various approaches to conducting research in blended learning that can attempt to create new knowledge by either exploring, explaining, or designing interventions. Our study fell in the paradigm of design, and thus Graham et al.’s suggested model for studying design iterations was helpful. In their model, the authors argued that a study of each iteration should include a discussion of the core attributes affected by an intervention and a measurement of the outcome. This model represented well the nature of our project because we analyzed outcomes after each iteration and sought over time to develop a course that would be more effective. Figure 1 is a representation of this study in the context of their model.
Figure 1. Visual representation of design research comparing iterations over time.
In following this model, we engaged in the following design iterations. These interventions are more fully explained in a subsequent section.
Iteration 1.
Interventions to the course in this iteration included the following:
• Implemented a unique blended learning model in order to mitigate the traditional time and space limitations of the course while hopefully maintaining SOC and the overall student experience.
• Standardized scheduling across multiple sections, in order to augment the students’ support system.
Iteration 2.
Interventions to the course in this iteration included the following:
• Formalized greater instructor/student interactions using assignment feedback, in order to increase SOC in the course.
Iteration 3.
Interventions to the course in this iteration included the following:• Removed Iteration 2’s intervention in order to determine whether the change in SOC was due to the intervention or the maturity of the new blended course.
Participants and Course Design
Participants consisted of 247 preservice secondary education teachers enrolled in a technology integration course. This course teaches basic educational technology skills and practices to nearly all secondary education majors on campus. However, the class is limited because it is only 1 credit, forcing instructors to be as efficient as possible in their instruction. In addition, students enter the class with various technological abilities, with some needing much scaffolding and others more able and desirous to work at their own pace to complete the course. In the course, students complete 3 major units: Internet Communications (where they typically create class websites), Multimedia (where they typically create instructional videos), and Personal Technology Projects (where they select a technology specifically useful to their discipline). In addition, they complete smaller units related to copyright/Creative Commons, internet safety, and mobile learning. Students taking the course are in various stages of their academic careers, with many taking the course their first semester as education majors, while others complete the course nearer to graduation.
A breakdown of the participants is shown in Table 1. Two limitations in the data need clarification. Sense of community data was not collected for the winter 2012 semester, as there was no major intervention at that time and we had sufficient baseline data. Once the decision to move to a blended format was made, data collection continued. Also, responses for Iteration 2 and Iteration 3 were unusually low, though the enrollments in the course were on par with other semesters. We are not sure of the direct cause of this low response rate, although it is likely that the instructors for these iterations did not incentivize participation in the survey like previous instructors did. In each semester, four sections of the course participated in the study. The baseline consisted of participants’ data collected from four semesters, totaling 16 sections. Each iteration consisted of participants’ data collected from only one semester, totaling four sections each.