Cogent Education (Jan 2021)
Blended learning: Honouring students’ Psychological Contract
Abstract
A psychological contract is an individual’s perceived expectation that remains in their mindset and thought process. The purpose of this study is to discover the psychological contract of the student in a blended learning setting by exploring his/her expectations of blended learning. Blended learning with its strategic and systematic approach to the integration of online and face-to-face teaching has stirred the interest of many with its promise of flexibility, personalized learning, ease of accessibility, and student engagement. The methodology adopted is a qualitative methodology using in-depth semi-structured interviews. A sample of 27 tertiary education students in the UAE were interviewed at the start of a 16-week blended learning course to uncover their expectations. The main finding is that the psychological contract of students in a blended learning setting consists of positive educational and relational expectations towards both the teacher and peers. Positive expectations of participation, communication and collaboration result from this study as students expect to learn from both their peers and their teachers through blended learning as well to learn autonomously through activities, problem-solving exercises and research.
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