Kevin Anthony Jones - Higher Education 4.0: The Digital Transformation of Classroom Lectures to Blended Learning

Not attending lectures and tutorialsIn the first few learning sessions, the attendance was high, but it quickly diminished until by mid-semester, the attendance generally stabilized to under 50%. This was in stark contrast with the near-full attendance in the lab sessions.

Not asking questions of the teacherAsking questions during lectures pretty well never happens. Asking after classes in a one-to-one interaction and emailing are the preferred approaches for posing questions; the highest number of students to ask questions of the teacher in a semester was 15 in a class size of over 100. In casual dialogue, students showed cognizance of the effectiveness of seeking clarification from the teacher on areas of uncertainty in the new knowledge. When pressed to explain the inconsistency of their understanding and their actions, some students claimed that they had no uncertainties. Yet, subsequent on-the-spot assessments showed that the majority of these students were nowhere near the degree of material comprehension thus professed. Other students purported shyness as their reason for not asking questions.

Not attempting take-home formative assignments and practice questionsIn the first couple of tutorials, a few students have started the assignment, with none having completed it. (Note that these are formative, intended to build knowledge.) Thereafter, the number of students having started the assignment drops to nil.

Not reviewing and revising new knowledge regularly or even at all, except during a few days of intense cramming before the examinationThe evidence for this was situational and testimonial. There are numerous study tables for the schools student. Typically, in the teaching weeks of the semester, they are occupied by students from other schools. Only during the exam revision week do the schools students occupy the tables. In the course of casual discussions, several students candidly admitted to focusing their learning efforts solely to passing the exam, after which they would (metaphorically) dump the knowledge. Other students explained it was a learned habit to cram. The corollary of this was that the students were not applying relevant knowledge from prior learning opportunities to the acquisition of new knowledge, essentially derailing the process of iterative construction of personal knowledge that is the cornerstone of the formal education system.

Not studying the prescribed references for the new knowledgeEvidence for this was usage reports from the universitys learning management software, and on-the-spot assessments and workshops. Supporting the course were approximately 50 primary references (presentations slide packages, assignment questions, lab instructions and handouts) and approximately 30 enrichment references (video lecture recordings, YouTube videos, and industry and scholarly articles). The references with standout usage statistics were lab instructions with the highest one-time-only usage (about 80% of cohort) and recorded lectures with the highest repetitive usage (about 30% of cohort). Otherwise, the overall usage was under 10% of cohort, with articles having the lowest (bordering on nil). Though possibly the students were studying reference materials from other sources like the web, the students dismal performances on unannounced assessments and workshops clearly indicated that effort, if it existed at all, was insufficient, ineffectual or both.