During the Coronavirus pandemic, the THWS Robotics degree programme started the “MINT Blended Learning Toolbox”-project. The blend of in-person lectures and digital learning methods aims to close knowledge gaps, enable learning independently from time and place, and support students with learning difficulties.
Today, studying no longer means sitting in lecture rooms, summarising what you have learnt, using pen and paper. Especially during the Coronavirus pandemic, the way students learnt and lecturers taught at universities changed radically. It quickly became clear that online teaching is definitely implementable and desirable for degree programmes. A representative poll by the Centre for Higher Education (CHE) found that the majority of students are in favour of a blend of in-person teaching and digital elements. About one third indicated that their preferred learning setting is Blended Learning (aka Integrated Learning). Here, in-person lectures are complemented by online videos and digital exercises.
Integrated learning is also supported by the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS) – and became its own project: The “MINT Blended Learning Toolbox” by the Robotics degree programme aims to make studying at THWS more flexible. So far, this offer is available for the first two semesters of the courses Robot Mechanics I and II. Applying the concept to other courses and degree programmes is also realistic: The Blended Learning Toolbox would be ideal especially for new students, as it brought them to an equal level of knowledge, says Professor Dr.-Ing. Jean Meyer, head of the project, Programme Director and Deputy Dean of Robotics.
The Blended Learning Toolbox provides four tools
The Blended Learning Toolbox is structured into four steps: Prepare, follow-up, exercise, and test. First, students watch a two-minute video during the “prepare”-step. It prepares them for the in-person lecture – for example when on the bus on their way to university. Once they have attended the lecture, students can deepen what they have learnt within one week, watching a “follow-up”-video about 30 minutes in length. In this second part, the most important contents of the lecture are highlighted once again and presented graphically. As its name describes, “exercise” in the Blended Learning Toolbox is an exercise unit. First and foremost, exercises are completed digitally. Sometimes, they are complemented by practical in-situ exercises to visualise the individual lecture aspects even further and to consolidate what students have learnt. In the final step, “test”, students will conclude the corresponding unit by completing a short test. Not being an official examination, but rather a tool for self-assessment, it helps to detect learning deficiencies more quickly.
Improved flexibility and learning efficiency
The use of a Blended Learning Toolbox offers several advantages for students. On the one hand, the Toolbox reaches out to everyone with knowledge gaps at the early stage of the degree programme. This often applies to mathematics, making the subject Robot Mechanics specifically suitable for the project, reports Professor Dr.-Ing. Meyer. Apart from that, learning pace can thus be adjusted individually. “With the Blended Learning Toolbox, especially students who are slow learners receive the support they need”, the Robotics Programme Director emphasises.
On the other hand, mobile and flexible learning is promoted, as students can work on individual digital elements of the Toolbox anytime anywhere. A feature that has proven to be very helpful during the Coronavirus pandemic. At a pinch, students who contracted the virus could use the Toolbox to bridge a week of lectures and did not fall behind the state of knowledge of their fellow students. Evgenii Tereshchenko, Robotics student in the fourth semester, is currently working as an assistant in further developing the Blended Learning Toolbox. For him, one of the great advantages is its “gamified” approach. “I like that the videos are not static. Embedded images and animations help to better understand and memorise the contents”, he says about the follow-up videos.
Blended Learning works for all degree programmes
Professor Dr.-Ing. Meyer says that it was only by chance that the Robotics degree programme received a Blended Learning Toolbox. As a new lecture was already in preparation anyway, he and his colleagues had the idea of providing students with the additional digital learning toolbox. The learning method is especially suitable for STEM subjects like robotics. Here, learning deficiencies can occur quickly, often leading to students having to resit exams.
But thanks to the option of adjusting individual tools, all degree programmes can benefit from this method. “The Blended Learning Toolbox is universally applicable. In future, it can be tailored to suit other lectures and degree programmes”, the project manager says. However, implementing the project was not easy. Specifically filming and cutting the learning videos was very labour-intensive and time-consuming. Not all lecturers may have enough time at hand for this arduous task. This is what lecturers interested in creating a Blended Learning Toolbox need to know.
The project is over – but the Blended Learning Toolbox remains
To Professor Dr.-Ing. Jean Meyer, it is clear that the toolbox was definitely worth the effort. “My task is to make the exercises even more interactive, so that future students receive a permanent and optimised version of the Blended Learning Toolbox”, assistant Evgenii Tereshchenko reports on the future of the project within the Robotics degree programme. Beyond that, the learning method should now also be applied to other degree programmes. According to Professor Dr.-Ing. Meyer, it is already intended to use the digital toolbox in the Mechatronics degree programme – also thanks to the positive feedback given by students: “So far, only one cohort could make use of the Blended Learning Toolbox – but the feedback received up to this point has been consistently positive.”
Click here to listen to the podcast "MINT Blended Learning Toolbox" (podcast in German/English transcript available)
What’s the difference between hybrid and integrated learning?
Please note: Integrated learning as provided by the Blended Learning Toolbox is not to be confused with hybrid learning.
- Integrated learning (Blended Learning): Here, in-person lectures are an integral element of the teaching methodology. The digital components like videos, quizzes, and exercises are mainly for supporting knowledge-development and clarifying the contents and are not meant to fully replace in-person lectures.
- Hybrid learning: In the past, this term was used as a synonym for Blended Learning. However, in its current form, it describes a lecture students can attend either online or in person.