Learning Pathways and Blended Teaching Strategies: Which one passes the test?

Jennifer Blankenship
University of West Georgia
LEARNING PATHWAYS AND BLENDED LEARNING TEACHING STRATEGIES:
WHICH ONE PASSES THE TEST?? Blankenship

Introduction

According to Christensen (2008), education has metamorphized through the last century

to meet the demands of American society. The education system was expected to keep

America’s future generations competitive on a global scale, prepare everyone for a vocation

thereby eliminate poverty and provide an outlet for citizens to participate in our democracy.

With the evolution of technology and the fast pace of continual advancements in what

technology can do, the education system is once again expected to keep pace and still fulfill the

tasks expected in the past.

How do we do that? How does a system based off the industrial age, adapt to the needs

of the “digital native” generation? The education system must take a hard look and modify the

idea of pedagogy, thereby re-thinking learning for the informational age. Traditional

paper/pencil teaching strategies and all learners learning the same thing at the same time must

evolve in order to keep America competitive on a global scale. Student learning is transitioning

from being a passive experience to more of an active process where students take more

responsibility for their learning.

Personalized Learning and Blended Learning are teaching strategies meant to bridge the

gap between where the education system is to where it needs to be for the future generations.

More research is needed to determine if these strategies are effective and rise to the task. Reform

at the national level must adapt and the education system itself has to re-structure how children

are expected to learn. There is a lack of quantitative data to show that providing learners with

personalized learning or using a blended approach do in fact increase learner success. When

performing the research for this study, it became very clear that the research is not there yet. We
LEARNING PATHWAYS AND BLENDED LEARNING TEACHING STRATEGIES:
WHICH ONE PASSES THE TEST?? Blankenship

as educators, need data to show effectiveness of pedagogy. In other words, the data can tell us if

we are moving in the right direction to meet the needs of today’s “digital natives”. Many

different sources have different ideas on what it means to utilize Personalized Learning (PL) as

well as Blended Learning (BL). This study will have to take a definition from one or more

authors of other studies and use that as my operating definition.

Goals

Blended Learning (BL) is defined as a curriculum where “students learn at least in part

through online learning with some element of student control over time, path, place and/or pace

and at least in part at a brick-and-mortar location away from home.” (Christenson, Horne and

Staker, 2013). Patrick Kennedy and Powel (2013) define Personalized Learning as a strategy

where educators determine individual students’ abilities and interests, gaining student input on

what is best strategy for them, and knowing students for their academic and personal interests.

When these criteria are met, the task of the educator is to work with parents, support staff, and

the students themselves to create a path of learning and to create a curriculum that meets

individual needs of the student. The overall philosophy of personalized learning is that students

work at their own pace and learn in their own time. For the purposes of the study, these

definitions will be used to determine which style the educator uses for instruction.

The goal of this study is to create a blended study with both qualitative and quantitative

data to test the hypothesis. The qualitative measures would be classroom observation in diverse

school settings to reduce variables that could affect the results such a limited resources, socio-

economic status, race, and gender.

LEARNING PATHWAYS AND BLENDED LEARNING TEACHING STRATEGIES:
WHICH ONE PASSES THE TEST?? Blankenship

Currently, there is not a lot of quantitative data-based research to prove or disprove the

effectiveness of using these teaching strategies. The second goal of this study would be to

provide quantitative data comparing student achievement on the Georgia Milestones over time

on both blended and personalized learning classroom curriculum.

Research Questions

Questions to research in this study include the following:

 Are personalized or blended learning appropriate developmentally appropriate in the

elementary setting?

 Which would be more effective in raising student achievement on a standardized test,

“Personalized learning (PL)” or a Blended Learning strategy (BL) ?

 Does socio-economic status affect the use of e-learning opportunities Blended Learning?

To answer these questions, careful sampling will have to take place to reduce the effects of

variables on the hypothesis such as socioeconomic status, gender, curriculum criteria and age.

Hypothesis

For my hypothesis, I believe that the blended approach would be more effective for

Elementary students because the model would include some structure via the classroom work

which could also include modelling of appropriate and effective behaviors to utilize the online

portion of the curriculum. For younger students, study skills, time management, and task

completion which are desirable behaviors for independent learning, are a challenge for the

elementary age group. Using both unobtrusive qualitative measures such as observation and

subject completed forms, along with the quantitative scores from the Georgia Milestones
LEARNING PATHWAYS AND BLENDED LEARNING TEACHING STRATEGIES:
WHICH ONE PASSES THE TEST?? Blankenship

standardized test, this study will determine the effectiveness of personalized learning versus

blended learning for Elementary aged students.

Literature Review (synthesis of current research)

There are many articles with various definitions of what it means for a teacher to use

personalized or blended learning pedagogy in the classroom. The article written by Kennedy,

and Powell (2013) discusses a definition and the unique aspects of personalized learning along

with the use of blended learning to support personalized learning. The article goes on to discuss

how competency education bridges the gap between teaching strategies of today and - the

transformation to student based learning. Another article by Beetham (2014) examines the

meaning pf pedagogy and how the meaning of what education defined as pedagogy has changed

with the emergence of the information age.

Christensen, Horn, and Staker (2103) discusses the emergence of hybrid teaching

strategies and how this strategy is partly innovative and partly using the old system to help move

the pedagogy of teaching more towards personalized learning. The use of hybrids is helping to

transform the traditional classroom model over time into more of a personalized learning

environment. Plough’s 2017 report describes the unique capabilities of blended learning and

defines blended learning as a learning experiences that combines the strengths of online learning

and altering the teacher’s role into more of a facilitator. Many of the article discuss the design of

these new teaching strategies, however, none of the article have any quantitative data to prove

these types of strategies are effective in meeting the learning needs of students. Other studies

provide qualitative analyses describing successful implementation of personalized or blended

learning are utilized. For example, NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools)
LEARNING PATHWAYS AND BLENDED LEARNING TEACHING STRATEGIES:
WHICH ONE PASSES THE TEST?? Blankenship

highlights case studies of blended learning for various topics in middle school programs and how

these strategies will benefit the 21st Century learner. Each of the methodologies are as unique as

the school and teachers implementing them. Courses varied from flipped classrooms,

coursework online with sparse face-to-face meetings. Along with documenting these case

studies the case studies also shared the student perspective of middle school students which were

positive. The flexibility, learning about life skills such as working independently and managing

time were two of the noted benefits to this type of teaching approach. None of the case studies

were performed on elementary aged students and also did not provide quantitative data on

improvement on learning via standardized testing scores, retention of knowledge or the

appropriateness of child development for blended or personalized learning.

Methods
This research will be a mixed method modality with both qualitative and quantitative

measures of elementary aged students, grade four. The experimental study will compare the

effects of personalized learning versus blended learning classroom strategies.

Sampling

Sampling for this study will be purposive, where all students in the classroom are

included in the study results. Classes will be used with similar gender, age, race, academic

abilities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The teachers in each classroom will either receive

training for a personalized learning pedagogy or a blended learning pedagogy for the purposes of

the study which would be the independent variable to test the hypothesis. The classroom

characteristics, dependent variable, will be as homogenic as possible to reduce the number of

possible extraneous variables. The study would include 2 sets of classes at each school,

approximately 120 students (estimating 30 students per class, two at each school). One school
LEARNING PATHWAYS AND BLENDED LEARNING TEACHING STRATEGIES:
WHICH ONE PASSES THE TEST?? Blankenship

would be classified as a Title 1 school and the other would be in a surrounding school in a more

affluent area.

Instrumentation (1-2 paragraphs)

There will be three different tools utilized in this research study, a Likert scale, a coding scheme

of behaviors and the results from the Georgia Milestones standardized testing. To gain the student’s

perspectives on their learning through one of the different teaching modalities, a subject completed Likert

scale will be developed for this study to measure the student’s perspective on their learning at the

conclusion of the study. For example, students will rate their perception on whether the topic content was

too easy or too hard, their feelings about the variety and number of activities choices provided, and rating

how prepared the student felt after the study and topic in either the blended or personalized learning

strategies. There will also be classroom observations logged by using a customized coding scheme of

behaviors. The coding scheme would track predetermined behaviors and the number plus frequency of on

and off tasks to reduce observer bias. Examples of on task behaviors would include; asking questions,

choosing activities relevant to topic, participating in class discussions, and working constructively with a

partner. Off task behaviors would include; playing with objects inside desk, talking during instruction,

choosing activities which are off topic, or distracting others. Tracking these behaviors will help to

compare student engagement in the different teaching modalities and the results of their scores on

standardized testing. The third tool would be the Georgia Milestones standardized testing scores which

provide a percentile rank of a student with their peers within the state and provides the historical data on

individual student growth from the previous year.

Data Analysis (3-4 paragraphs)

Careful sampling will have to take place to reduce the effects of variables on the

hypothesis such as socioeconomic status, gender, curriculum criteria and age which would be
LEARNING PATHWAYS AND BLENDED LEARNING TEACHING STRATEGIES:
WHICH ONE PASSES THE TEST?? Blankenship

continuous variables in the study. Observing and recording classroom behaviors would be

continuous qualitative variables measured by the coding scheme.

Analysis of the study would include the previously mentioned measurements along with

the quantitative results of the standardized testing of the Georgia Milestones. From the results

students could be ranked by class or by the classes who learned from the same teaching method

in the other school, blended or personalized learning. The results would be calculated to

determine the mean, mode and median results with not only students who received the same

teaching method, but to compare one teaching method results to the other. The use of a stem plot

would enable researchers to determine the mean, median and mode of the class and entire

population results. Further analysis with the 5 Number summary would help determine the

ordinal value scores that were in the lowest, 25th, 50th and highest quartiles of the student results.

The quartiles would also be referenced with the other variables such as gender, socioeconomic

status, and academic abilities to see if the independent variable had a positive or negative effect

on the score results. Ordinal data could also be extracted from the results to determine the tops

scores and which type of instruction those students received.

Student growth from one year to the next could also be plotted in a histogram to display

improvement or decline in student scores from the previous year. Scores would also be placed

on a scatter plot graph to help determine the correlation coefficient of the data. The correlation

coefficient would be used to demonstrate the linear model to test the relationship between the

teaching methods or independent variable and the test score results. Using multiple methods to

demonstrate relationships between the scores and measures will help prove the internal validity

of the research.
LEARNING PATHWAYS AND BLENDED LEARNING TEACHING STRATEGIES:
WHICH ONE PASSES THE TEST?? Blankenship

For the qualitative measures of the study, it will be important to create a very specific

coding scheme used by all observers to increase the validity of the measurement. The class

demographics within each school should be as homogenous as possible to further reduce any

unforeseen extraneous variables.

Scholarly Significance and Limitations (0.5 pages)

The results of this study can help administrators and District leaders make informed

decisions about the use of financial resources towards the professional development of teachers,

classroom technology and resources to create either a personalized or blended learning

environments in elementary schools. This study was designed to address the following research

questions.

 Are personalized or blended learning appropriate developmentally appropriate in the

elementary setting?

 Which would be more effective in raising student achievement on a standardized test,

“Personalized learning (PL)” or a Blended Learning strategy (BL)?

 Does socio-economic status affect the use of e-learning opportunities Blended Learning?

Some of the limitations of this study would be ensuring both teachers at the different

schools were using similar styles to provide either personalized or blended learning techniques at

the same pace before the Georgia Milestones. Another limitation would be that demographic

makeup of the classes within each school to make sure the classes had similar percentages of

ELL, Special Education, IEP, gifted and on-level students so the classes could be comparable.
LEARNING PATHWAYS AND BLENDED LEARNING TEACHING STRATEGIES:
WHICH ONE PASSES THE TEST?? Blankenship

If the results of the study were found to be valid, the results would be used to infer how

these teaching strategies would affect upper elementary students. Different modalities and

content would need to be used in order to apply these theories on younger elementary students.

By using similar classes in similar schools and observing the different teaching styles in

different populations and reviewing test scores over time, will put quantitative data on what has

been mostly qualitative research in personalized learning. Further study could question the

development and maturity levels of the individual students to also determine the effectiveness of

the two types of teaching strategies for 21st Century learners. Additional research could test the

theory of blended versus personalized learning in both higher and lower socioeconomic

communities, the effect on those students who may not have all necessary resources at their

disposal, and to determine the relationship between those populations and the effectiveness of the

different teaching styles. What teaching strategy works well for one student population, may not

work as well in another.

LEARNING PATHWAYS AND BLENDED LEARNING TEACHING STRATEGIES:
WHICH ONE PASSES THE TEST?? Blankenship

Resources

Patrick, S., Kennedy, K., & Powell, A. (2013). Mean What You Say: Integrating
personalized, blended, and competency education (pp. 3-31, Rep.). New York, NY: International
Association for K-12 Online Learning.

Beetham, H., & Sharpe, R. (2014). Rethinking pedagogy for a digital age: designing for
21st century learning. London: Routledge.

Christensen, C. M., Horn, M. B., & Staker, H. (2013). Is K12 Blended Learning
Disruptive: An introductory to the theory of hybrids (pp. 3-41, Rep. No. 4). Boston, MA:
Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Learning.

Plough, B. (Mar/Apr 2017). Recognizing and Understanding Blended Learning in

Secondary Classrooms. Leadership, 46(2), 28-31. Retrieved July 1, 2017.

National Association of Independent Schools. Stories of Excellence: Case Studies of

Exemplary Blended and Fully Online Learning.
http://www.nais.org/Articles/SiteAssets/Pages/Stories-of-Excellence/NAIS-Excellence-Booklet-
0924.pdf

Christensen, C. M., Horn, M. B., & Johnson, C. W. (2017). Disrupting class: How
disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

ended and Competency Education

Susan Patrick, Kathryn Kennedy and Allison Powell