'If lecturers are at home, they can’t tell their kids to shut up’: University student engagement with blended learning during Covid-19: A mixed methods study

Thornton, Claire, Peart, Daniel, Hicks, Kirsty, McCullogh, Nicola and Allen-Baker, Georgia (2023) 'If lecturers are at home, they can’t tell their kids to shut up’: University student engagement with blended learning during Covid-19: A mixed methods study. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 47 (4). pp. 540-550. ISSN 0309-877X

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Abstract

Covid-19 had an unprecedented impact on daily living and resulted in many restrictions across all areas of life. Consequently, educational establishments in the UK adapted teaching delivery by moving to online or blended learning during the main ‘stay at home’ phase and many remained online as ongoing restrictions were announced. Many changes made during this period such as a move to online learning are likely to remain, in some capacity, as we emerge from the pandemic. The aim of this study was to explore student engagement with online and blended learning in a Higher Education (HE) institution using a mixed methods approach. One hundred and eighty-three HE sport students completed an online survey and a total of 21 HE students took part in a series of online focus groups to gain a unique insight into how the move to online learning affected engagement from the student perspective. The findings indicated that although most students engaged with the online materials, many had a perceived negative experience. Students in general would not recommend online delivery to others and an overwhelming majority felt disadvantaged in terms of motivation and lack of community by moving to online learning. There was some positive feedback around the use of some technological tools to facilitate answering questions as well as use of online lectures for delivering content driven sessions. Our results clearly demonstrate that that a one size fits all approach is not appropriate when it comes to online learning.

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