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THROUGH BLENDED LEARNINGMargaret Kendall and Alicia Prowse, Dept of Information and Communications

1. Background

The Learning Communicationand Technology (LCT) unit

• aims to equip students forthe Higher Educationenvironment

• includes study skills, ICT andself-management

• is assessed by two portfoliosof work from the autumnand spring terms

• forms part of theDepartment’s common firstyear undergraduateprogramme for all studentsundertaking its five singleHonours degrees andCombined Honours degreesin Internet Managementand various modernlanguages.

In 2002/3, WebCT’scommunication tools and oneonline tutorial (contentmodule) on citing andreferencing were used for thefirst time as part of teachingthe unit. An independentevaluation of student viewsconcluded that

“all students were

enthusiastic about this

new way of learning,

commenting particularly on

its interactive nature…

Students recorded no

negative experiences in

using the VLE and found it

more useful than traditional

chalk and talk” Alexander

(2004, p.5)

For 2003/4, a radical change tothe programme replaced somelectures with a combination ofweekly seminars, personaltutorials and staged release of7 WebCT online tutorials, 2 ofwhich were directly assessed.The aims were to

• Increase flexibility andpersonalised support for alarge group of students ofdifferent ages, mixed ability,varied ICT experience anddiverse educationalbackgrounds

• Address attendance andretention problemscommon in the Informationand Computer Sciencedisciplines (Alexander, 2004, p.8)

2. Student use ofthe contentmodules

At the end of the academicyear, detail from WebCT’stracking facilities (October2003 to February 2004) wasentered into SPSS 11.5(Statistics Package for Social

Scientists) and combined withdetails of the students’ age,home or international status,face-to-face attendance andsummative assessmentperformance.

Nearly all (86/95 (91%)) studentsmade some use of the onlinetutorials, with some studentsrevisiting some pages severaltimes. However, the meannumber of hits per student foreach different page of eachtutorial was low for all excepttwo for which completion wasrewarded by marks countingtowards the first portfolio (Table 1).

Nevertheless, use of WebCTwas higher overall (meannumber of hits per student =149) than in a similar initiative inan equivalent Department atthe University of North London(Williams and Quinsee, 2003) inwhich course notes, practicalexercises and tutor leddiscussions were providedrather than online tutorials. Inthat case, only 62/98 (63%)accessed WebCT at least onceduring the semester and themean number of hits perstudent was only 29.

Table 1. Student use of online tutorials.Directly assessed tutorials indicated by *.

Total No No of Pages Maximum Mean No Std. of hits in tutoria of hits of hits Deviation

Academic Writing* 22 285 61.65 62.589

Citing* 41 217 48.45 47.645

Power Point 29 49 3.84 10.360

Presentation Skills 12 27 2.83 6.617

Report Writing 20 101 7.39 17.956

Time Management 28 114 19.36 24.758

Working in Groups 10 50 4.73 8.365

SUPPORTING 1ST YEAR UNDERGRADUATES

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For the optional tutorials,tracking showed many studentsdipping in and out, someaccessing only a smallpercentage of the material(Figure 1). They may have beenreviewing the potentialusefulness of the tutorialaccording to their previousexperience. As the standard ofassessed presentations washigher than in previous years,the low use of the Powerpointand Presentation Skills tutorialsprobably indicates that manymade appropriate decisionsnot to complete them. Somemade inappropriate decisionsabout the Working in Groupstutorial however, as wasevident in their individualreflections on group activity inthe related portfolioassignment The relativelyhigher use of the Report writingtutorial showed some self-referral as this did not form partof the assessed work for the LCTunit, although it was for otherunits.

Figure 1. Patterns of use of the online tutorials.Directly assessed tutorials are indicated by *.

Figure 2. Student views on usefulness of online tutorials.

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Although limited numbers ofstudents worked through to theend of each tutorial the resultsof a short anonymousquestionnaire, completed by26/95 (27%) students, indicatedtheir value to some of thosewho had used them (Figure 2).

Another question in the surveyasked the students to tickstatements applying to them,including the following:

I had already used online (23%)

tutorials before coming to

university

I printed out pages from (19%)

the tutorials because I

don’t like reading from

the screen

I liked the flexibility of being (88%)

able to use the tutorials

whenever it suited me

I found learning this way (50%)

helped me to concentrate

on the topic

I found learning this way (58%)

helped me to remember

what I’d learnt

I found the self-tests and (81%)

quizzes useful in helping me

check my understanding

2.1 Patterns of use by studentbackground

Performance indicators forwidening participation showthat Manchester MetropolitanUniversity is well above thenational average in recruitingmature full timeundergraduates (HigherEducation Statistics Agency,2004). Many of the maturestudents in the Department alsohave non-traditional entryqualifications and are from lowparticipation neighbourhoodsand ethnic groups. Someclassed as home students speakEnglish as a Second Language,

Table 2. Cross-tabulation of age ranges of students and provenance

as do most International and EUstudents (Alexander, 2004).Data from the students’registration forms werecombined with the trackingdata for the mean overall useof the two assessed tutorials.This showed some internationalstudents amongst the highestusers of the tutorials, with manyrepeat visits to pages. This mayhave been struggling with theEnglish language, or may havefound the reinforcement useful.(Figure 3). Figure 4 shows similarpatterns of use by all students,but some lower use by themature students.

2.2 Patterns of use comparedwith attendance

Attendance data from the first6 weeks of term was comparedwith the use of online tutorialsto see if those not attendingface to face,were using WebCT(Figures 5 and 6). These showthat some of the low attenderswere studying online, althoughthey accessed fewer pages ofeach tutorial. The similarpattern of use by low and highattenders indicates that thedirectly assessed tutorialsincreased the motivation of all.

2.4 Student performance

83 (87%) submitted at leastPortfolio 1, 68 (72%) submittedboth Portfolios 1 & 2. The resultsfor the first portfolio rangedfrom 33 (40%) gaining over 70%

(First class) to 9 (11%) gainingless than 40% (Fail)(Table 3).There is a strong correlationbetween marks gained inPortfolio 1 and Portfolio 2(Pearson CorrelationCoefficient = 0.512, p0.05, N=73). However,there was a highly significantpositive correlation betweenthe mark for Portfolio 1 and theusage (percentage of pagesaccessed) of the AcademicWriting tutorial (0.659, P

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Figure 3. Patterns of student use of the online tutorials by provenance

Figure 4. Patterns of student use of the online tutorials with age.

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Figure 5 Mean total number of hits of tutorials with attendance.

Figure 6 Mean usage (proportion of tutorial accessed) with attendance.

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75/95 (78%) of the studentsattempted the quizzes and 22/95 (29%) obtained full marks,often making several attemptsuntil they got the right answers.This “drill and practice” wasreflected in an overallreduction in the most frequenttype of errors made inreferences by the students incomparison with the previousyear (Kendall, 2005).

3. Conclusions

Overall, the conclusion wasthat the innovation hadenhanced student learning byproviding an alternativemethod of delivery, facilities forstudents to test themselvesthrough interactive quizzes andopportunities to go back overmaterial in their own time whichmay have been particularlyuseful for some internationalstudents. However, somestudents chose not to attendeither face-to-face or online.The number not submittingassignments remained similar tothat of the previous year and isan enduring cause for concern.

Direct assessment of two of thetutorials encouraged use andthere were strong correlationsbetween those students doingwell in assessment and use.Although the extent to whichthe students accessed allpages of the tutorials was lowerfor the other tutorials on topicsassessed through portfolioassignments, in some casesonline delivery may haveenabled students to makeappropriate decisions on theirexisting skill levels , e.g. in theuse of Powerpoint. However,the need for further incentivesfor completing the group worktutorial was apparent.

4. Subsequentaction

For 2004/5, the online tutorialsremain a key feature of the unit,but on the basis of the study,adjustments to the blend offace to face and onlinelearning were made:

• Some of the formal lectureslots were re-introduced inthe autumn term

• Further incentives forattendance wereintroduced through fourformal meetings withpersonal tutors over theyear.

• A percentage of theassessment of the LCT unit isnow based on submission offorms relating to theirPersonal DevelopmentPlans.

Further qualitative researchinto the online learningexperiences of mature andinternational students isplanned, to gain a deeperinsight into their experiences toinform future developments.

At the beginning of theacademic year 2004/5, copiesof the tutorials were used tocreate a new WebCT StudySupport area available tosecond year students forremedial support. Trackingshowed that by mid-January2005, only 11 had revisitedpages from at least one of thetutorials, althoughconsiderable use of all thetutorials was made by a maturedirect entrant into year 2.

The Study Support area wasalso made available tostudents on a taughtconversion Masters

programme. This recruitsstudents with first degrees in anydiscipline, some returning toacademic study after asignificant time in theworkplace, and someinternational students studyingin the UK for the first time.Tracking showed a higher levelof self-referral than for theundergraduates, as all but twoof the 48 postgraduates hadvisited the Study Support area,sixteen of whom had mademore than 50 hits, and ninemore than 100. The Reportwriting tutorial was the mostheavily used’

WebCT’s tracking facilitiesenabled an insight into studentuse of the online resourceswhich would otherwise nothave been possible. Theyhelped to measure the impactof the tutorials and informfurther responses to teachingand supporting learning forincreasingly diverse groups ofstudents.

Alicia Prowsea.prowse@mmu.ac.uk

0161 247 6136

Margaret Kendallm.a.kendall@mmu.ac.uk

0161 247 6141

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KENDALL, M., 2005. Tackling student referencing errors through anonline tutorial. Aslib Proceedings: new information perspectives. 57(2) pp.131-145

WILLIAMS, P. and QUINSEE, S., 2003. Using WebCT to teachkey skills. Library and Information Update, 2(2), pp. 42-43

ALEXANDER, S., 2004. Students’ online learning experiences:Information and Computer Sciences. SOLE case study series.Bristol: Learning and Teaching Support Network and JISCAvailable from: http://sole.ilrt.bris.ac.uk

HIGHER EDUCATION STATISTICS AGENCY PerformanceIndicators in Higher Education in the UK 2002/3Available from http://www.hesa.ac.uk/pi/

e-learninge-learninge-learninge-learninge-learning

One of the first questions I asked whenI took up my post as a Criminologistin August 2002 was - What virtuallearning platform is used at MMU? Iwas fortunate because my Head ofDepartment actually knew the answerand also pointed me in the virtualdirection of the ‘Learning and Teachingin Action’ publication which, thatissue, was dedicated to InformationTechnology. This article, and otherssubsequently, provided a wealth ofinformation on teaching in general andonline delivery in particular and I willmake reference to those I have founduseful over the years. I had usedBlackBoard in my previous post atJohn Moores University and so RachelForsyth’s article on the history ofWebCT at MMU was veryinformative1 . Her article alsoexplained how I could get started withusing the technology and so, with abasic introductory training packageunder my belt, I was able to launch aWebCT module for first yearCriminology students that September.

This was my first step to developinge-learning within the Criminologycurriculum and the first step towardsthat particular cohort of studentsbecoming the guinea-pigs of every ideaand innovation in e-learning during theintervening three years! By 2005 itseemed only fair to canvass theseGuinea Pigs on their experience and it

the guinea-pigs bite back!Helen JonesDepartment ofSociology

resulted in some very insightful andinformative feedback.

Backgroundthe Guinea Piglets and I startour journey

September 2002 saw the launch of thefirst WebCT module within theCriminology curriculum. Humanitiesand Social Science has had acomparatively poor uptake of WebCTuntil fairly recently. Som Naidu’s2research in 2003 on the use andperception of e-learning at MMUhighlighted the poor level of uptake oftraining and the small number ofWebCT developers within the Faculty.

I started by embedding WebCT into myfirst year ‘Crime, Punishment andPenality’ unit and introduced it tostudents through a paragraph in theunit handbook and as part of theirintroductory lecture. The students inthis cohort were my Guinea Pigs andthey have had to put up with mynumerous mistakes along the years!Because they were just starting theiruniversity career everything, not justWebCT, was new to them. Theyaccepted WebCT as just another thingthey would have to get used to aboutstudying at university.

These students studying on theCriminology & Sociology andCriminology & Contemporary Culturedegree routes have subsequently hadunits containing WebCT modulesthroughout their three years. Asmentioned above, these Guinea Pigswere the first exiting Criminologycohort to have had the experience ofon-line delivery for the whole threeyears of their degree. It has beenargued that “in any learning endeavour,knowledge about learners and theirpreferences is precious”. 3 This isperhaps even more pertinent whenthose learners have worked alongsideyou for three years and are just aboutto leave university.

In the first year, students experincedWebCT blended with traditionaldelivery methods (lectures, seminars,tutorials, etc) and WebCT was usedmainly to support the unit throughonline documentation storage anddelivery:

• administrative materials including asyllabus, course handbook, etc

• class/lecture materials includinghandouts, overheads and readinglists

References