Undergraduate Learners’ Perceptions of Blended Learning & Its Relationship With Some Demographic And Experiential Variables At The Arab Open University-Bahrain Branch

أسم المؤلف: Samya Ali Juma Shehab

الوصف:
This research focused on the undergraduate learners’ perceptions of blended learning at the Arab Open University – Bahrain Branch (AOU-BH). It also focused on factors that influence learners’ perception and examined the relationships between learners’ perceptions and their particular demographic characteristics (age, gender, educational level, experience with the internet, and employment status). In addition, the interrelationships between the perception dimensions were examined. This research also aimed at investigating the relationship between learners’ satisfaction and the perception dimensions. Learners’ perception dimensions in this study were: the course interaction, the learners’ autonomy provided in the course, the course structure, the quality of instructional methods, and the course interface. The course interaction dimension was composed of two sub-dimensions: learner-learner interaction and learner-instructor interaction. The course structure (CS) was also composed of two sub-dimensions the CS-content and CS-assessment. The researcher developed an instrument to measure the perception dimensions and satisfaction with blended learning. The instrument was administered to a sample of 779 AOU_BH undergraduate learners. MANOVA, ANOVA, correlations, and multiple regressions were used to analyze the data. Findings indicated that the overall learners’ perception of blended learning at the Arab Open University – Bahrain Branch was found to be positive. Age and gender were found to be insignificant factors in the learners’ overall perception. Learners’ educational level was found to be a significant factor for learner-learner interaction and course interface. The relationship between learners’ experience with the internet and the perception dimensions was found to be significant. Learners who had more experience with the internet expressed significantly higher positive perception of the blended learning program. The more internet experience the learner had, the more autonomy he/she could practice in a blended learning course. When relationships between perception dimensions were examined it was found that: The relationships between learner-learner interaction and learner-instructor interaction, course structure sub-dimensions, and course interface, were insignificant. Significant relationships were found between learner-instructor interaction with course structure sub-dimensions, and with course interface. The relationships between course structure sub-dimensions and the course interface were significant. The relationships between learner autonomy with the interaction sub-dimensions and the course structure sub-dimensions, interaction sub-dimensions, and course interface were significant. The relationship between learners’ satisfaction with most perception dimensions, namely: course structure sub-dimensions, quality of instructional methods, and interface was significant moderately positive. The relationship between learners’ satisfaction and the interaction sub-dimensions was significant and weakly positive. The perception dimensions, when taken together, had a sizeable effect on satisfaction with blended learning. However, quality of instructional methods and interface were the most important dimensions for explaining learners’ satisfaction with blended learning.

التوثيق: Shehab, S. A. (2007). Undergraduate Learners’ Perceptions of Blended Learning & Its Relationship With Some Demographic And Experiential Variables At The Arab Open University-Bahrain Branch. Kingdom of Bahrain: Arabian Gulf University.