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/664

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarship.claremont.edu:cgu_etd-1686