DEVELOPMENT OF A BLENDED INSTRUCTION STRATEGY FOR ENHANCING STUDENTS' COURSE PERFORMANCE AND EXPERIENCES AT ENGINEERING COLLEGE OF SHANDONG YINGCAI UNIVERSITY, CHINA

This study aimed to explore the positive role of blended instruction in improving students' academic performance and course experience and to develop and validate a blended instruction strategy to transfer the traditional instruction into blended instruction for enhancing students' performance and course experiences. The study surveyed 2764 students studying in traditional instruction classes and 779 students studying in blended instruction classes. We interviewed thirty blended instructors to analyze the factors influencing blended instruction. The results showed that students who participated in blended instruction had higher course experience and performance. Additionally, content analysis of interviews with 30 blended instructors identified ten key factors influencing blended instruction. The developed strategy emphasized these ten factors and was implemented in the School of Engineering at the university. The interview and expert validation results indicated the effectiveness of the strategy. The strategy was recommended to other schools and colleges to use or apply to help transfer the traditional instruction into a blended instruction model at the private higher educational institutes in China.