A Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews on Blended Learning: Trends, Gaps and Future Directions

Design and evaluation of blended teaching in the smart classroom combined with virtual simulation training in basic nursing courses

OBJECTIVE

This study explored the application effect of smart classrooms combined with virtual simulation training in basic nursing courses for nursing undergraduates.

METHODS

In this quasi-experimental study, a total of 135 undergraduate nursing students in the 2021 matriculating cohort were selected as the research subjects. The experimental group of Class 1 had 71 students, and a blended teaching design utilizing a smart classroom and virtual simulation training was adopted. The control group of Class 2 had 64 students, and traditional lecture-based teaching design was adopted. After the course, the independent learning ability scale, test scores and teaching effectiveness questionnaire were used to evaluate the teaching effect. All tests had a maximum score of 100.

RESULTS

Nursing undergraduates in the experimental group had scores of 86.32 ± 8.25 for virtual simulation training and 84.82 ± 9.04 for peer-assisted learning. The scores of the theoretical examination, experimental examination, and subjective questions in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The approval rate of nursing undergraduates in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group for four items (Ps < 0.05). Among the 71 students, most students (91.55%) claimed that the use of instructional designs increased the fun of the classroom. In addition to the dimension of information literacy, the total score of independent learning ability and the other three dimensions of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The teaching design combining smart classrooms and virtual simulation training can be applied to realize online blended teaching and classroom informatization, improving the academic performance and independent learning ability of nursing undergraduates, and thus achieving good teaching effects.

The application of blended learning in mathematics teacher education: Protocol for a systematic review

INTRODUCTION

In recent decades, especially in higher education, blended learning has become the most commonly used active teaching strategy. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, blended learning, which combines face-to-face and online components, is believed to overcome the shortcomings of conventional teaching methods, particularly in face-to-face interactions. Based on PRISMA guidelines, this study follows the protocol for a systematic review of blended learning applications in mathematics teacher education. This systematic review study aims to comprehend the potential of blended learning for various mathematical topics, the common blended learning models, and the benefits and challenges this teaching approach presents for educational stakeholders.

METHODS

Searches will be performed in various electronic databases, including Scopus, ScienceDirect, Taylor & Francis Online, Mendeley, Google Scholar, and ERIC. Selected studies that satisfy the inclusion criteria will document the use of various blended learning models in a range of mathematical topics as well as the advantages and disadvantages of this method of instruction. The data extraction process will be carried out independently by various authors, and the results of the data synthesis will be reported per the chosen studies, methodological considerations, and key findings.

DISCUSSION

This review will provide information about the application of blended learning and its benefits and challenges in mathematics teacher education to support educational stakeholders in mathematics teacher education.

Blended Learning in Algeria: Assessing Students' Satisfaction and Future Preferences Using SEM and Sentiment Analysis

Given the still existing restrictions of COVID-19, blended learning is undoubtedly becoming a better-fitting strategy for higher education institutions in underprivileged countries. Acknowledging the current changes in higher education, this study aims to investigate the elements that influence students' satisfaction and their future preferences regarding blended learning in Algeria. A total of 782 questionnaires were collected from different Algerian universities. A structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship among the latent variables of the proposed theoretical model. Moreover, an unsupervised sentiment analysis approach was applied to analyze the qualitative data received in the form of feedback from the participants. The results show that students' perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of blended learning had a significant positive impact on their satisfaction. Similarly, satisfaction had a positive influence on students' future preferences regarding blended learning. In turn, students' perceived ease of use and usefulness had an indirect effect on their future preferences, mediated by satisfaction. Additionally, qualitative data echoed students' eagerness to adopt more advanced learning technologies and what obstacles currently stand in their way. The contribution of this study is to reflect the current situation of blended learning adoption in developing countries and to support future curriculum planning and development. It can also help teachers, students, and policymakers to make better decisions and recommendations for an improved and more sustainable learning and teaching environment in the future.

Benavides Lahnstein A, Aristeidou M, Young AN, Johnson RF, Higgins LM, Ghadiri Khanaposhtani M, Robinson LD, Ballard HL. Young people in iNaturalist: a blended learning framework for biodiversity monitoring

Participation in authentic research in the field and online through Community and Citizen Science (CCS) has shown to bring learning benefits to volunteers. In online CCS, available platforms present distinct features, ranging from scaffolding the process of data collection, to supporting data analysis and enabling volunteers to initiate their own studies. What is yet not well understood is how best to design CCS programmes that are educational, inclusive, and accessible by diverse volunteers, including young people and those with limited prior science experiences who are rather few in CCS. In this study, we interviewed 31 young people, aged 7-20 years old, who used iNaturalist, an online biodiversity monitoring platform, and identified how different forms of participation online and in the field facilitated (or inhibited) certain forms of learning, as defined by the Environmental Science Agency framework. Findings revealed that iNaturalist enabled participation of young people including those with limited science experiences and facilitated science learning such as the development of science competence and understanding. A blended learning framework for biodiversity monitoring in CCS is presented as a means to support the development of hybrid, educational, and inclusive CCS programmes for young people.

Understanding university teachers' digital competencies: a systematic mapping study

Being digitally competent is an imperative requirement for the 21st century university teacher, a fact recognized by both the literature and policymakers. Although this topic has been addressed in different reviews and critical studies recently, none of them have systematically and explicitly addressed the factors that explain, or are explained by, the digital competencies of university teachers. Examples of these factors include, among others, demographic, professional and psychological aspects of university teachers, as well as very specific digital competencies. The present study seeks to close this gap through a systematic mapping of the literature published until 2021 in journals indexed by Scopus and Web of Science (WOS). Based on the selection of 53 primary studies, we characterized the literature and summarized the main results reported so far. The analysis allowed us to conclude the following: 1) there is a growing number of contributions aimed at understanding the acquisition of digital competencies, especially from external factors; 2) European, and more specifically Spanish, university teachers from multiple disciplines are the most studied population; 3) most studies adopted quantitative approaches to explain but not prove causality; 4) there is a great heterogeneity of relationships and results that explain the digital competencies of university professors. The implications of these results are discussed with a view to identifying the gaps that provide scope for future research.

Trends and patterns in blended learning research (1965-2022)

Blended learning (BL) applications, which are defined as a combination of online and face-to-face education processes and created with the strongest aspects of various teaching approaches, have attracted increasing attention particularly in recent years with the effect of the pandemic. Although blended learning studies, which have a wide range of content and variety of applications in the literature, have been examined by content analysis in many scientific studies, bibliometric studies that provide a comprehensive review of studies on BL and reveal a general map of scientific studies are extremely limited. The purpose of this research is to conduct a systematic analysis of BL studies around the world and to reveal general research trends by bibliometric method. In the scope of the research, 4,059 publications searched in the Scopus database between the years 1965-2022 were analyzed by VOSviewer and Leximancer software; the publications were examined from aspects such as year, subject, fund, citation, journal, country, common word, etc. An analysis of the research results reveals that studies on BL have increased in number in the literature since 2006; it has been found that the fields of social sciences, computer, medicine and engineering come to the forefront in the categorization of publications by subject, and the USA, UK, China and Australia are the most cited countries. As revealed by the findings of common word analysis, the studies mostly focus on the use of technology during the pandemic, current trends in education and technology, online learning environment and learner characteristics, teaching approaches, social media, motivation and medical education. Furthermore, it is understood that the most common terms in abstracts-keywords and titles of the studies reflect the learning process, the learner, the classroom environment, the model adopted, the system designed and medical education.

Implementation of a Student-Teacher-Based Blended Curriculum for the Training of Medical Students for Nasopharyngeal Swab and Intramuscular Injection: Mixed Methods Pre-Post and Satisfaction Surveys

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a major disruption in the health care sector with increased workload and the need for new staff to assist with screening and vaccination tasks. Within this context, teaching medical students to perform intramuscular injections and nasal swabs could help address workforce needs. Although several recent studies discuss medical students' role and integration in clinical activities during the pandemic, knowledge gaps exist concerning their role and potential benefit in designing and leading teaching activities during this period.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of our study was to prospectively assess the impact in terms of confidence, cognitive knowledge, and perceived satisfaction of a student-teacher-designed educational activity consisting of nasopharyngeal swabs and intramuscular injections for the training of second-year medical students in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland.

METHODS

This was a mixed methods pre-post surveys and satisfaction survey study. Activities were designed using evidence-based teaching methodologies based on the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely) criteria. All second-year medical students who did not participate in the activity's old format were recruited unless they explicitly stated that they wanted to opt out. Pre-post activity surveys were designed to assess perception of confidence and cognitive knowledge. An additional survey was designed to assess satisfaction in the mentioned activities. Instructional design was blended with a presession e-learning activity and a 2-hour practice session with simulators.

RESULTS

Between December 13, 2021, and January 25, 2022, a total of 108 second-year medical students were recruited; 82 (75.9%) students participated in the preactivity survey and 73 (67.6%) in the postactivity survey. Students' confidence in performing intramuscular injections and nasal swabs significantly increased on a 5-point Likert scale for both procedures-from 3.31 (SD 1.23) and 3.59 (SD 1.13) before the activity to 4.45 (SD 0.62) and 4.32 (SD 0.76) after the activity (P<.001), respectively. Perceptions of cognitive knowledge acquisition also significantly increased for both activities. For the nasopharyngeal swab, knowledge acquisition concerning indications increased from 2.7 (SD 1.24) to 4.15 (SD 0.83), and for the intramuscular injection, knowledge acquisition concerning indications increased from 2.64 (SD 1.1) to 4.34 (SD 0.65) (P<.001). Knowledge of contraindications for both activities increased from 2.43 (SD 1.1) to 3.71 (SD 1.12) and from 2.49 (SD 1.13) to 4.19 (SD 0.63), respectively (P<.001). High satisfaction rates were reported for both activities.

CONCLUSIONS

Student-teacher-based blended activities for training novice medical students in commonly performed procedural skills seem effective for increasing their confidence and cognitive knowledge and should be further integrated within a medical school curriculum. Blended learning instructional design increases students' satisfaction about clinical competency activities. Future research should elucidate the impact of student-teacher-designed and student-teacher-led educational activities.

Acceptance of Smart Technologies in Blended Learning: Perspectives of Chinese Medical Students

Smart technologies are essential in improving higher education teaching and learning. The present study explores the factors that influence students' behavioural intentions to adopt and use smart technologies in blended learning. Based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) model, a survey of 305 students was conducted to collect data. A structural equation model was applied to analyse the data. The findings show that adopting smart technologies requires appropriate social context and organizational support. Moreover, the data indicated that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, hedonic motivation, and habit are vital in determining students' behavioural intention to use smart technologies. However, facilitating conditions and price value were found to have no significant impact on the students' behavioural intention to use smart technologies. The study contributes to a better understanding of the nexus of blended learning and smart technologies, thus improving students' experiences in blended learning settings.

Online-Offline Teaching for Bio-Pharmaceutical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case Study of Advanced Mathematics in Application-Oriented Universities of China

Background

With the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of online teaching is becoming more and more prominent, especially for the basic advanced mathematics majoring in bio-pharmaceutical in colleges. However, the only online teaching model loses efficiency when facing the undergraduates in application-oriented universities.

Purpose

How to improve the teaching quality of advanced mathematics has always been a concern because the mathematical abilities of students in application-oriented universities are not ideal. In this article, we develop a blending online-offline teaching model that combined online teaching and offline outcome-based education (OBE), as an alternative to traditional offline education.

Methodology

The comparative analysis experiment is carried out to the two classes of undergraduates. The control group and the experimental group are, respectively, the 2020 class students and the 2021 class students majoring in bio-pharmaceutical. The experimental group students receive the combined teaching method, while the control group students receive the traditional offline education.

Results

(1) From the comparative analysis, we can find that the students under the online-offline teaching model are more differentiated than those under the traditional offline education model. (2) The online-offline teaching model equipped with “case study + knowledge point + applications” process has achieved a good teaching effect in the author's university.

Conclusion

The proposed teaching model can well stimulate students' interest in advanced mathematics learning and resonate with students through actual cases, thereby arousing students' autonomous learning drive and allowing them to apply what they have learned to professional fields.

Fostering ICT Competencies in Blended Learning: Role of Curriculum Content, Material, and Teaching Strategies

The study examined the direct and indirect influence of information communication technology (ICT)-integrated curriculum content, material, and teaching strategies on ICT competencies of students in blended learning. The ICT-integrated teaching strategies were used as a mediator in between the relationships of curriculum content, material, and ICT competencies. We used a survey questionnaire containing 26 items on the variables of research in this study. The data were collected from six universities in the Hunan Province of China. The target population consisted of undergraduate students of blended learning. In total, 486 participants participated in the study. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to measure the relationships among variables. The results revealed that there were significant and positive relationships among ICT-integrated curriculum content, material, teaching strategies, and ICT competencies of students. Furthermore, it was also revealed that ICT-integrated teaching strategies in blended learning mediated the relationships in between ICT integrated curriculum content, material, and ICT competencies. It was concluded that the effective curriculum content, curriculum material, and teaching strategies are the critical predictors of ICT competencies. Moreover, teaching strategies worked as an intervening factor between the curriculum content, curriculum material, and ICT competencies. The practical implications and directions for future research are also presented in this study.

Detecting latent topics and trends in blended learning using LDA topic modeling

With the rapid application of blended learning around the world, a large amount of literature has been accumulated. The analysis of the main research topics and development trends based on a large amount of literature is of great significance. To address this issue, this paper collected abstracts from 3772 eligible papers published between 2003 and 2021 from the Web of Science core collection. Through LDA topic modeling, abstract text content was analyzed, then 7 well-defined research topics were obtained. According to the topic development trends analysis results, the emphasis of topic research shifted from the initial courses about health, medicine, nursing, chemistry and mathematics to learning key elements such as learning outcomes, teacher factors, and presences. Among 7 research topics, the popularity of presences increased significantly, while formative assessment was a rare topic requiring careful intervention. The other five topics had no significant increase or decrease trends, but still accounted for a considerable proportion. Through word cloud analysis technology, the keyword characteristics of each stage and research focus changes of research were obtained. This study provides useful insights and implications for blended learning related research.

Influence of Online Merging Offline Method on University Students' Active Learning Through Learning Satisfaction

Students’ active learning behavior determines learning performance. In post-COVID-19 period, Online Merging Offline (OMO) method become a common way of university students’ learning. However, at present, there are few studies in active learning behavior in the OMO mode. Combined with learning satisfaction and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this paper proposes an Online Active Learning (OAL) Model to predict the influencing factors of college students’ active learning behavior and then analyzes the differences between OMO model and pure online model by multi-group analysis (MGA) based on the model. The designed questionnaire was distributed, and a total of 498 valid questionnaires were collected. Using SmartPLS to analyze partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and MGA, it is found that: (1) there are differences in the influencing factors of active learning between OMO and pure online model; the moderating effect of learning complaint in OMO mode is not established, and social isolation and age does not affect active learning in OMO mode; (2) learning quality, perceived ease of use, expectation, perceived usefulness, and social isolation indirectly affect active learning through learning satisfaction in both OMO model and pure online model; (3) learning satisfaction is an important mediating variable affecting active learning; and (4) learning complaints will negatively regulate the relationship between learning satisfaction and active learning only in pure online model. According to these findings, the paper provides theoretical and practical implementation suggestions implications for OMO teaching and OAL to ensure the expected learning outcome.