EJEL Volume 6 Issue 2
April 2008

Is a Blended Learning Approach Suitable for Mature, Part-time Finance Students?

Julia Burgess
University of Winchester, UK

Blended learning is a pedagogy that is sometimes heralded as the answer to some of the problems which part time students face. Creating a module for part-time students with some e-learning elements is time consuming and resource intensive. Therefore it must be demonstrated that the investment in such innovations will benefit the students and create wider learning opportunities in the most effective manner. General blended learning research has shown that its use on specific courses generates favourable responses from students. Hall (2006) found that e-learning engagements can have a positive impact on the learning experience. Many of the case studies of blended learning on the student learning experience note that the ‘virtual learning environment is more effective, efficient and satisfying than the traditional learning situation’ (Koskela et al, 2005, p.21) particularly where students have the ability to ask questions and evaluate their own learning.

The University of Winchester has introduced a new Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) based on the Moodle Course Management System (CMS). Moodle supports a ‘social constructionist pedagogy’ where the style of learning is highly interactive and emphases that learners (and not just teachers) can organize and contribute to the educational experience in many ways. The various functional features of Moodle reflect its design philosophy which is based upon the belief that people learn best when they interact with the learning material, construct new material from their own perspective and interact with other students about the material (Rice, 2006). A small investigation has been conducted which has looked at the learning needs of part-time, mature finance students at The University of Winchester to see whether a blended approach (using Moodle) would have benefited their studies. The results of this investigation have been used as the basis for developing the course to allow a more blended style. This paper attempts to outline how the course was designed and to do a preliminary analysis of the use of blended learning for part-time, mature finance students.

Keywords: Blended-learning, finance, part-time, mature-student, e-learning

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