Highlights
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Blended Learning (BL) has been advocated in higher education section.
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This study investigates the impacts of self-directed learning, technology readiness, and learning motivation on students’ perception of three presences (social, teaching, cognitive).
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Results show that students in the BL group achieve significantly higher social presence than students in the NBL group.
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Self-directed learning has significant and direct impacts on the cognitive presence of students in the BL setting.
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Student technology readiness plays a stronger role in impacting the teaching presence in BL environment than NBL environment.
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Social presence has significant impacts on the other two presences.
Introduction
Literature review
Blended learning
Theory of planned behaviour and social cognitive theory
Community of inquiry
Self-directed learning and learning effectiveness
Technology readiness and learning effectiveness
Learning motivation
Research questions
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Q1. Is there difference between students attending BL courses and student attending traditional classroom course in their perception of CoI?
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Q2. Do self-directed learning and technology readiness have equal influences on students’ motivation and perception of CoI between BL and traditional classroom course?
Methodology
Research hypotheses
Impacts of self-directed learning
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H1.Student self-directed learning readiness positively correlates with students’ perception of CoI
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H2. Self-directly learning positively correlates with learning motivation
Impacts of technology readiness
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H3. Student Technology readiness positively correlates with students’ perception of CoI
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H4. Technology readiness positively correlates with learning motivation
Impacts of learning motivation
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H5. Student learning motivation correlates with students’ perception of CoI
Relationships between three presences
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H6. Social presence positively correlates with cognitive and teaching occurrences
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H6a. Social presence positively correlates with teaching presence
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H6b. Social presence positively correlates with the cognitive presence
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Blended learning context for engineering students
Data collection
Instrument
Measurement model estimation
Latent variable | MVs | Cronbach’s alpha | Dillon-Goldstein’s rho | Composite reliability | AVE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Learning motivation (LM) | 4 | 0.754 | 0.757 | 0.843 | 0.574 |
Self-directed learning readiness (SDL) | 3 | 0.703 | 0.713 | 0.834 | 0.626 |
Technology readiness (TRD) | 4 | 0.814 | 0.825 | 0.878 | 0.643 |
Social presence (SP) | 4 | 0.786 | 0.790 | 0.862 | 0.611 |
Cognitive presence (CP) | 6 | 0.858 | 0.859 | 0.894 | 0.586 |
Teaching presence (TP) | 5 | 0.842 | 0.850 | 0.888 | 0.613 |
Latent variable | Manifest Variable | Outer weight | Factor loadings | Communality |
---|---|---|---|---|
Learning motivation (LM) | LM1 | 0.295 | 0.752 | 0.566 |
LM2 | 0.313 | 0.784 | 0.615 | |
LM3 | 0.333 | 0.731 | 0.534 | |
LM8 | 0.380 | 0.762 | 0.581 | |
Self-directed learning readiness (SDL) | SD4 | 0.400 | 0.781 | 0.610 |
SD6 | 0.481 | 0.826 | 0.682 | |
SD9 | 0.380 | 0.765 | 0.585 | |
Technology readiness (TRD) | TRD1 | 0.282 | 0.720 | 0.518 |
TRD3 | 0.285 | 0.826 | 0.682 | |
TRD4 | 0.314 | 0.805 | 0.648 | |
TRD5 | 0.363 | 0.851 | 0.724 | |
Social presence (SP) | SP2 | 0.295 | 0.712 | 0.507 |
SP4 | 0.316 | 0.757 | 0.573 | |
SP5 | 0.334 | 0.828 | 0.686 | |
SP6 | 0.333 | 0.823 | 0.677 | |
CP1 | 0.240 | 0.766 | 0.587 | |
Cognitive presence (CP) | CP2 | 0.208 | 0.756 | 0.572 |
CP3 | 0.202 | 0.801 | 0.642 | |
CP4 | 0.222 | 0.802 | 0.643 | |
CP5 | 0.206 | 0.733 | 0.537 | |
CP6 | 0.229 | 0.731 | 0.534 | |
Teaching presence (TP) | TP1 | 0.212 | 0.708 | 0.501 |
TP2 | 0.258 | 0.766 | 0.587 | |
TP3 | 0.239 | 0.782 | 0.612 | |
TP4 | 0.280 | 0.836 | 0.699 | |
TP5 | 0.283 | 0.816 | 0.666 |
Cognitive presence(CP) | Learning motivation (LM) | Self-directed learning readiness (SDL) | Social presence (SP) | Teaching presence (TP) | Technology readiness (TRD) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cognitive presence (CP) |
0.765
| |||||
Learning motivation (LM) | 0.520 |
0.758
| ||||
Self-directed learning readiness (SDL) | 0.469 | 0.531 |
0.791
| |||
Social presence (SP) | 0.664 | 0.600 | 0.405 |
0.782
| ||
Teaching presence (TP) | 0.617 | 0.583 | 0.429 | 0.697 |
0.783
| |
Technology readiness (TRD) | 0.315 | 0.410 | 0.417 | 0.323 | 0.423 |
0.802
|
Results
Student demographics
Blended | Non-Blended | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gender | Male | 66 | Male | 64 | 130 |
Female | 30 | Female | 47 | 77 | |
Age | 20 or below | 47 | 20 or below | 11 | 58 |
Above 20 | 49 | Above 20 | 100 | 149 | |
Year | 2nd year | 32 | 2nd year | 2 | 34 |
3rd year | 54 | 3rd year | 16 | 70 | |
4th year | 10 | 4th year | 93 | 103 | |
Total | 96 | 111 | 207 |
Difference between BL and NBL groups
Mean Score | S.D. | BL Mean | S.D. | NBL Mean | S.D. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Learning motivation | 3.630 | 0.532 | 3.636 | 0.541 | 3.624 | 0.526 |
LM1 | 3.780 | 0.748 | 3.725 | 0.773 | 3.826 | 0.727 |
LM2 | 3.807 | 0.719 | 3.814 | 0.714 | 3.802 | 0.726 |
LM3 | 3.561 | 0.785 | 3.608 | 0.785 | 3.521 | 0.786 |
LM4 | 3.623 | 0.760 | 3.676 | 0.747 | 3.579 | 0.772 |
LM5 | 3.637 | 0.799 | 3.696 | 0.755 | 3.587 | 0.833 |
LM6 | 3.395 | 0.868 | 3.402 | 0.824 | 3.388 | 0.907 |
LM7 | 3.650 | 0.813 | 3.588 | 0.813 | 3.703 | 0.813 |
LM8 | 3.565 | 0.840 | 3.559 | 0.765 | 3.570 | 0.902 |
Self-directed learning | 3.496 | 0.584 | 3.426 | 0.524 | 3.555 | 0.627 |
SD1 | 3.520 | 0.915 | 3.441 | 0.929 | 3.587 | 0.901 |
SD2 | 3.260 | 0.802 | 3.294 | 0.752 | 3.231 | 0.844 |
SD3 | 3.238 | 0.712 | 3.196 | 0.745 | 3.273 | 0.683 |
SD4 | 3.466 | 0.793 | 3.412 | 0.825 | 3.512 | 0.765 |
SD5 | 3.574 | 2.766 | 3.324 | 0.760 | 3.785 | 3.684 |
SD6 | 3.552 | 0.769 | 3.431 | 0.777 | 3.653 | 0.750 |
SD7 | 3.601 | 0.837 | 3.569 | 0.802 | 3.628 | 0.867 |
SD8 | 3.507 | 0.782 | 3.490 | 0.728 | 3.521 | 0.828 |
SD9 | 3.570 | 0.725 | 3.490 | 0.754 | 3.636 | 0.695 |
SD10 | 3.668 | 0.715 | 3.608 | 0.692 | 3.719 | 0.733 |
Technology readiness | 3.569 | 0.515 | 3.562 | 0.587 | 3.574 | 0.448 |
TRD1 | 3.794 | 0.778 | 3.716 | 0.813 | 3.860 | 0.745 |
TRD2 | 3.798 | 0.704 | 3.784 | 0.766 | 3.810 | 0.650 |
TRD3 | 3.592 | 0.771 | 3.559 | 0.896 | 3.620 | 0.649 |
TRD4 | 3.462 | 0.868 | 3.500 | 0.941 | 3.430 | 0.804 |
TRD5 | 3.507 | 0.848 | 3.431 | 0.939 | 3.570 | 0.762 |
TRD6 | 3.399 | 0.879 | 3.324 | 0.903 | 3.463 | 0.857 |
TRD7 | 3.619 | 0.743 | 3.608 | 0.810 | 3.628 | 0.685 |
TRD8 | 3.363 | 0.848 | 3.559 | 0.815 | 3.198 | 0.843 |
Social presence | 3.535 | 0.520 | 3.559 | 0.579 | 3.515 | 0.467 |
SP1 | 3.534 | 0.709 | 3.500 | 0.728 | 3.562 | 0.694 |
SP2 | 3.700 | 0.640 | 3.755 | 0.681 | 3.653 | 0.602 |
SP3 | 3.592 | 0.716 | 3.647 | 0.779 | 3.546 | 0.658 |
SP4 | 3.668 | 0.709 | 3.618 | 0.797 | 3.711 | 0.625 |
SP5 | 3.404 | 0.810 | 3.422 | 0.789 | 3.388 | 0.830 |
SP6 | 3.314 | 0.805 | 3.412 | 0.813 | 3.231 | 0.793 |
Cognitive presence | 3.542 | 0.576 | 3.518 | 0.611 | 3.562 | 0.548 |
CP1 | 3.543 | 0.733 | 3.539 | 0.792 | 3.546 | 0.683 |
CP2 | 3.498 | 0.753 | 3.382 | 0.784 | 3.595 | 0.714 |
CP3 | 3.556 | 0.797 | 3.510 | 0.829 | 3.595 | 0.770 |
CP4 | 3.583 | 0.754 | 3.529 | 0.792 | 3.628 | 0.720 |
CP5 | 3.525 | 0.776 | 3.490 | 0.767 | 3.554 | 0.785 |
CP6 | 3.520 | 0.770 | 3.598 | 0.721 | 3.455 | 0.806 |
CP7 | 3.570 | 0.845 | 3.578 | 0.826 | 3.562 | 0.865 |
Teaching presence | 3.611 | 0.861 | 3.733 | 1.032 | 3.507 | 0.671 |
TP1 | 3.713 | 0.799 | 3.706 | 0.765 | 3.719 | 0.829 |
TP2 | 3.579 | 0.828 | 3.696 | 0.742 | 3.479 | 0.886 |
TP3 | 3.498 | 0.890 | 3.627 | 0.832 | 3.388 | 0.925 |
TP4 | 3.704 | 2.843 | 3.618 | 0.821 | 3.446 | 0.885 |
TP5 | 3.561 | 0.780 | 3.627 | 0.730 | 3.504 | 0.818 |
Variable | Blended | Non-Blended | Mean diff. | F-value | Sig. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean score | Mean score | ||||
Self-directed learning readiness | 3.426 | 3.555 | −0.129 | 0.003 | 0.956 |
Technology readiness | 3.562 | 3.574 | −0.0.12 | 6.100 | 0.014* |
Social presence | 3.559 | 3.515 | 0.044 | 9.363 | 0.002** |
Cognitive presence | 3.518 | 3.562 | −0.044 | 1.377 | 0.242 |
Teaching presence | 3.733 | 3.507 | 0.226 | 1.175 | 0.280 |
Learning motivation | 3.636 | 3.624 | 0.012 | 0.255 | 0.614 |
PLS modelling results
Cognitive presence (CP) | Social presence (SP) | Teaching presence (TP) | Learning motivation (LM) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | Indirect | Direct | Indirect | Direct | Indirect | Direct | Indirect | |
Learning motivation (LM) | 0.258*** | 0.473*** | 0.246*** | |||||
Self-directed learning readiness (SDL) | 0.343*** | 0.146*** | 0.268*** | 0.139*** | 0.567*** | |||
Social presence (SP) | 0.544*** | 0.520*** | ||||||
Technology readiness (TRD) | 0.046n.s. | 0.084n.s. | 0.084*** | 0.043n.s. | 0.177* |
Cognitive presence (CP) | Social presence (SP) | Teaching presence (TP) | Learning motivation (LM) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | Indirect | Direct | Indirect | Direct | Indirect | Direct | Indirect | |
Learning motivation (LM) | 0.455*** | 0.506*** | 0.187** | 0.679*** | ||||
Self-directed learning readiness (SDL) | 0.113n.s. | 0.101n.s. | 0.172n.s. | 0.137n.s. | 0.131n.s. | |||
Social presence (SP) | 0.449*** | 0.516*** | ||||||
Technology readiness (TRD) | 0.184* | 0.312** | 0.175* | 0.248** | 0.292** |
Justification of the hypotheses
Hypotheses | BL group | NBL Group |
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H1.Student self-directed learning readiness positively correlates with students’ perception of CoI | ||
H1a.Student self-directed learning readiness positively correlates with student teaching presence | Not support | Not support |
H1b.Student self-directed learning readiness positively correlates with student cognitive presence | Support | Not support |
H1c.Student self-directed learning readiness positively correlates with student social presence | Not Support | Not Support |
H2.Self-directly learning positively correlates with learning motivation | Support | Not support |
H3.Student Technology readiness positively correlates with students’ perception of CoI | ||
H3a.Student Technology readiness positively correlates with student teaching presence | Support | Support |
H3b.Student Technology readiness positively correlates with student cognitive presence | Not support | Not Support |
H3c.Student Technology readiness positively correlates with student social presence | Not support | Not Support |
H4.Technology readiness positively correlates with learning motivation | Support | Support |
H5.Student learning motivation correlates with students’ perception of CoI | ||
H5a.Student learning motivation correlates with students’ perception of teaching presence | Not support | Support |
H5b.Student learning motivation correlates with students’ perception of cognitive presence | Not support | Not Support |
H5c.Student learning motivation correlates with students’ perception of social presence | Support | Support |
H6. Social presence positively correlates with the cognitive and teaching presences | ||
H6a. Social presence positively correlates with teaching presence | Support | Support |
H6b. Social presence positively correlates with the cognitive presence | Support | Support |