A critique of blended learning: Examples from an undergraduate psychology program

The adoption of technology to a University curriculum is challenging and requires a complex blend with pedagogical components. The aim of this study is to examine how digital learning tools could enhance first year modules supporting blended learning approaches. Two psychology modules are used as examples to discuss two different blended approaches and study student engagement with learning process by exploring their performance on online activities under the perspective of module design, students’ engagement with formative and summative assessments, and digital literacy. The digital learning tools that supported the two blended learning approaches were wikis, blogs, online tests. This investigation was conducted for two subsequent years in a UK Psychology School in which a large number of students were enrolled. The total number of students who participated in this investigation for the 2016-2017 academic year was 407 and for the 2017-2018 academic year was 405. In the first example, an academic performance comparison was conducted between the students who have been engaged with online formative activities and those students who have attended the face-to-face classes only in a transferable skills module. In the second example, a compulsory online continuous assessment process was followed to support a first-year psychology module aiming to enhance student learning on biology topics. This article discusses how students might engage with online formative and summative activities in association with their performance and how different assessment types alongside with the use of different digital learning tools might enhance blended learning environments. Findings of this study suggest that teachers should connect formative with summative assessments in order to increase student performance and they should consider blended learning approaches under the perspective of pedagogical principles and continuous assessment in order to increase student engagement with their learning process