Influence of blended learning on outcomes of students attending a general chemistry course: summary of a five-year-long study

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 682-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Bernard ◽  
P. Broś ◽  
A. Migdał-Mikuli

The development of the Internet, communication technologies and teaching methods creates new opportunities for the modernisation of academic classes. Many studies on the application of new educational models indicate that they are both more effective and preferred by students over classical approaches. Additionally, combining various education methods and didactic tools is a common approach, ensuring a high degree of flexibility in the courses and the ability to satisfy the expectations and needs of students with various inclinations, learning styles and intelligence types. In this study, an attempt was made to determine the effects of blended learning on the outcomes of biophysics students attending a general chemistry course. The blended learning model applied covered a combination of classically organised classes, flipped classes, and elements of distance learning supplemented with various multimedia resources. The study had a quantitative character and involved analysis of variance for comparison of student cohorts taking the course in classical and in modernised forms. The study was run for five consecutive years and covered 98 students. The obtained results indicated a statistically significant increase in the students' outcomes after the classes were modernised.

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Cláudia DALMOLIN ◽  
Giselle Ariana Otto MACKEIVICZ ◽  
Márcia Thaís POCHAPSKI ◽  
Gibson Luiz PILATTI ◽  
Fábio André SANTOS

Abstract Introduction Education in the health sciences has been undergoing profound changes due to the incorporation of information and communication technologies. Students learn through a variety of approaches, according to their learning styles. Blended learning, which combines technology-aided learning (e-learning) with traditional face-to-face teaching methods, has been found to improve learning outcomes. Objective The aims of the present study were to evaluate the learning styles of undergraduate dental students and their experience towards the use of e-learning. Material and method Two electronic questionnaires were sent to 174 students. The learning styles were determined by the Felder & Soloman Index (ILS), which evaluates the following four dimensions of learning: processing information (active-reflexive); perceiving information (sensorial-intuitive); receiving information (visual-verbal); and understanding information (sequential-global). To determine the e-learning experience we used four questions (Likert scale – five-point) which addressed the experience and the use of information and communication technologies. Result Most students presented a well-balanced style for the active-reflective (60%) and sequential-global (68%) domains. The sensing style (64%) was predominant. A lower percentage presented a global characteristic (9%). We did not find significant differences regarding the age groups (19-21 and 22-33 years) and genders (P>0.05, χ 2). However, in terms of age the difference was significant concerning websites helping in learning (P=0.0363, Mann-Whitney). Conclusion We conclude that the students do not have the same learning styles and e-learning experience. Methods such as blended learning could provide advantages when teaching undergraduate dental students.


Author(s):  
Олег Анатольевич Гришин ◽  
Дина Халитовна Шабаева

Процессы цифровой трансформации, достигая глобальных масштабов развития и распространения, не только затрагивают коммуникационные технологии, но и оказывают преобразовательное воздействие на все сферы социально-правового взаимодействия. Так, киберпространственные механизмы являются частью современного электронного документооборота. Электронная цифровая подпись в настоящее время представляет собой широко распространенный продукт цифрового развития общества. До настоящего периода времени принято было считать, что она обладает характеристиками высокой степени правовой надежности и безопасности. Авторы статьи, анализируя практику правонарушений в сфере применения электронной цифровой подписи, ставят под сомнение данный довод. Отмечая слабые стороны механизма подтверждения правомочным лицом авторства при помощи криптографически преобразованного путем электронного шифрования реквизита документа, они предлагают возможные пути разрешения существующих на современном этапе вопросов данной области социально-правового взаимодействия: обязательного присутствия лица, либо лично, либо он-лайн, с видеофиксацией и его идентификацией. The processes of digital transformation, reaching global scales of development and dissemination affect not only communication technologies, but also have a transformative impact on all spheres of social and legal interaction. Thus, cyberspace mechanisms are part of the modern electronic document flow. Electronic digital signature is currently a widespread product of digital development of society. Until now, it has been generally assumed that it has the characteristics of a high degree of legal reliability and security. The authors of the article, analyzing the practice of offenses in the field of electronic digital signature, question this argument. Noting the weaknesses of the mechanism for confirming authorship by an authorized person with the help of cryptographically-converted by electronic encryption of the document details, they suggest possible ways to resolve existing issues in this area of social and legal interaction at the present stage. Mandatory presence of the person, either in person or online, with video recording and identification.


2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seng Chee Lim ◽  
Ahmad Suhaimi Baharudin

The powerful of Internet has changed the world. The successful story from Amazon.com has encouraged some business owners to switch their business model to e-business model. In year 1997, Malaysia's government allocated some budget to setup Internet infrastructure and introduce Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) to public. The main objective is to transform current practice to service based platform, and to attract world class companies while grooming local Internet communication technologies (ICT) companies. Besides that, the government had put efforts to increase Internet user population such as taxes deduction for family who purchase computers, educate the public the importance of master Internet technologies. After a decade of implementation, the e-Commerce adoption response from the Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) still do not reach the considerable level, based on Association Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industries of Malaysia SME's survey it shows 28% of the respondents involve into e-Commerce activities. Small Medium Enterprises contribute 99.2% to Malaysia's economic. This study intends to find out the level of e-Commerce adoption among SMEs in Malaysia, and potential factors that hindrance to the e-Commerce adoption.


Author(s):  
Alexey Salikov

The question of how the digital transformation of the public sphere affects political processes has been of interest to researchers since the spread of the Internet in the early 1990s. However, today there is no clear or unambiguous answer to this question; expert estimates differ radically, from extremely positive to extremely negative. This article attempts to take a comprehensive approach to this issue, conceptualizing the transformations taking place in the public sphere under the influence of Internet communication technologies, taking their political context into account, and identifying the relationship between these changes and possible transformations of political regimes. In order to achieve these goals, several tasks are tackled during this research. The first section examines the issue as to whether the concept of the public sphere can be used in a non-democratic context. It also delineates two main types of the public sphere, the “democratic public sphere” and the “authoritarian public sphere,” in order to take into account the features of public discourse in the context of various political regimes. The second section discusses the special aspects of the digital transformation of the public sphere in a democratic context. The third section considers the special aspects of the digital transformation of the public sphere in a non-democratic context. The concluding section summarizes the results of the study, states the existing gaps and difficulties, outlines the ways for their possible extension, and raises questions requiring attention from other researchers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-140
Author(s):  
Wichian Deechai ◽  
Thanongsak Sovajassatakul ◽  
Sirirat Petsangsri

Abstract The objective of this research was to evaluate the need for blended learning development to enhance the critical thinking of students. Selected by using multistage random sampling, the 450 samples comprised of 376 vocational students and 69 teachers at vocational level. The research instrument used was a needs evaluation form, which was necessary to improve blended learning to enhance critical thinking. The index of consistency (IOC) was between 0.56-1.00, and the total reliability was 0.94. The research was conducted and data collected from July 2018 to August 2018. 445 completed evaluation forms, 98.88% of the total sent out, were returned to researchers. Frequency, percentage, PNI(Modified), and content analysis were used to analyze the data. The research results showed that the vocational students and teachers agreed on the same point that there should be development of student critical thinking skills. This development should comprise of critical thinking skills, learning achievement, and learning management. The recommendations made for improvement were to increase discipline within educational institutes, and to change and add facilities to support modern learning styles. Testing styles should be modern and correspond to student contexts. Moreover, learning styles should be improved to be up-to-date and to correspond to students’ needs and their real lives.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3D) ◽  
pp. 494-501
Author(s):  
Evgeny A. Slizsky ◽  
Vladimir V. Plotnikov ◽  
Andrey P. Tyun ◽  
Ekaterina I. Khubuluri

The issue of inter-group social conflicts development is one of the most acute problems of modern society. Within the framework of this article (on the example of inter-ethnic interaction) there is considered the question of modern communication technologies in the field of inter-group interaction. The study proves that with the intensive development of modern means of communication, there takes place a significant intensification of social risks associated with inter-group conflicts (intensity of aggravation factors and increase in the scale of inter-group confrontations). At the level of inter-ethnic interaction, all that is primarily due to the negative stereotypes of different ethnic groups, as well as to the replication of negative interaction experiences in different ethnic groups (with an emphasis on ethnicity).


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-22
Author(s):  
Olga Samsonova

In the present time, the required value of education can be achieved only by changing the parameters related to technology use and transforming a classroom into a student-centered that meets different students' needs and learning styles. The blended learning (BL) approach to learning has been the object of various studies in the last two decades as a way to achieve the required results.  Many higher educational institutes started to prefer BL over traditional teaching, and the UAE universities are not exceptions. There has been an increased recognition of the fact that more attention needs to be paid to this area. Hence, this selected annotated bibliography aimed to find out and describe the primary outcomes of the BL approach research in this country. Emergent themes from the UAE studies include 1) students' and instructors' technology readiness and their attitudes towards E-learning; 2) students' and instructors' views and experiences with BL approach; 3) BL tools and technologies (mobile learning and social-networking sites); 4) BL resources (Blackboard Learn, video content, online discussions, and Google Docs); 5) impact of BL. Twenty studies have been used for this review. The primary audience for this annotated bibliography is BL researchers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2 (24)) ◽  
pp. 85-91
Author(s):  
Marianna Ohanyan

Online learning is one of the most rapidly growing trends in educational use of digital technologies. The article touches upon the importance of MyEnglishLab as one of the newest tools for blended English language learning. Due to the pandemics of the 2020 many learners began to implement different tools of digital technology to an increasing extent. An effective and appropriate tool for learning English aimed at developing communication skills allows to increase individualization of educational activity, to optimize mastering language structures and grammatical rules, and also to overcome some obstacles of both oral and written competences of the students. An interactive platform is one of the newest blended learning tools that combines different English language learning activities in a variety of formats. It is a web-based system providing learners 24 hours a day, 7 days a week online access to the teacher-managed course content, supports different learning styles, provides students with a large number of supervised practices. The platform MyEnglishLab contains lexical and grammatical tasks, audio materials listening and reading as well as watching videos. Tasks are performed in three stages: the formation of lexical and grammatical skills; improvement of language skills and using those phrases and sentences that were consolidated in the first stage in the dialogue with a computer; development of skills to use lexical and grammatical knowledge acquired during the previous two stages. The platform has options for choosing the number of attempts to perform both test exercises and training. In this article we present a research carried out among the freshmen of Yerevan State University Faculty of European Languages and Communication.


2018 ◽  
pp. 912-934
Author(s):  
Vicki Caravias

This paper presents a critical review and synthesis of research literature in higher education exploring teachers' conceptions of blended learning and their approaches to both design and teaching. Definitions of blended learning and conceptual frameworks are considered first. Attention is given to Picciano's Blending with Purpose Multimodal framework. This paper builds upon previous research on blended learning and conceptual framework by Picciano by exploring how objectives from Picciano's framework affect teachers' approaches to both design and teaching in face-to-face and online settings. Research results suggest that teachers use multiple approaches including face-to-face methods and online technologies that address the learning needs of a variety of students from different generations, personality types and learning styles.


Author(s):  
Peter J. Natale

Contemporary organizations are drastically changing, in large part due to the development and application of newer communication technologies and their respective media channel options. Within virtual organizations, business leaders are increasingly faced with issues associated with managing and communicating with their mobile workers. According to Richard L. Nolan and Hossam Galal of the Harvard Business School, global businesses are aggressively exploring and investing in the virtual organization paradigm. Furthermore, organizations of all sizes increasingly have become virtual in nature. In the case of organizations involved in information processing, newer communication technologies are being used by 71.9% of small firms and 81.3% of large firms, according to a Small Business Administration study. The same study also concluded that the number of U.S. companies that have virtual and telecommuting programs have more than doubled since 1990. The challenge for leaders within this rapidly changing environment is to determine the best ways to lead and communicate with increasing numbers of mobile staff members. These leaders have an astounding array of high technology communication tools to choose from when communicating with their employees. They also have concerns about the preferences and uses these workers have for various forms of communication. As organizations seek to optimize communication and share information with their mobile workers and scholars seek to understand the utility and influence of specific organizational communication technologies, such as PDAs and smartphones, which are rapidly emerging as a new and appealing communication tools. The core capability of these devices is a combination of software and hardware that transfers voice and e-mail wireless messages and performs other business related tasks. Current estimations indicate that mobile data will have a penetration rate among the U.S. population of nearly 60% in 2007. Scholars interested in how media channels are used within organizations have turned their attention to the nature, use, and effectiveness of communication tools such as these. They also have been interested in how the particular characteristics of employees relate to their preferences among traditional and newer communication channels. Media richness theory has been one theoretical framework which has been applied by researchers to this environment. Media richness in the organizational context involves the rational process of media selection in which the characteristics of each communication channel are matched with the content or information richness of a message in order to reduce uncertainty. One variable that may be at work when media types are selected in terms of their richness is “learning styles.” These individual learning styles and their relationship with media choices on the basis of richness has been studied previously (Rex, 2001), but not in the case of portable deices. Learning styles are different ways of learning; essentially scholars and practitioners concerned with learning styles have looked at the preferences of individuals and how they process information through their unique senses.


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