In this section, the results of this study which examined the experiences and opinions of elementary preservice teachers about the blended learning environment used in their science teaching methods course are discussed in relation to the related literature. When the experiences and opinions of the students about blended learning were analyzed for each factor separately, they expressed strong views about the blended learning attributes used in the science education methods course. The directions of these differences are explained in detail below.
Elementary preservice teachers enjoy face-to-face learning environment in the context of blended learning
The face-to-face factor, consisting of ten items, revealed the experiences and opinions of the students about the in-class F2F learning environment. When each item constituting the factor was analyzed separately, it was revealed that the experience and opinions are all positive. A few examples of the survey questions covering this factor included:
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“I think I learned better. (F2F3)”,
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“I communicated more easily with the teaching staff. (F2F7)”,
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“I communicated more easily with my friends. (F2F4)”, and
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“Teaching staff encouraged me to participate in the education process. (F2F9)”.
One of the reasons why all the student opinions about the in-class learning environment were positive could be the difference in the methods used in the F2F learning environment. Traditionally in-class learning activities, according to Bergmann and Sams (
2012) consist of a “flow” which includes the following:
(1)
short-term, warm-up phase,
(2)
control of previously assigned homework and providing feedback,
(3)
presentation of the new content of the course, and.
(4)
independent student-centred activities with teacher guidance.
Traditionally, these activities focus on memorizing information. However, these in-class activities should not only involve memorization by students but also include activities that promote active learning and critical thinking (Crawford, Saul, Mathews, & Makinster,
2005). To use in-class problem-solving activities, the instructor must provide the appropriate environment for the active participation of the students as the learning activities must be completed within the scheduled time. The participation of the learners within the course from an emotional and behavioural point of view is directly related to the interaction between the instructor and the student (Harris,
2011). This interaction also plays an important role in the academic performance of the student (Lee,
2012). The positive view of the pupils about the in-class F2F active learning environment showed that blended learning had a significant positive effect in this case. When other academic studies related to student perceptions were examined, similar results were observed. In a study conducted by Akgündüz and Akınoğlu (
2017) it was determined that 7th grade students had the opinion that “this type of course is more fun, I paid more attention to the lesson and participated in it and thus I learned better.” In another study it was found that computer science students expressed opinions such as “face-to-face learning is very advantageous, we learn by discussing subjects” (Akkoyunlu & Soylu,
2006).
In summary, the findings in this study, as well as similar academic studies in other fields, focused on blended learning have found that student experiences and opinions about the F2F learning component of the blended course are positive. It can be said that one of the main factors in the emergence of this result is that blended learning seems to have provided an in-class face-to-face learning environment that differed from the traditional classroom learning environment for teachers and students in its focus on active learning. For example, the use of active learning in undergraduate biology classes has been shown to have a positive effect on student motivation in introductory undergraduate biology classes (Armbruster, Patel, Johnson, & Weiss,
2009; Owens, Sadler, Barlow, & Smith-Walters,
2017). Thus, blended learning could have a positive impact on preservice elementary teachers’ perceptions about science in general as well as their motivation such that it might produce increased self-efficacy. As discussed in the literature review increased self-efficacy could lead to the increased valuing of science on the part of the future students of EPT (Riegle-Crumb et al.,
2015). In the case of EPT, these results may have helped to alleviate their fear of science and inquiry-oriented methods thus allowing them to teach using these methods in their future classes.
While this study showed that EPT had positive experiences in the F2F portion of the BL SMC in line with past research it did not examine the nature of those experiences. It was beyond the scope of this study to determine if the BL SMC produced shifts in EPT self-efficacy towards science. In the future studies that determine student shifts in the knowledge of both science content, and science pedagogy as well as feelings about science when participating in a BL SMC should be conducted.
Elementary preservice teachers experience mixed feelings about the on-line learning environment in the context of blended learning
The analysis of the 20 survey items targeting the OLE revealed the experiences and opinions of the students about this part of the blended course. When each item constituting the factor was analyzed separately, a positive significant difference was observed in sixteen items. Four items in this factor did not show a significant difference. This result demonstrated that the students also have positive opinions and experiences about the online learning environment used in their science methods course. However, to better implement blended learning, it is necessary to examine the items that do not show any significant difference. The first of these items, “I liked studying independently very much.” (OLE6), had an arithmetic average of 3,33. Thus, there was a partial positive tendency in the opinion of the students. However, there was not a significant difference. Because of this situation, it was necessary to find an answer to the question why students do not want to study. Human beings are curious intrinsically but the human mind is not designed to think (Willingham,
2009). Thinking refers to mental activities such as problem-solving, reasoning, reading complex structures, and conducting studies that require mental effort (Willingham,
2009). Thinking skills are divided into two groups - basic and high-level thinking skills. The basic thinking skills are grouped into three groups that include (1) remembering, (2) comprehension and (3) practicing, while the high-level thinking skills are grouped into three groups that include (1) analysis, (2) evaluation, and (3) creation (Krathwohl,
2010). Different kinds of thinking skills may be needed while studying in the online section of the blended learning course. The fact that thinking is not a simple process can be considered a reason why students said they do not like to study. Consequently, it can be said that students usually do not enjoy studying and this is not directly related to blended learning. However, one could also consider that the BL activities may have been too independent for the students especially due to their response to another item on the survey.
The survey item, “Using the online communication tools made me feel I was not alone. (OLE9)”, had an arithmetic average of 3,19. This was a partial positive tendency in the opinion of the students. However, there was no significant difference. The BL online environment used in this class did not include a system that enabled students to communicate privately with each other. In addition, the activities in the OLE were designed to be completed independently.
Another non-significant survey item focusing on the OLE was, “I felt more sense of responsibility than when in a face-to-face environment (OLE8)”, had an arithmetic average of 3,40. This result shows that the students felt more responsibility for completing the activities when they occurred in the face-to-face environment rather than the OLE section of the course. This might be caused due to peer pressure and the desire not to let their peers down. On the other hand, in an online environment, students were more anonymous and could more easily hide from others. So, they may have felt less sense of responsibility to not disappoint their friends.
Thus, given their responses to these three items, it is possible that EPT might require more cooperative learning engagement during the OLE. In the future, group inquiry activities in the OLE could help to alleviate EPT feeling of aloneness as well as their fear of science and help to increase their self-efficacy towards science before attending the F2F sessions (Riegle-Crumb et al.,
2015). The use of peer group activities such as comparing answers or opinions online with classmates could allow them to feel more responsible to complete the OLE activities. Thus, this could help them to further their understanding, and help to increase their peer’s science understanding while helping them to be more prepared for the F2F sessions.
Lastly, the survey item, “The course content was prepared in accordance with individual differences. (OLE20)”, had an arithmetic average of 3,23. While this demonstrated as a partial positive tendency in the opinion of the students, it was not a significant difference. In blended learning, the online learning environment was designed in a coordinated manner with the activities to be carried out in the course weekly. For this reason, the online environment was used as a preliminary activity that led to the in-class educational activity. However, in this case, the online activities were not prepared considering the individual learning differences of the students, thus the fact that there is no significant difference in the opinions of the students is an unexpected outcome. However, this seems to be a lack in the BL course showing the need to have alternate activities to allow for more individualized instruction. For example, in the future activities could allow for student choice. For example, they could be allowed to either listen to a lecture or a video about the science topic being studied or read an online article. This could further assist EPT in learning science and overcoming their fear of science.
In summary, when the findings for the OLE factor were examined, it was been found that the opinions of the students were significantly positive in the case of the majority of the survey items pertaining to this factor. In addition to this, it was found that the reason for the unwilling attitudes of the students towards individual studying could have been caused by the need for different kinds of mental skills or the possibility that the online work was found to be difficult or tedious. However, it was beyond the scope of this study to determine why students may have found the OLE difficult in terms of studying for class. However, while creating appropriate learning environments, planning should be done to reduce this reluctance and learning strategies should be prepared accordingly. Also, it was seen that it is important to provide opportunities for social interaction to develop the sense of responsibility of the students and to design online learning environments that consider individual learning differences. Thus, in the future, the use of cooperative lessons in the OLE might help to alleviate these issues further assisting EPT in overcoming their fear of science. This is an issue that must be considered when designing blended learning environments for this group of students.
In the future studies should be designed to determine if the suggested shifts in the BL activities within the SMC lead to a more productive student OLE.
Elementary preservice teachers response positively to the blending of face-to-face and online learning environment
The factor that focused on assessing the blending of the F2F and OLE environment consisted of twenty survey items that revealed the experiences and opinions of the students about the blending of the face-to-face learning environment with the online learning environment. When each item constituting the factor was analyzed separately, it was seen that the experiences and opinions of the students were all positive. A few examples of experiences and opinions of the students are as follows:
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“The teaching staff used face-to-face (in-class) and online (internet) environments effectively. (BL2)”,
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“I think I learned better. (BL4)”,
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“Face-to-face (in-class) and online content were suitable for the chosen environment. (BL11)”,
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“There was integrity in the content taught in both environments. (BL15)”, and
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“I decided what to learn and how to learn. (BL20).”
This result showed that the in-class face-to-face learning environment and the online learning environment were appropriately blended in the eyes of the EPT. The results obtained from this study were in parallel with those obtained from similar studies. For example, after a 16-week vocational education database course conducted with blended learning, a majority of students stated that the course was useful or very useful (Tsai et al.,
2011). In another study, it was concluded that the education carried out with blended learning had a significant effect on improving the learning skills and the satisfaction of learners (McKenzie et al.,
2013). When these results are generally evaluated, the blending of properly designed in-class face-to-face learning environments and non-class online learning environments has been accepted and responded to positively by the students. Thus, the traditional fear of science felt by elementary preservice teachers nor the negative aspects of the OLE diluted the normal positive effects that students in other fields have felt towards a blended learning environment.
Technical dimensions of the blended course are an issue of elementary preservice teachers
This survey factor consisted of five items that revealed the experiences and opinions of the students about the technical problems they encountered during their blended learning experience. When each item constituting the factor was analyzed separately, it was seen that all of the experiences and opinions of the students are significantly different from the expected values of 3. This significant difference implied that students had negative experiences and opinions about technological issues.
The survey item “I felt lonely and unhappy myself (TD1)”, showed that students were not comfortable in the new learning environment created by the design of the blended learning environment. This parallels the students’ opinion that they felt lonely in the OLE. However, regardless of this negative aspect overall, the students’ opinions about the OLE and the BL, in general, were positive. However, this is an issue that needs to be resolved since technical issues that make the student feel alone could make them frustrated and further make EPT feel that they are not “good” at science. Thus, as mentioned earlier future versions of the course should make use of strategies that allow for more engagement with others when interacting in the OLE which could alleviate this type of experience with the technical aspect of the BL course.
Student frustrations were also felt when delivering assignments since a majority of them felt they “had difficulty delivering the assignments on time (TD2)”. Any technical difficulties such as this could lead to frustration on the part of the students. However, the survey did not allow for determining the specific issues students faced so it is difficult to say if these issues were technical or brought on by lack of time management. Thus, this situation needs to be examined in further detail in the future.
However, significant differences were found in the following items:
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“I have had problems with the technological infrastructure (TD3)”,
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“I had technological difficulties (TD4)”, and
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“I had problems with Internet connection” (TD5).
These TD issues demonstrate that technical problems seemed to originate mostly from the use of the online learning environment which were not unexpected in the BL course. This result was similar to the results of a previous study that used blended learning practices during a general chemistry laboratory course (Yılmaz,
2017). Students stated that they had similar problems with the internet in terms of technical problems, connection problems, and the web platform’s user interface. However, this must not have been a huge issue since students overall preferred the BL environment over that of a traditional F2F course. These results suggest that the OLE in BL should be designed to consider these types of technical aspects. Learning in an electronic environment requires the development of a new and unique learning culture as well as new online tools. As new environments are constructed for use in BL courses, future studies should compare their usage in SMC with EPT.