Who or what contributes to student satisfaction in different blended learning modalities?

Abstract

are PhD researchers in blended learning at the Department of Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. They are currently working on projects on ICT-based adult education. Katrien Struyven and Chang Zhu are professors at Abstract Different blended learning (BL) modalities and the interaction effect between human and technological factors on student satisfaction need adequately researched to shed more light on successful BL implementation. The objective of the present article is threefold: (1) to present a model to predict student satisfaction with BL programs, (2) to examine the interaction effect between the instructor expertise and the learning management system (LMS) on student satisfaction in different BL modes, and (3) to investigate if different modes of BL will exert an influence on students' perceived achievement goals and satisfaction, their evaluation of the instructors, and the LMS quality. Results show that the instructor expertise, students' perceived task value and achievement goals are the most influential factors, followed by the LMS quality, instructor support, and students' general self-efficacy. Contradictory to previous studies, the LMS quality only has an indirect effect on student satisfaction, via perceived achievement goals. In different BL conditions, the LMS quality has significantly different effect on student satisfaction, when interacting with the instructor expertise. The two modalities of BL programs also yield differences in students' perceived achievement goals and their demand for the LMS's functionality and design, hence crucial implications for pedagogical practices and institutional policy addressed. Introduction Blended learning (BL) has been strongly advocated by educational practitioners as a promising alternative to distance education by using a mix of the traditional face-to-face instruction and asynchronous/synchronous online learning (Wu, Tennyson, & Hsia, 2010). In so doing, the lack of communication and sense of community among learners within a course or a program is minimized. However, the word "blended" has caused some issues in attributing a certain program as BL. This is because, given the penetration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools and learning management systems (LMSs) in educational institutions and pedagogical practices , it is difficult to find a pure traditional program which does not implement any ICT elements. Consequently, there is a need for BL to be realized at different levels. Using a matrix describing categories of BL adoption framework, Graham, Woodfield, and Harrison (2013) have found that institutions are at different stages of BL adoption, namely awareness/exploration, adoption/early implementation, and mature implementation/growth. Adams, Hanesiak, Owston, Lupshenyuk, and Mills (2009) differentiate four modes of BL implementation, namely level (1): the learning

Different blended learning (BL) modalities and the interaction effect between human and technological factors on student satisfaction need adequately researched to shed more light on successful BL implementation. The objective of the present article is three-fold: (1) to present a model to predict student satisfaction with BL programs, (2) to examine the interaction effect between the instructor expertise and the learning management system (LMS) on student satisfaction in different BL modes, and (3) to investigate if different modes of BL will exert an influence on students' perceived achievement goals and satisfaction, their evaluation of the instructors, and the LMS quality. Results show that the instructor expertise, students' perceived task value and achievement goals are the most influential factors, followed by the LMS quality, instructor support, and students' general self-efficacy. Contradictory to previous studies, the LMS quality only has an indirect effect on student satisfaction, via perceived achievement goals. In different BL conditions, the LMS quality has significantly different effect on student satisfaction, when interacting with the instructor expertise. The two modalities of BL programs also yield differences in students' perceived achievement goals and their demand for the LMS's functionality and design, hence crucial implications for pedagogical practices and institutional policy addressed.