A student's perspective of a blended-learning approach to a research methods module

This paper is based on a module, Research Methods, which was taught to a Masters student group. The lecturer had just completed a Postgraduate Diploma which included a module which encouraged faculty to incorporate innovations in teaching practice, so the lecturer decided to try something innovative with this particular module. This paper is giving the student's a voice as it shares their opinions of the blended-learning approach. For the majority of students they felt that they achieved the learning outcomes for the module. They enjoyed the flexibility the YouTube videos gave them in terms of their learning. They greatly appreciated and valued the aural feedback given to them on their research ethics form, saying that the personal touch was nice and it gave greater meaning to the feedback receiving it this way. For those who attended the virtual office hours, it really worked for them. However, the lecturer needs to ensure that the course outline explains how the virtual office hours works and how to use SKYPE as she presumed all students understood how to use it, whereby this was not the case. Overall, the module was very successful and with minor modifications will be offered again next year