A COMPARISON STUDY OF CONVENTIONAL AND BLENDED LEARNING ON TECHNICAL COURSE PERFORMANCE

Abstract

The introduction of blended learning is so remarkable that almost any learning institution takes it as a lifesaver. By integrating conventional face-to-face teaching with technology-based learning, blended learning can help students who are now technology-driven besides increasing teacher-student engagement and improving students' performances. The research was carried out to evaluate a significant difference in performance between students who had gone through a conventional learning approach and students who had learnt through blended learning. The performances were measured based on the courses selected from Bachelor of Engineering Technology in Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding program, offered in University Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Institute of Marine Engineering Technology (UniKL MIMET). Two different cohorts of students had been selected for the comparison purposes, and average scores from specifically five (5) technical courses in practice were analysed. Average students' scores from the January 2012 cohort were selected and were compared to average students' scores from the January 2015 cohort, where blended learning came into practice. The results obtained shows that both cohorts of students displayed an almost similar trend of performance. Using the survey results, how the students' motivation and distraction impacted the overall performance were also explained.