The Student Voice on Blended
Learning
Dr Yongmei Bentley
The University of Bedfordshire
The 5th International Blended Learning Conference
University of Hertfordshire 16-17 June 2010
The University of Bedfordshire
Figures
 19,000 students
 100+ countries represented
 1,000 staff
 1,700 study bedrooms (500 en-suite)
 44% of students aged over 25 years
 3 main campuses in Luton and Bedford
 4 faculties
 9 Research Institutes
 £134m invested in facilities by the Academic Year
2010-11
 Source: http://www.beds.ac.uk/aboutus/facts
Strategic Partners
The Business School
 Over 4000 students – over 2,500 undergraduates,
over 1,500 postgraduates.
 Over 100 academic staff, including 15 Professors.
 Achieved a grade 4 in Tourism and Leisure in the
recent RAE and a 3a in Business and Management.
 Offering practical, relevant, vocational courses
underpinned by research excellence.
 A budget of over £20 million
Teaching and study facilities at
Putteridge Bury
Objective of this Presentation
 This presentation reports the students’ blended
learning experiences based on a recent investigation
into the teaching and learning approaches adopted
for the University’s Executive MBA programme.
 The aim of this research is to examine the students’
experiences and evaluate the effectiveness of the
course delivery system that has been in place, and
to identify scope for further improvement.
The MBA Programme
The MBA students
(N=362)
Master of Business Administration
& Executive MBA
Marketing Products and
Services in a Dynamic
Environment (15)
Leadership Project
(30)
Induction, team building
and cross-cultural
communications
Accounting for leaders
(15)
Mobilising Creativity and
Innovation (15)
Operations and Project
Management (15)
Entrepreneurship & small
business Management (15)
Thriving in a Competitive
Global Context (15)
Professional Development
Mentoring, reflective diaries, careers and skills, employability and networking
Integrated Management Project
(30)
Strategy (15)
Leading and Managing
People (15)
Packaging of MBA Course
Online
interactive
learning
approach
Pod cast/ video,
lectures, case studies,
discussions,
interviews, news etc.
Direct Learning Online Learning
Sessions
Modules
Collaborative
Learning
Online brainstorming &
discussions (text and voice
boards)
WIMBA Live classroom,
WIKI, BLOG
Work based
projects,
assignments
Work Based
Activities
Assessment
Presentations, group
activities, Individual
tasks examinations
and on-line tests
PDP
MBA student,
working
professional
Business School day
 Three-hour classes per unit monthly
 Local ‘facilitators’ – practitioners, academics
 An agreed programme of activities:
 Clarification
 Case studies
 Presentations
 Assessment work
Assessments
 26% Group Work; 74% Individual Effort
 22% Written Examination Work
 14% Oral Presentations
 64% Written ‘Assignment’ Work
 Case Study Analysis
 Reports
 Business Plans
Research Method:
Two rounds of questionnaire surveys
 The first - covered four sites - Oman, India, UK, and
Poland, and carried out between April and July 2008
(delivered both online and off-line).
 The 2nd - covered only the Oman and India sites, and
took place between January and March 2009 (online).
 Participants: the MBA students on the programme.
Number of participants
 First round:
 63 questionnaires were answered out of a total
number of 227 students. Response rate: 28%
 Second round:
 37 questionnaires were answered out of a total
of 191 students. Response rate: 19%
The survey: topics and areas
 Topics:
 Learning and teaching strategies, the quality of online learning
delivery, the means of assessment, and the support mechanisms
that were already in place.
 Areas:
 Registration and induction
 Business School days (face-to-face teaching)
 Other teaching support
 Assessment
 Social networking
 Overall learning experience.
 Comments were also invited where appropriate in order to seek
for new solutions.
Overview of the 1st round of
questionnaire response rates
Country
No. of
students
No. of
respondents
% as total no.
of students
Oman
143
30
21%
Indian
41
18
44%
Poland
30
9
30%
UK
13
6
46%
Total
227
63
Average: 28%
Findings: Teaching &Tutor Support
Area of Investigation
Excellent
(%)
Good Average Poor
(%)
(%)
(%)
% of Excl.&
Good vs. % of
Av. & Poor
Teaching at Induction
Teaching at local
institution
20
60
16
4
80 vs. 20
18
58
24
0
76 vs. 24
UK Tutor support
11
51
33
5
62 vs. 38
Local Tutor support
15
45
33
7
60 vs. 40
Local support facilities
9
51
26
14
60 vs. 40
Course/Units response
Unit information from
local institution
Overall experience with
the tutors
2
47
42
9
49 vs. 51
9
67
22
2
76 vs. 24
24
51
23
2
75 vs. 25
Findings: Learning Resources
Area of Investigation
% of Excl.&
Excellent Good Average Poor Good vs. %
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%) of Av. & Poor
Learning resources
22
45
22
11
67 vs. 33
Usefulness of CD ROMS
20
44
22
14
64 vs. 36
Quality of CD ROM materials
20
58
20
2
78 vs. 22
Audio/video clips
3
45
21
31
48 vs. 52
Textbook availability
18
33
22
27
51 vs. 49
Unit Handbooks
22
47
27
4
69 vs. 31
Findings: Online Support
Area of Investigation
% of Excl.&
Excellent Good Average Poor Good vs. %
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%) of Av. & Poor
Reading materials on BREO
26
38
27
9
64 vs. 36
PPT slides on BREO
25
44
25
6
69 vs. 31
Voice Café via BREO
11
26
25
38
37 vs. 63
Relevant website links
15
43
29
13
58 vs. 42
IT training and support
11
35
42
12
46 vs. 54
Overall experience of online
support
8
49
36
7
57 vs. 43
Findings: Assessments
Area of Investigation
Excellent Good Average Poor
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
% of Excl.&
Good vs. % of
Av. & Poor
Assignment instructions
16
53
27
4
69 vs. 31
Assignment submission
procedures
16
55
13
16
71 vs. 29
Assignment feedback
15
36
29
20
51 vs. 49
Referral procedure
13
57
23
7
70 vs. 30
Failure procedures
18
39
17
26
57 vs. 43
Academic offence
procedures
16
44
16
24
60 vs. 40
Findings: Other Areas
Excellent
(%)
Good
(%)
Average
(%)
Poor
(%)
% of Excl.&
Good vs. %
of Av. & Poor
Registration process
31
55
11
3
86 vs. 14
Social networking
opportunities
9
38
33
20
47 vs. 53
Overall experience of
undertaking the blended
learning MBA
20
46
29
5
66 vs. 34
Area of Investigation
Summary of the findings
 Overall, the survey results showed a high level of satisfaction
with the MBA programme, with an average of 63% of the
respondents perceiving the course as either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’,
vs. 25% perceiving it as ‘average’, only 12% as ‘poor’.
 In terms of the service quality as perceived by the students, 22
out of the 29 areas showed the total percentage of ‘excellent’
and ’good’ greater than total of ‘average’ and ’poor’.
 Six results had these total about the same, and only one (Voice
Café) had this total significantly reversed (37% vs. 63%).
Respondents’ Comments
 Positive comments:
 ‘It was a pleasure and enjoyable experience taking the MBA with this




UK University’.
‘Fast and active response is one of the university’s strengths, as we
feel attended to’.
‘I was impressed with the idea of free wireless internet facility and
the ever helpful nature of the faculty office and administration team’.
‘Voice Café, blackboard, and the student records system are
excellent facilities for remote students like us. I found this course
very balanced and suitable for working candidates’.
‘It has been really a correct decision for me to enrol onto the MBA
programme. The wisdom derived from e-MBA is tremendous’.
Respondents’ Comments
 Among the more general comments and criticisms
were:
A desire to be issued with all the essential information
about the course at the induction sessions (rather than
having some of this information fed piecemeal later).
2. A desire for quicker responses to requests for
information and feedback.
3. Some students felt that BREO had been under-used,
as it was not used to provide effective discussion
forums.
4. Many students asked for more consistent and
comprehensive unit information and guidance, clearer
assignment instructions, and to be given the formats of
examinations.
1.
Respondents’ Comments
5. Quite a number of students expressed a dislike of the different
assignment submission systems used on different courses within
the MBA, as these were often seen as time-consuming and
confusing.
6. Some students felt the need to spend more time with the UKbased tutors, and expressed a wish for an additional round of
face-to-face interaction in the middle of a semester.
7. Some would have liked to gain the opportunity for the classroom
experience at the UK University.
8. Overall, the above comments can be summarised as a need for
more support for their independent learning process.
Other Feedback

Voice Café
 Many students felt that Voice Café was not very useful, and not well utilized.
 Some said that very often there were auditory troubles, a lot of interruptions, and
the Voice Café sound was poor as many students were talking via the system at
the same time.
 In addition, some students noted that a lot of time was spent fixing technical
difficulties.

Assignments
 Most students felt that immediate confirmation of receipt of their assignments was
extremely important to reduce unnecessary worries about submission.
 Some felt very dissatisfied if they failed to receive their assignment feedback within
the specified time.
 In addition, students appreciated the cases where more detailed and customized
feedback had been given, rather than just a general comment, as they wanted to
understand what was wrong in their work.

In addition, it was suggested that the communication and collaboration between
the education partners are very important to provide effective and high quality
learning support to the students.
Summary of Key issues, Suggestions and Actions Taken
Key issues
Changes suggested
Actions taken
1. Problems with Voice Café To replace Voice Café with a
(the synchronous
more advanced and user
communication tool)
friendly tool
Voice Café has been replaced by WIMBA
live classroom
2. BREO had been underused (since the students
are busy working
professionals, they prefer
working online)
To make more learning
material available through
BREO, and to use BREO
assignments tool to submit
assignment online.
3. Students required having
more time with tutors,
especially in terms of
getting extra support about
assignments.
To deliver more WIMBA
sessions and give clear
assignment guidance to
overseas students well before
the deadline for each
assignment submission.
The tutors have been encouraged to post
extra learning assets for each week (PPT,
research papers, pod cast clips) on BREO
in addition to weekly learning martial and
to use the BREO integrated online
assignment submission tool.
Tutors are scheduled to make better use
of WIMBA Live Classroom to enable
synchronous communication and are
required to archive materials used for the
WIMBA sessions so that they can be reused and re-visited by the students.
4. Students’ dissatisfaction
with the assignment
instructions and marking
To plan more integrated
approach for assignment
instructions and marking
criteria across all the MBA
modules.
Tutors are required to revise and crosscheck the assignment instructions and
marking criteria and make them
accessible in the assignment section of
the BREO site for each module.
The second round of surveys

Subsequent to the changes made after the first round of surveys, the opportunity
became available to carry out a second survey round at two of the overseas sites:
Oman and India.

So the results of the key areas from both rounds of the surveys conducted among
students in Oman and India have been used.

In principle, both surveys had the same type of questions. However, based on the
findings from the 1st survey, some changes were made to the MBA programme, and
these changes were incorporated in the second survey.

New module handbooks, ICT guides, and WIMBA live classroom were introduced
after the 1st survey so questions related such changes were added to the 2nd survey.
The questionnaire response rates
Overview of the 1st questionnaire response rate
Total no. of
Total no. of
% as total
Country
students
respondents students no.
Oman
143
30
20.98%
Indian
41
18
43.90%
Total
184
48
N/A
% as total
Responses no.
62.50%
37.50%
100.00%
Overview of the 2nd questionnaire response rate
Total no. of
Total no. of
% as total
Country
students
respondents students no.
Oman
150
27
18.00%
Indian
41
8
19.51%
Total
191
35
N/A
% as total
Responses no.
77.14%
22.86%
100.00%
Analysis of changes made to the MBA
Programme and their impact
Provision of learning materials
on CD ROM vs. weekly online
Students’
perception
Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
First survey
Second survey
% in ‘excellent’ and ‘good’
(1st survey vs. 2nd survey)
18.8%
43.8%
22.9%
14.6%
21.6%
51.4%
16.2%
10.8%
62.6% vs. 73%
E-learning systems training
Training materials for e-learning systems
Students’
First survey
Second survey
perception
Excellent
12.5%
13.5%
Good
41.7%
54.1%
Average
33.3%
29.7%
Poor
12.5%
2.7%
% in ‘excellent’ & ‘good’
(1st survey vs. 2nd survey)
54.2% vs. 67.6%
VLE system
– Voice Café vs. WIMBA
Voice Café vs. WIMBA
Students’
First survey
perception
Excellent
14.6%
Good
20.8%
Average
31.2%
Poor
33.3%
Second survey
% in ‘excellent’ & ‘good’
(1st survey vs. 2nd survey)
16.2%
45.9%
18.9%
18.9%
35.4% vs. 62.1%
Tutor Support
Online support from UK tutors
Students’
First survey
perception
Excellent
16.7%
Good
50.0%
Average
31.2%
Poor
2.1%
Second survey
% in ‘excellent’ & ‘good’
nd
(1st survey vs. 2 survey)
48.6%
32.4%
16.2%
0.0%
66.7% vs. 81%
Module Handbook
The format of module handbooks
Students’ First survey
perception
Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
29.2%
50.0%
18.8%
2.1%
Second survey
13.5%
67.6%
18.9%
0.0%
% in ‘excellent’ & ‘good’
(1st survey vs. 2nd
survey)
79.2 vs. 81.1%
Assignment Feedback
Assignment feedback
Students’
First survey
perception
Excellent
16.2%
Good
45.9%
Average
18.9%
Poor
18.9%
Second survey
% in ‘excellent’ & ‘good’
nd
(1st survey vs. 2 survey)
16.7%
43.8%
29.2%
10.4%
62.1% vs. 60.5%
Students’ overall experience
Students’ overall experience of taking MBA programme
Students’ perception
First
Second
survey
survey
Very satisfied
25.0%
29.7%
Somewhat satisfied
43.8%
48.6%
Varies from module to
29.2%
16.2%
module
Not satisfied
2.1%
5.4%
% in ‘excellent’ & ‘good’
nd
(1st survey vs. 2 survey)
68.8% vs. 78.3%
Oman Statistics – BREO Usage
Sem. 1 total hits in
course content area
125
98
85
??
259
172
111
47
226
Sem. 2 total hits in course
content area
1750
869
1238
862
5232
4701
1606
2102
1662
Why the increase?
 WIMBA – used before assessment points
 Assignments – explanation, samples
 Materials improved - rewritten
 BREO sites more reliable
 More information on the sites – study guides
 Sites now ready for inductions
 Rapid assessment of use - surveys
Learning Materials
 Course materials are made available online via the
UoB's virtual learning environment ' BREO'

Leading and managing
people: learning material
within BREO (Virtual learning
environment of the University
of Bedfordshire).
Session brake-up of the
module. Session
corresponding to week
Sample session 1
E-Business fundamentals.
Media rich quality content with
interactivity
Sample session 1
Self–awareness
Media rich quality content
with interactivity
Automatic feed-back
Leading and managing people
case-studies
WIMBA online classroom schedule
WIMBA online classroom
Previously Recorded live classroom
sessions library : Available as WIMBA
online classroom archives
WIMBA online live-classroom
Online collaborative activities: WIKI,
BLOGS, Discussion forums,
Voiceboards
IT and other necessary
training materials
Conclusions




The first survey showed a high level of satisfaction with the MBA
programme as delivered, but also indicated areas that could see further
improvement.
The impacts of subsequent changes in both the programme and the
blended learning support system were examined in the second round
of surveys which revealed students’ improved satisfaction with the
programme after the implementation of the changes.
The outcomes of this research have helped improve the blended
learning support system and enhanced the quality of the programme.
It is hoped that these findings can provide guidelines for other
universities that offer, or intend to offer, blended learning courses in a
global context.
University of Bedfordshire Business School
Contact: yongmei.bentley@beds.ac.uk