Blended Learning for Non-Traditional Students in the Human Services

Background and Purpose:  Many students studying social work and the human services are non-traditional college students.  They are older, work full-time, and are caretakers for children and other family members.  To meet the needs of non-traditional students with multiple responsibilities, colleges and universities are offering a growing number of learning opportunities combining in-person and online modalities, called blended learning.  Studies have demonstrated that blended learning is effective in traditional college settings but there is a gap in the literature regarding this modality for adult, nontraditional learners in the human services and social work.  This exploratory study examined the experiences of adult, human services students enrolled in blended courses.

Methods:  This study surveyed 75 undergraduate human services students enrolled in blended courses at a non-traditional state college.  Respondents were recruited using purposive sampling and were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of closed- and open-ended questions about their satisfaction with blended learning, their comfort with various technologies, and demographic information, including caretaking and employment responsibilities.  Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and correlations were used to analyze the quantitative survey results.  Content analysis was used to analyze the open-ended questions on the survey.

Results: Many students in this sample were working on a Bachelors degree with intentions of going on to complete a Master’s Degree in Social Work. The majority (80%) of the students sampled work full time, while 20% of the sample had a child with special needs at home.  General satisfaction with the blended learning format is high, with a mean rating of 4.4. on a 5-point Likert-type scale.  Students reported being more likely to complete a degree with access to blended learning classes, and felt they had more and better quality interaction with students and professors in the class.  Students cited convenience and flexibility as the top reasons why the blended modality works best for them.  A high level of comfort with technology, including email and internet searching, as well as basic word processing was reported.  Confidence with basic internet searching was found to be significantly correlated to high satisfaction in the blended learning environment.  Students reported that their main difficulties with the blended modality were technical problems with the system or challenges in managing their time, with the online and in class portions.

Conclusions and Implications: Findings suggest that blended learning offers advantages to non-traditional human services students and potential social work students who might not otherwise be able to access education, due to full-time work obligations and caretaking responsibilities. By combining face-to-face with synchronous online instruction, blended learning may address the concerns of human services and social work educators who fear a loss of quality through online-only education, while also meeting students’ needs for flexibility and convenience.  Because many students with baccalaureate degrees in human services go on to pursue MSW degrees, these findings are relevant for social work programs seeking to expand and improve access for non-traditional students.  Future studies should examine the extent to which these findings apply to social work students in baccalaureate and MSW programs.