Parent and Student Perceptions of a Blended Learning

Experience

Jason SikoAssistant Professor of Educational TechnologyGrand Valley State University

Michael Barbour

Director of Doctoral Studies

Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership

Sacred Heart University

Research Questions1. What are the perceptions of

students in a blended learning class?2. What are the perceptions of parents

whose students are in a blended learning class?

Setting• AY2011-2012 • Large, suburban, Midwestern high school (~1800

students in grades 10-12)• Culturally homogenous; however, diverse with

respect to SES• Course: International Baccalaureate Biology –

Higher Level (IB Bio-HL)o 43 students, grade 11o 1st half of course – Face-to-faceo 2nd half of course - blended

Methods• Administered anonymous survey via Google

Forms to parents and studentso All students participated (n=47)o Limited parent participation (n=14)

• Descriptive statistics for Likert and selected-response questions

• Open-ended questions were analyzed for themes using constant comparative method (Strauss & Corbin, 1994)

• Liked the independenceo Although some struggled with the autonomy (~liked the “pressure” of

being in class)o Many admitted to falling behind

• Various “favorites”/”dislikes”• Some wanted more communication/had confusion

Parents

Parent comments• Excited with a little apprehension• Some frustration with communication (grades)

o Despite access to online grades

• “ABLE to get lazy…” • Overall, most seemed glad their student had the

experience.

Implications• Emphasize communication in teacher preparation

for blended instruction to both parents and students

• Look for ways to mitigate organization and self-regulation issues

Thanks for listening!Jason P. SikoAssistant Professor of Educational TechnologyGrand Valley State UniversityGrand Rapids, MI

sikojp@gmail.com sikoj@gvsu.eduhttp://jasonsiko.com@jasonsiko

Michael K. BarbourDirector of Doctoral Studies, Isabelle Farrington College of EducationAssistant Professor, Educational LeadershipSacred Heart UniversityFairfield, CT

mkbarbour@gmail.com http://michaelbarbour.comhttp://virtualschooling.wordpress.com@mkbshu