III.

Data Analysis and Findings

Team members :
1. Phạm Vũ Linh Chi
2. Nguyễn Hiền Giang
3. Nguyễn Xuân Hoa
The implementation of E-Learning and Blended Learning methodology into daily
educational system has long been taken into consideration around the world. However,
due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, students are forced to stay at home and
study online globally. This event therefore pushes the increasing usage of the two
online learning methods mentioned above. In National Economics University (NEU),
Blended Learning is also applied for students to keep up with lessons as scheduled
through Learning Management System (LMS) – Moodle. Acknowledging this tendency,
a survey of 566 NEU students about their attitudes towards Blended Learning through
LMS – Moodle was conducted. Concluded from the survey, the findings will firstly
discuss students’ point of view towards the LMS – Moodle system. Secondly, they will
present students’ viewpoint about lecturers’ lessons through Blended Learning. Thirdly,
Blended Learning’s advantages and drawbacks are under discussion by NEU students.
Last but not least, the findings illustrate students’ overall opinion about Blended
Learning in NEU through LMS – Moodle system.
1, NEU students’ point of view towards the LMS – Moodle system (Phạm Vũ Linh
Chi + Nguyễn Hiền Giang)
For the time being, LMS – Moodle is becoming the official website for lecturers to
update lessons, exercises and for students in NEU to continue learning when they are
staying at home. Figure 3.1 illustrates the average amount of time students spend
learning on this system :
 Figure 3.1 Daily average duration NEU students spend learning on LMS
At the onset, it is clear that one third of the respondents spend 30 minutes to 1 hour
daily learning on LMS, followed by a period of 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes (24.7%) and
less than 30 minutes (20.7%). The figures therefore display that the amount of time
NEU students surveyed self-study on LMS everyday is on the average, neither too long
nor too short. This new method does not take students more time to learn than usual
due to the fact that on the LMS system video lessons, slides are provided by lecturers
as an alternative resources to conventional classrooms at the university regularly, which
helps learners easily revise knowledge they want to learn and understand better.
Operated as the official website and application for NEU students’ Blended Learning
experience, LMS – Moodle is required to contain some of the most basic key
components so as to be used correctly. The table below demonstrates respondents’
comments on a variety of LMS – Moodle’s important elements :
Table 3.1 Surveyor’s responses to different key features in LMS - Moodle
Extremel Disagree Somewha Neutral Somewha Agree Extremely
y t Disagree t Agree Agree
Disagree
Easy access to 17 11 47 64 68 240 119
the LMS -
Moodle at
home.
Easy search for 17 20 58 70 87 226 90
courses needed
Useful 43 60 82 123 105 104 49
attendance
checking
 system
Deadline 69 79 67 88 93 119 51
notifications
from LMS
Organized 26 21 58 116 126 175 44
lessons on LMS
Heavy files 41 37 70 163 105 116 34
allowed on LMS

The general tendency can be concluded from the table is that surveyed students’
answers range wholely from extremely disagree to extremely agree. The most approved
features in LMS are easy access, courses easily looked through and organised lessons.
One reason of these positive feedbacks are owing to before-hand notifications from
lectures to get access to the system, making sure that every student has got the
message to start learning online. Many courses created by teachers are informed online
publicly on many NEU’s Facebook page so that students can have full connection to
them and enroll quickly. Moreover, each lesson in a course is placed in a consistent
timetable of study weeks, which makes it more convenient for faster tracking back for
old lectures.
Other three factors mentioned in the survey seem to cause a lot of controversy for
participants. In stead of usual name calling for attendance in face-to-face class,
teachers now use the attendance checking system on LMS, which makes it difficult for
students with lack of IT knowledge, poor Internet connection to check in time. The most
controversial feature mentioned in the survey is deadline notifying from LMS. With a
strong disagreement from more than 200 participants, it is advised that developers
should consider updating this as soon as possible. The inability to upload heavy files on
LMS can also be seen from the responses. Since students are experiencing distance
learning, all of the exercises they want to submit to their lecturers are digitally sent. The
struggle of transferring large amount of data is likely to cause some disturbance for both
learners and teachers.
When Blended Learning methodology is surveyed among NEU university students, the
use of online learning software requires students to have enrollment keys of classes for
the purpose of protecting personal information, as well as ensuring privacy of the
courses.
 450
418
400
367
350

300
Number of people

250

200
152
150

100

50
19
0
lecturers friends websites facebook pages
Enrollment key resources

Figure 3.2 Participants’ enrollment key resources

According to statistics based on a total of 566 people surveyed, learners receive
enrollment keys from a variety of sources. Of these, 418 responded that enrolment
keys were sent from friends, in addition to 367 lecturers sent enrollments keys
enrollments keys to private email account, more than 152 students ask for help on
social network such as NEU's Information Corners Pages on Facebook. There are very
few people search for enrollment keys on the website like phongctctqlsv.neu.edu.vn (an
NEU's website for students).
All the number above show that all the most students received enrollment keys from
their friends more than from their lecturers, this could be understood because students
are closer with their friends more than their lecturers, and because friends can give
enrollment keys are faster than lecturers. Similarly, the quick and convenient factors
are key features for respondents to use Facebook pages rather than asking via
websites. However, Facebook pages and websites are less convenient than asking
directly through lecturers and friends who are always online and willing to give the
courses enrollment keys.
LMS is an open-source, free learning management system that helps connecting
students and lecturers, and in this pandemic, the use of this system is even more
important since this is one of the most used tools to learn and to teach. NEU students,
who are after an experience of a long-break, are getting used to the LMS-Moodle, and
giving recommendations to improve this system.
 400

350 334 324

300 275

250
Number of people

200
171
148
150

100

50

0
Ensure the upload Ensre the system Redesign Redesign tasks on Strengthen users'
of heavy files on is not overloaded searching tools forum privacy
LMS

Recommendations

Figure 3.3 Students’ recommendation to the LMS – Moodle system

It is safe to say that when studying with LMS, everyone's top priority is the security of
this system. This is evident when 148 people responded that LMS - Moodle should
strengthen users' privacy by hiding the sign-in icon. Privacy helps protect users'
personal information as well as courses privacy, however, we can see that this software
still needs to protect users better.
In addition, LMS - Moodle also received recommendations from 325 surveyors that this
system should make sure that large files can be uploaded because in reality, the too
large assignments or lectures take a long time to upload or maybe even failed to upload
to this system. Besides the vast number of astronomical (334 students) feeling
uncomfortable by this system is often overloaded in peak time when many students all
together log in for their courses.
In the near future, to facilitate learners' learning, and to attract more users, it is also
recommended that the tasks (upload, download, write a new answer, etc.) on the LMS
forum must be redesigned.
All the small recommendations are important, and respondents had given their opinions
which are extremely real, subjective, and shows that the LMS - Moodle should develop
its system.
2, NEU students’ viewpoint about lecturers’ lessons through Blended Learning
(Nguyễn Hiền Giang + Nguyễn Xuân Hoa)
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, NEU teachers have to provide students with online
lessons so as to keep up with the usual studying schedule. The ability to wrap up
enough knowledge in each lesson is an important factor to consider when evaluating
Blended Learning.

Too much
16%

Other
Enough 5%
57%

Too little
22%

Figure 3.4 NEU students’ opinion regarding knowledge amount in online lessons
Overall, the chart is divided into four parts: too little, enough, too much, and other. All
the parts show the opinion of the respondents and this evaluations are subjective.
There is a tremendous votes from the respondents saying that the amount of knowledge
given is sufficient, and this number accounts for 57% of the chart. This statistic shows
that the given knowledge is sufficient and makes students acquire knowledge more
effectively. However, while 16% of the participants responded that the knowledge was
too much, 22% of them pointed out that the knowledge was too little, which means
lecturers should make adjustments to their lectures to meet sufficiency, not redundant
or not lacking, creating favorable conditions for students to learn and to acquire
knowledge.
 24

Always available, no need to buy

more
Not enough, have to purchase 274
more
Others 264

Figure 3.5 Participants’ answer to Blended Learning studying resources

Study resources are essential in learning, they are tools that help teachers
communicate more easily, and help students gain a deeper understanding of what is
being conveyed, as well as tools for self-study. Resources for lecturers' lectures can be
either traditional books or online books that students can search online.
In the survey given, there are 274 respondents answering that their study resources are
always available for the course, they don't have to buy additional materials. This is a
good figure showing that nearly 49% of learners are fully equipped with textbooks and
learning materials distributed to the majority of students.
However, there are also nearly 47% subscribed replies that the resources are not
enough, they have to purchase for their subject materials. This creates inconveniences
for learners and the number also indicates that many people feel uncomfortable when
the resources they receive are not enough to answer the questions from lecturers'
lessons.
The others say that depends on lecturers, they recieved their study resources because
the lecturers sent the materials related to each subjects privately. Additionally, some
lecturers only give out slides to let students study on their own, although students
recieved the materials, those resources are unhelpful because it is too complicated and
overwhelmed.
Despite the availability or lack of learning materials, the main focus of study resources is
to make learning and teaching easier. And through the statistics we can see that
students need a useful resource, which the lecturers can definitely give out.
Teaching in an effective way makes learning and teaching easier, so lecturers have
used various teaching methods to apply to students.
 450 427
408
400
349 344
350

300
Number of people

250

200

150

100

50

0
Slides Provision Pre-recorded videos Live online class Exercises Provision
lessons provision

Lessons provision methods

Figure 3.6 Different methods lecturers use to keep up with the lessons
When surveying students who have been studying with Blended Learning method,
many students answered that the most used method to keep up with the lessons is t
provide the slides or pre-recorded video lessons. The interesting thing is that before
this Covid-19 pandemic came along, the way to provide the slides or provide pre-
recorded lessons videos was very unpopular because students found that these two
methods limited the interaction between learners and teachers, however, these two
methods are now preferred, and are used extensively because it allows learners to
review the lecture and gain insights into the knowledge covered in that session. On the
contrary, there are 2 less preferred teaching methods but still applied is learned online
live with the lecturer and provide exercises.
It seems that with the Blended Learning method, the interaction between the student
and the instructor is reflected in the screen of the phone, the computer, and in many
ways. Regardless of the teaching method, knowledge transfer is still the most
important, and to keep up with the lessons, lecturers can use any method, as long as it
is appropriate for teaching and learning.
During the outbreak of COVID-19, blended learning creates the connection between
learners and lecturers, and to learn effectively, learners need to do assignments and
homework given by the lecturers.
 1%
3%

37%

337
60%

Too little Enough Too much No exercises

Figure 3.7 Surveyors’ response to the amount of homework

Very easy Easy
Very difficult 0% 2%
10%

Normal
44%

Difficult
44%

Very easy Easy Normal Difficult Very difficult

Figure 3.8 Surveyors’ response to the difficulty level of the homework

When talking about exercise, there are two issues that need to be addressed: the
amount of exercise and difficulty level. These two issues are key factors for assigning
homework to be suitable for learners to ensure students understand and remember the
lesson. In the first table, there were 337 (59%) neutral responds mentioning that the
amount of exercises is enough, and 209 (37%) neutral feel that given exercises are too
much; however, when looking at the chart below, the number of people found the
assignments difficult and normal, accounting for 88%. This shows that the quality of
homework assigned is difficult and much for students.
In addition, there are students who respond that those exercises are not enough and
even no exercises were given by the lecturers. This shows that the assignments of
homework among teachers are uneven, and that the lack of homework or too few
assignments can affect student learning. Of course, not all subjects have homework,
but table data shows lecturers should have methods to help their students revise the
lessons in order not to forget all knowledge due to the long-term break.
Reasonable homework is important for teaching because by doing exercises that are
consistent with the knowledge taught, students will remember and understand the
lesson better.

160
148
140

120

99
Number of people

100 96

80
80
66
60
43
40

20 14
8
4 4 4
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Score

Figure 3.9 Students’ viewpoint with regards to

the relevance of exercises and lectures

In the survey established, there are 423 respondents who answered that the relevance
of exercises and lectures range from 7 to 10, which means that assigning exercises is
very effective. At levels of 7-10, the data collected in each step is one and a half times
higher than the data collected in the range of 0-5 (which is completely unrelated), this
data helps us to see that the homework is not wasteful, and the fact that students have
done homework to answer this survey also shows that assignments help students learn
effectively and memorize knowledge better.
Tests and quizzes have always been a motivator to study harder when students know
that their progress will be judged upon an exam, a performance review etc. It sets a
deadline for when material needs to be learned by and diligent students know they must
adhere to that. 

Figure 3.10 Response to the availability of lecturers’ tests and quizzes

Thus, it is extremely appreciable that almost all interviewees when asked whether they
are given tests and quizzes or not said yes. This result apparently emphasizes the
dedication of NEU professors to the learning progress of their students. 

Figure 3.11 Participants’ response to the existence of time limit in tests

Alongside with being provided  with testing materials, more than 90% of participants
also responded that there are time restrictions or deadlines for their test. Again, this
clearly noteworthy figure points to the fact that teachers do not only regard quizzes as a
learning tools alone but they also account for online quizzes as a score evaluation
method. 

Due to the reality of online testing, teachers are unable to directly evaluate students’
knowledge. Therefore many grading methods are created on the LMS platform :

Figure 3.12 Grading methods observed by NEU students

There is quite a tremendous variation regarding grading methods. What can be seen
clearly from the 2 charts above is the largest proportion of respondents were not aware
of how their study is evaluated. This is totally understandable though when the whole
blended learning implementation in NEU is in its early stage and was only exploited as
an immediate substitute for conventional classes due to the Covid-19 outbreak. 

However, if this system is intended to be used in the long run, it is expected that there
will be officially an objective and efficient grading resolution throughout the university
system.

On the other hand, the figure also revealed some grading preferences of NEU’s
professors according to respondents. There is a striking discrepancy between “using the
highest score” and the others (“using the average score” and “using the first attempt
score”). It implied the sympathy of teachers for their students who were enduring
studying hardship in the epidemic of Covid-19.
Enhancing teaching methods has always been an abiding enthusiasm of every teacher.
Hence, this figure is hoped to convey some of the most demanding expectations of NEU
students regarding the online teaching activity of professors. 

Figure 3.13 Participants’ recommendations for Blended Learning lectures

With more than 500 participants, it is noteworthy that more than 300 to 400 out of them
return a “Yes” when asked whether teachers should: 

 Provide slides or other study materials

 Provide explanation/ teaching videos
 Set up online meetings/classes with students
 Provide quizzes and problems for practice

This clearly suggests some of the most vital aspects of online study that students are in
need. Beside, there are a handful of students recommending for other enhancement
such as arrangements for answers and explanations for ambiguous  or arduous
questions or external reference materials.

3, NEU students’ discussion of Blended Learning’s advantages and

disadvantages (Nguyễn Xuân Hoa)

Blended Learning has been existing for quite a long time. So here is the reaction of how
it has performed since its first implementation.

Table 3.2 Suggested Blended Learning’s advantages

 Extremely Disagre Somewhat Neutral Somewhat Agree Extremely
Disagree e Disagree Agree Agree
Time flexibility 18 43 41 96 98 191 79
Cost 20 34 42 106 89 203 73
reduction
Learning 14 7 28 72 76 257 112
location
flexibility
Self-study 27 32 39 115 109 176 68
improvement
Learning 24 40 39 132 107 168 56
Management
Improvement
Increasing 72 99 96 133 93 61 12
interaction
between
lecturers and
students
More 87 104 83 162 69 52 9
interesting
lessons

Overall, it can be concluded that the attitude of respondents towards blended learning
ranges from neutral to positive. Learning location flexibility is observed to be the number
one reason why students believe blended learning is beneficial. The fact that everyone
can learn in the comfort of their home is a great feature of online learning that will lead
to other significant advantages.

There’s no dispute that time flexibility and cost reduction are 2 other major benefits of
blended learning. With several hours saved daily on average, a student can enjoy
acquiring academic knowledge and still has extra time for other activities and personal
interest. Travel cost is also cut down significantly, not to mention fee of accommodation
for students who reside in far locations from university and have to live in dormitory and
bedsits.

The rest points, which are self-study improvement, learning Management Improvement,
increasing interaction between lecturers and students and more interesting lessons also
contributed to a positive reaction to blended learning, albeit with lower mean score.

However, everything comes with a cost, and blended learning is not an exception by
any means.  And the most apparent drawback of this learning method is the lack of
face-to-face connections with friends and lecturers. 

Table 3.3 Suggested Blended Learning Disadvantages

Extremely Disagree Somewhat Neutral Somewhat Agree Extremely

Disagree Disagree Agree Agree
Technological 19 50 56 154 109 136 42
problems
 More 13 21 33 127 84 186 102
exercises and
homework
Decrease in 11 22 34 101 119 170 109
ability to
acquire
knowledge
Lack of face- 11 17 18 106 89 196 127
to-face
connections
with friends
and lecturers

In spite of using online meeting apps and softwares, there is still an “invisible wall”
between students and professors in online meetings  that could potentially degrade the
efficiency of class sessions. Online meeting is more like a “livestream” where teachers
provide lessons and answers raised questions. However, some nuance such as the
overall class reaction, and other physical observations are hard to simulate in an online
environment.

On the other hand, technical issues and especially internet connecting quality are also a
stumbling block when it comes to online learning. There is no assurance that
connections from any sides are corrupted during the learning sessions. Beside, when all
the population are moving to online work and education like what is happening in the
epidemic, servers of online meeting apps and softwares could be overloaded and
disrupted, which costs time for all of its users.

The most recent security and privacy issues about a popular meeting app - Zoom have
raised even more concern about data security when all internal documents and
information are stored online in apps like this one.

4, NEU students’ overall opinion about Blended Learning through LMS – Moodle
(Phạm Vũ Linh Chi + Nguyễn Xuân Hoa)
Educators are constantly striving to find new and innovative ways to educate their
students, and blended learning is among the newest concepts being adopted. Blended
learning combines the traditional place-based model with other education models, such
as online and mobile learning. And the question whether this integration is applicable for
any subject is worthy to mention. Interviewees from a variety of faculties have informed
us of their preferences in the chart below
 300
270
250

200
171
150 135
Number of people

127
114
97 98
100 84 87
60 66 63
53 54
50 41 38

0
lu
s ra ty cs i cs i cs ng g ng ng ls w y cs ht ll
cu eb bili sti m m e ni a kin riti a di S kil l La oph
e tri ug ta
l g a ti o o s o a
Ca Al ob St
a on on Lis
t
Sp
e W Re ed ta il o m th ct
Pr ec ec rat en Ph ono h's bje
o o g m c in su
icr ac
r te nd
a
xis
m E
M M In
Fu ar hiM No
M C
Ho

Subjects

Figure 3.14 Expected subjects fully taught in Blended Learning methodology

First of all, it can be seen that the majority of students are not so content with the idea of
moving any subjects to an online environment. Of those who want to, their most
prefered subjects are Listening, Reading, Marxism Philosophy and HCM’s thought.
Those subjects either involve a large amount of theory or do not require much face-to-
face interaction. Finally, the remaining subjects seem to be supported much with the
idea of Blended Learning application with only around 10-20% voters.
After about 4 months into experiencing Blended Learning methodology through LMS –
Moodle, students are capable of judging its efficiency based on their own experience in
NEU. Their ratings of this new method are described clearly in figure 3. below :
 140 132
126
120

100 94
Number of people

80
80

60
47
40
28

20 15 14 17
12
1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Score

Figure 3.15. Participants’ scores of Blended Learning in terms of efficiency

One noticeable observation is that the majority of NEU participants gave Blended
Learning a highly positive score with regards to efficiency. Out of 566 participants, the
highest number of people rate Blended Learning 7 out of 10 (132), expressing that
Blended Learning is currently a sufficient learning method. Despite the fact that NEU
had to implement LMS much faster than expected because of the epidemic, the quality
of this learning approach was sufficient enough for NEU students to keep track with the
usual curriculum. While less than 100 participants evaluated this learning method more
than 8, a surprising number of 12 students implied that Blended Learning is completely
not effective at all, which signals the imperfection of it. Much as Blended Learning is
regarded as an alternative method, it is foreseen to be exploited further in the near
future in order for the best version to be provided to NEU users.
Not only Blended Learning’s effectiveness but also survey students’ experience should
be a vital factor in assessing the full effect of Blended Learning in NEU.
 160

140 134

120
102
Number of people

100 92 90

80

60
44
38
40
25
20 13 15
10
3
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Score

Figure 3.16 Students’ experiences with Blended Learning in NEU

The similar bar chart pattern between Blended Learning’s level of capability and
students’ satisfaction score clarifies the close connection between the two factors.
Roughly the same number of surveyed students (134) feel satisfied with the method in
NEU at the score of 7 and overall participants’ reaction to Blended Learning is positive.
This can be explained by the number of people reviewing above 5 thoroughly
outweighed the rest. The statistics give a precise demonstration of how Blended
Learning is helping students achieve wanted knowledge effectively even when they
cannot come to school due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The best explanation for a small
portion of surveyed students giving a relatively low grade is that their learning
experiences are decreased by many disadvantages listed upon like serious technical
issues, an invisible “wall” between teachers and them, etc. Even though receiving
negative reviews is a factor that cannot be ignored for improvement, it is undeniable that
what Blended Learning is doing at the moment brings about more benefits than
drawbacks.
It is evident that although Blended Learning is considered an alternative learning
method for traditional classrooms on campus, the investigation of the existence of
Blended Learning and traditional method together in NEU after the Covid-19 is still an
interesting question to look into.
 Figure 3.17 Opinion about the continuation of Blended Learning in NEU after the
Covid-19 epidemic
Apart from the figure of one fifth of participants responding neutrally to the continuation
of Blended Learning in NEU, the opinion of either disagree or agree was rather divided
evenly. This proves to be a highly controversial topic among NEU students due to its
advantages and disadvantages. The viewpoint of dispute can be explained by the fact
that there are a number of reasonable disadvantages which makes the studying online
part of Blended Learning a less convenient approach. However, the attitude of
agreement can be justified by other merits such as storing lecture videos, slides for
students with the purpose of revision. Therefore, if NEU decides to carry out Blended
Learning alongside with classes face-to-face, it is likely that the university will continue
to receive complaints from students.
Since Blended Learning was invented and introduced to NEU students, it has been
compared to traditional learning methods based on a large number of aspects.
Participants also express their opinions about the comparison of the two methodology in
terms of effectiveness :
 Figure 3.18 Opinion about whether Blended Learning is more effective than
traditional classrooms
From a quick glance at the pie chart aloft, a trend of dispute surpassing the concurrence
is quickly noticed. More than half of the surveyors (64.5%) believed that Blended
Learning cannot outperform traditional lessons regarding adaptability. Up to now, NEU
students have only experienced the part of learning online for social distancing because
of the Covid-19 outbreak, while Blended Learning is demonstrated as the combination
of face-to-face classrooms and online platforms’ technological supports. Only when
students are allowes to return the university will they get access to the full capacity of
this methodology and understand it better. Nevertheless, based on students’ feedbacks
above, the LMS – Moodle system needs much more time and effort to develop.