Twelfth International Conference on e-Learning & Innovative Pedagogies

Abstract

This paper investigates the effectiveness of a blended learning environment through analyzing the relationship between student characteristics/background, design features and learning outcomes, followed by identifying the factors (among the learner characteristics and blended learning design features) of blended learning effectiveness leading to quality blended learning in higher education environment. A survey was administered to purposively selected 75 students (who will be taking blended classes during the academic year 2018) from 12 outreach centres located in different atolls in the Maldives to gather data on student characteristics/background, design features and learning outcomes. The final semester evaluation results were used as a measure for performance as an outcome. The online self-regulatory learning questionnaire for data on learner self-regulation, the intrinsic motivation inventory for data on intrinsic motivation and other self-developed instruments for measuring the other constructs were used. Pearson correlation was used to identify the factors of blended learning effectiveness. The results showed that blended learning design features (technology quality, Moodle & resources, and face-to-face support) and learner characteristics/backgrounds (attitudes and self-regulation) predicted student satisfaction as an outcome. The results indicate that some of the learner characteristics/backgrounds and design features are significant predictors for student learning outcomes in blended learning.