A Case Study of Adopting Blended Learning in the Science and Technology Courses in Higher Education

Wednesday 3 July: Conference day one, 2:00pm – 2:30pm parallel session

Venue

Room 8 – 303 B09 Sem

Presenter

Jing Luo
The University of Hong Kong
crystal@teli.hku.hk

Background

In this paper, the researcher conduct a three-year study on three science and technology Common Core courses (General Education courses) in the University of Hong Kong (HKU). These courses introduce students to the concepts, principles and application of Scientific Investigation, Computational Thinking and Sustainability in Architecture. The course teams have piloted three cohorts of blended learning versions of these courses since 2015. In the blended learning design, two major changes were made by the teams: (1) producing and providing lecture videos about the basic principles and concepts for the students, and (2) conducting more constructive and meaningful in-class learning activities during the face-to-face sessions. Pre-test and post-test of student surveys have been conducted in every cohort, as well as student interviews and teacher interviews. The results show that adopting blended learning in the science and technology courses can help to increase students’ engagement level, as well as to improve students’ academic achievements, including academic results and generic skills.

Presentation topic

Academics – Changing Academic Practice