them from having assignments due on the
weekends.
In one assignment, Posta asked students
to calculate their expected annual incomes
based on their careers, then deduct federal
and state taxes. Other assignments involved
Excel problems, such as creating spreadsheets
for hypothetical financial positions or
recording and compiling information from
database searches.
Students in the blended summer course
received 60 percent more A’s than in previous
summer classes, and there were no failures or
dropouts. Posta credits the stronger grades to
the personal application of blended learning practices.
“The way general ed math classes are set up, there is a lot that is asked
of the student to do procedurally but there aren’t as many concepts,” said
Posta, who teaches three ground classes, including the blended class,
and one online course. “Blended provides a better approach because we
are able to cover the procedural stuff in the lecture and expand on the
concept by providing applications to the future careers of the students.
“Giving each student a way to explore algebra in their career, I found
that students embraced that,” he added. “They were happy they didn’t
have to come to class one day, but they were also more engaged in class
and actually working harder.”
Blended learning helped GCU sophomore Francisco Quijada, a health
care administration major, readjust to school after four years away and
two military tours in Afghanistan.
Quijada, 23, entered the Marines after high school and took his
first semester of college classes last summer. He said the personal
application of the blended class helps him better understand
unfamiliar math concepts.
“I like that it is applicable to my career. Basic math sometimes doesn’t
always apply to what you want to do after college, but with this it does,”
he said. “It is a helpful way to readjust. The teachers are there to help
you, but you can pick it up as you go.”
A national trend
Blended education. Flipped classroom. Hybrid learning. Blended
learning is known by many names and is widely misunderstood.
In elementary classrooms and college lecture halls, the concepts are
the same — applying technology and online learning and interaction in
the classroom — but the application varies. Students submit assignments
online and often have online discussions while also meeting daily in
class to hear lectures and view notes on PowerPoint.
GCU biology professor Tina Salata asks her Biology 220 students to
research their carbon footprints online and present their findings to the class.
Physics 111 instructor Klaus Mortensen posts sample problems and narrates
PowerPoint presentations for students to review during online class days.
Instructors meet monthly to discuss best
practices and compile data to apply to future
classes and determine where blended applies and
where it doesn’t fit.
Dr. Sherman Elliott, dean of the College
of Humanities and Social Sciences, said the
University is encouraging students to bring
laptops to class.
“Our students grew up with smart phones in
their hands, tablets, PCs, Macs. So instead of
trying to keep those things out of the classroom
we’re encouraging them to bring them in,” Elliott
said. “Everything is done on computers now, so
why not learning, too?
“This is the best of both worlds.”
Radda said more GCU classes could have a blended element, but
future application will be based on the results of the pilot programs,
which extended to English and marketing courses this spring.
“What we’re finding is that blended can be as good if not better than
traditional and online and better in certain areas,” Radda said.
“We’re always questioning what we are doing well and what can we
improve. That’s just who we are.”
GCU TODAY • 1 9
GCU professor Filippo Posta lectures to students during the Tuesday
“ground” day of his springMath 134 class. On Thursdays the students
work online, although a few come to class to receive tutoring. Posta led
the first blended learning class last summer.
photo by darryl webb
GCU is the perfect
laboratory because it
is essentially already
a blended university,
being a pioneer with
online and ground.
