A comparison of blended and face-to-face approaches to teaching research methods to undergraduate students.
Yeou, M.
The article reports a quasi-experimental study on the impact of a blended e-learning approach on students' performance outcomes in a “Research Methods” course at a Moroccan university. An experimental group of 40 students used a Moodle LMS-supported course to access all the instruction materials (readings, lecture notes and quizzes) as well as face-to-face (F2F) communication in class. The control group of 48 students received only F2F course delivery for the same course content. The two groups were compared on the variable of final course grade. Results indicate that the experimental group had slightly higher means, though these were not statistically significant. Differences in student performance across the two settings might rather be accounted for by GPA (average of Semester 3 and 4 grades). Analysis of students' log data for the experimental group was also conducted to identify any correlations between online activity (total time online, number of online sessions and number of total views) and final course grade for this group. A stepwise multivariate regression revealed that only two variables -number of online sessions and GPA -were significantly associated with final student grade. The present study demonstrates that blended learning is as useful and as effective as F2F learning. Online components in a blended course should be designed in such a manner as to provide new materials on a weekly basis rather than all at once at the beginning of the course.
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2016, Languages and Linguistics, 38, 93-108.
