The Effects of Blended Learning and a WebQuest Learning Designed based on the Merrill Instructional Design Model for Children’s Learning

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of blended learning as well as a WebQuest learning designed based on the Merrill Instructional Design Model, on children’s learning at a hospital in Iran. The research method is a quasi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test. The population consisted of all children aged 6 to 10 years old. Using simple random sampling, 23 students were selected but only 20 children were able to participate in the research. The research tool was Ali and McKinsey’s Learning Measurement Questionnaire (2001) with 8 components and 43 items. The validity and reliability of this questionnaire reported in Ali and McKinsey’s Questionnaire (2001) were 0.77 and 0.85 respectively. The validity of the questionnaire was verified by the experts in the field of education as well as the supervisor and the reliability of the questionnaire, using Cronbach's alpha was 0.73. For data analysis, descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (multivariate covariance analysis and chi-squared test) were used. The results showed that there was no difference between WebQuest and the blended learning in the components of high efforts, social strengths and motivation, academic continuity, academic motivation, rewards and overall learning scores. However, there was a significant difference between the amount of children’s learning with cancer by WebQuest learning as well as blended learning environment in terms of free conditions, competition and social interest.