Research on Factors Influencing University Teachers’ Acceptance of Blended Learning in a Selected University in China

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue V, May 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

Research on Factors Influencing University Teachers’ Acceptance of Blended Learning in a Selected University in China

Wang Lu^1,2, Liu Min¹, Siti Maziha Mustapha^2
1College of Foreign Studies, Hubei Normal University, China
²Faculty of Business, Information and Human Science, Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur (IUKL), Malaysia

Abstract—Teachers are considered to play a key role in implementing the blended learning method. This study intends to explore the factors that will influence teacher’s acceptance of blended learning based on the theory of innovation diffusion. 191 teachers from a selected university in China participated in the study. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS 24.0. The results of regression analysis show that school support, perceived ease of use, compatibility, relative advantage, and communication channels contribute to university teachers’ acceptance of blended learning. Recommendations and suggestions are proposed to promote the level of teachers’ acceptance of blended learning in Chinese universities.

Keywords—blended learning acceptance; university teachers; innovation diffusion

I. INTRODUCTION

With the rise of micro-course, MOOC and flipped classroom, blended learning has been accepted by an increasing number of university teachers. Graham (2006) proposes that blended learning combines traditional face-to-face teaching and technology-based teaching. Chinese scholar He Kekang (2004), the first scholar who introduced the concept of blended learning to China, considers that blended learning is the combination of traditional teaching and online learning.
Blended learning not only takes advantage of traditional classroom teaching such as the in-depth communication between teachers and students, but also gives play to the unique advantages of online learning, such as sharing learning resources and not being restricted by time and space. Chinese Ministry of Education issued The 13th Five-year Plan for the Development of National Education which states that “Teachers should be encouraged to utilize information technology to improve the quality of teaching and innovate teaching models. Flipped classroom, blended learning and other innovative methods should be utilized to form a new model that combines online learning and offline learning” (http://www.stdaily.com/zhuanti01/guojia/2018-01/04/content_617866.shtml).

Read More