Date of Award
11-29-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Educational Leadership, Ed.D.
First Advisor
Amany Saleh
Committee Members
Donna Madison-Bell, Joanna Grymes
Call Number
ISBN 9798342763707
Abstract
The perceptions of Tennessee educators who successfully implemented blended learning in their classrooms were the main focus of this phenomenological study. Blended learning is a modality that uses stations which consist of a teacher-led station, an online station, and an off-line station. Teachers work in small groups with students while others in the class complete personalized lessons on the computer or in cooperative learning groups. Focus groups consisting of teacher volunteers from a Tennessee school district were interviewed to examine the perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the blended learning modality used in their classrooms, with a focus on educators teaching kindergarten through fifth grade. Grades three through five teachers thought blended learning was an effective modality to use in the classroom instead of a traditional whole group modality. The upper grade participants felt blended learning allowed their students to be more excited about learning and more engaged with their lessons. Even though initially blended learning was chaotic and required more planning and organization, the benefits and successes outweighed the initial difficulties. Teachers in the kindergarten through second-grade focus group, however, did not think blended learning was as successful as using whole group teacher instruction. Lower elementary participants felt students were not developmentally ready to use the computers and take ownership of their own learning. They felt students in the lower grades needed immediate feedback which they felt blended learning did not give with the early foundational skills. Therefore, the lower elementary participants did not feel blended learning was successful in their classroom and supported the needs of their students. Key words: blended learning, station rotation, elementary schools, elementary teachers
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Barger, Leslie, "Blended Learning in the Elementary Classroom: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study" (2024). Student Theses and Dissertations. 68.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/68
