The Effectiveness of a Blended Learning-Based Life Design Course: Implications of Instruction and Application of Technology

PURPOSE: Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 in Taiwan, we have adapted the face-to-face Life Design course to a blended learning approach with educational technology to cope with the problem of cross-generational confusion and anxiety towards later life from learners. The objectives of this study are to. 1. evaluate learners’ reactions after attending the Life Design course including their level of satisfaction, engagement (Level 1), and the applicability of courses in their life. 2. evaluate their learning outcomes after attending the Life Design course, such as their acquisition of knowledge, skills, attitudes, confidence, commitment (Level 2), and behavioral changes (Level 3). 3. explore the factors that enable and prevent students from transferring their learning in this course to the action taking and making behavioral changes. 4. explore how the application of educational technology can enhance the teaching and learning in the Life Design course. METHODS: This study used an action research method to solve two main problems we identified in practice: students’ confusion about their future life and the shortcomings of traditional teaching methods, which cannot meet the learning needs of this type of course due to the requirement of intensive personal reflection and self-disclosure. Participants were 36 master’s students who completed the Life Design course. Based on this course's design, implementation, and evaluation, we used the new Kirkpatrick Learning Assessment Model (Kirkpatrick J, Kirkpatrick WK. An introduction to the new world Kirkpatrick Model. Kirkpatrick Partners, 2021) to analyze the learning effectiveness on the Reaction, Learning, and Behavioral levels. RESULTS: To facilitate learners to overcome the cross-generational confusion of their life design and solve the shortage of face-to-face teaching methods, we took biographical learning as the core theme for this Life Design course and designed online and offline learning activities. The blended learning approach with educational technology allowed us to go beyond time and location constraints and provide a holistic and inseparable learning experience in both formats. The result of the evaluation shows that students who took the Life Design course were highly satisfied with the overall course design, topics, and the suitability of a blended learning approach, which motivated them to extend their learning outside the classroom and helped them benefit from a more trusted, personal and hybrid interaction with teachers and their peers both online and offline. On the learning level, students not only learned the correct knowledge of age perspectives, changed their views of career and personal development, and acquired skills for life design, but were also confident and committed to applying what they have learned in their future life. After the course, many students applied and integrated the learning into behavioral changes in their life. In terms of the difficulties and hindrances encountered in action taking, many students mentioned the lack of peers’ support and constraints from their busy daily life. Many suggested providing extra support after the course with regular impulse, follow-ups, and individual feedback from teachers and peers in an online learning community. This indicates how educational technology can better support these elements in continuous learning and the transfer of learning. CONCLUSION: Based on these results, we affirm that implementing this Life Design course with a blended learning approach is indeed better than a fully physical course. However, the focus of a blended learning approach should be on learners from a pedagogical perspective rather than technology.