Students’ Engagement Levels in Traditional and Blended Learning Environments: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

This study examines the levels of student engagement in traditional versus blended learning environments among students in Cordova Public College. There were 240 randomly selected students from different programs who answered an adapted survey questionnaire. Employing a quantitative descriptive-comparative research design, the study determined whether there are significant differences in cognitive, emotional and behavioral engagement between these two modalities. Data were gathered using and analyzed using independent T-test and one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results revealed that compared to blended learning, traditional learning environment has higher level of cognitive, emotional and behavioral engagement. Moreover, a significant difference (p=0.02) in student engagement was found between traditional and blended learning environments. Furthermore, results revealed that there is significant difference between age and student engagement in the traditional classroom setting (p=0.03), also, program consistently demonstrates a significant relationship with student engagement in both traditional (F=3.33, p=0.02) and blended (F=3.97, p=0.009) learning modalities. These findings highlight the critical role of higher education to evaluate and improve their blended learning approaches in order to guarantee that they promote levels of engagement comparable to traditional settings.