Promoting Learning through Interactive On-line Activities: Examining Effects of the RICG Model for Designing Blended Classes

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Promoting Learning through Interactive On-line
ActivitiesExamining Effects of the RICG Model
for Designing Blended Classes

• Li Cao
• Counseling Educational Psychology

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Theoretical Framework

• Elements of Successful Cooperative Learning
• Individual Accountability
• Group Rewards
• Positive Interdependence
• Improvement
• Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T. (2002).
  Meaningful assessment and cooperative process.
  Boston Allyn Bacon.

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RICG Instructional Model

• Read the assigned material
• Individual responses and posting on line
• Chatroom discussion with the group
• Group synthesis and sharing with the class

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Research Literature

• Educational technology offers unique features to
  benefit teaching and learning
• Focus shifting from developing infrastructure to
  using technology as a cognitive tool (Lajoie,
  2000)
• Current research yields conflicting results
• No difference was found in classroom performance
  between traditional, completely online, and
  hybrid course delivery (Rivera Rice, 2002)
• Blended class outperformed face-to-face class in
  physiology ( Taradi, Taradi, Radic, Pakrajac,
  2005)

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Purpose

• Compare student performance in the traditional
  classes versus the blended classes in psychology
  and research
• Traditional class12 face-to-face classes
• Blended class8 face-to-face 4 on-line classes
  
• (2 before and 2 after the midterm)
• On-line classRICG
• Read the assigned material
• Individual responses and posting on line
• Chatroom discussion with the group
• Group synthesis and sharing with the class

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Research Design
Traditional (N127) Traditional (N127) Blended (N139) Blended (N139) Blended (N139)
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Psy. Re. n36 n24 Psy. Re. n42 n25 Psy. Re. n34 n26 Psy. Re. n21 n20 Psy. Re. n20 n18
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Results

• Significant difference was found on the means of
  the final exam in psychology and research between
  traditional and blended classes F(1, 264)13.75,
  p.001, ?².05.

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Figure 1. Means of student performance on the
final exam by year and subject
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Figure 2. Means of student performance on the
final exam by subject and instructional methods
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Discussion

• Our results confirm Taradi et al.s (2005)
  finding that students in blended classes
  outperformed students in traditional face-to-face
  classes.
• Our data show that student performance benefited
  from the blended instruction only on the final
  exam but not on the midterm.
• This finding suggests that students may need more
  experience using on-line class structure to
  benefit their learning.

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Future Study

• Consider a larger sample and from different
  subject areas and disciplines
• Control the instructor effects
• Reverse and/or alternate the traditional and
  blended instruction