Blended Learning Research: Components critical to student learning from a meta-analysis

This meta-analysis study examined two broad categories related to student satisfaction: course content and instruction format. A systematic review of the literature using meta-analysis was conducted to both analyze and synthesize data across a large number of studies. The results show that in the higher-education environment, it is essential that both the method of interaction and the content be given purposeful attention during course development and presentation of course curricula. Future research should be aimed at identifying the critical subcomponents of these two categories. Additional research on course design factors in both the online and blended learning environments related to instruction should be conducted. In addition, the hybrid approach of blended learning seems to integrate the instructor more fully into positive student perceptions of overall learning outcomes. Overall, this study demonstrated that this type of meta-analysis can provide valuable insight in educational research that is worthy of additional study for higher education.