Case study application of blended learning for an engineering simulation course.

No Thumbnail Available

Date

2013

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

Quality Approaches in Higher Education Vol. 4(1), May 2013 article by Theodore T. Allen, Sharnnia Artis, Anthony Afful-Dadzie, and Yosef Allam. The research was conducted at The Ohio State University. This case study documents the transition of an undergraduate software laboratory from face-to-face only instruction to a blended-learning model motivated, in part, by instructor cost savings. To assure quality in learning outcomes was preserved, we implemented the transition using a randomized experiment. Participating students were randomly assigned to blended (treatment) and traditional (control) groups. Performance was measured by pre- and post-knowledge assessment and quizzes. Attitude was measured by the results of a survey administered at the end of the course. The results show that students’ performance in a purely face-to-face instructional class was not significantly different from that based on a blend of online and face-to-face instruction. In addition, the blended type had significantly more consistently favorable ratings than the purely face-to-face instruction. We conclude that blended learning and our experimental approach could be usefully replicated for other face-to-face software laboratory courses and propose four topics for future research.

Description

Keywords

Quality Approaches in Higher Education - Online Classes

Citation