Exploring College Students' Deeper Learning Perceptions in the Blended Learning Environment: Scale Development, Validation, and Experimental Comparison

Introduction

Twenty-first century skills, such as innovation, information, media, technology, life and career skills, have become essential for thriving in the digital age (Karakoyun & Lindberg, 2020). Cultivating these skills to meet professional and societal demands requires that higher educational institutions go beyond core knowledge mastery (Wu & Zhu, 2017) and emphasize knowledge internalization and its transfer to engage college students in deeper learning (Hernández et al., 2019). Deeper learning entails learning independently, thinking critically, as well as transferring and applying knowledge flexibly to solve complex problems (Karakoyun & Lindberg, 2020).

The prevalence of advanced technologies enabled the construction of blended learning environments conducive to deeper learning. For instance, small private online courses (SPOCs) and flipped classrooms shifted the focus from traditional teacher-centered instruction to student-centered learning (Xiao-Dong & Hong-Hui, 2020) and let students become active and interactive learners (Ustun & Tracey, 2020). Furthermore, Verdonck et al. (2019) found that such environments encouraged group work and self-directed learning while Heilporn et al. (2021) suggested that supportive digital tools and frequent online assessments promoted student behavioral engagement in blended learning courses.

Previous studies focused mainly on the strategies, models, and factors, which influence deeper learning in specific blended learning courses (Bi & Shi, 2019; Chen et al., 2018; Ustun & Tracey, 2020). Few studies comprehensively assessed college students’ deeper learning perceptions in blended learning environments, and the impact of the background differences on deeper learning in the learning environments of various blend types. Therefore, this study uses a validated deeper learning self-assessment scale (DLSS) to evaluate Chinese college students’ perceptions of deeper learning in blended learning environments and to explore their background differences.

This paper is organized into five sections. The next section provides theoretical background on deeper learning and blended learning in higher education, which underpins the DLSS. In the following section, we present the research methodology employed in this study. Then, the paper details the results of scale validation and experimental comparisons. Finally, the last two sections cover the discussion of the findings and suggestions for future implementation and further research.