Abstract:

As universities increasingly adopt blended learning models that combine face-to-face instruction with digital learning resources, an important question emerges: do these environments influence how students evaluate their instructors? While blended learning is often promoted for improving flexibility and access to learning materials, students’ experiences with digital tools and reduced in-class contact time may shape their perceptions of teaching effectiveness. This issue is particularly relevant because student evaluations of teaching remain widely used in higher education for monitoring instructional quality and informing institutional decision-making.

This study analyzes student evaluation data collected during a single academic semester at Al Hussein Technical University (HTU) in Amman, Jordan. The dataset includes approximately 550 undergraduate course sections across multiple disciplines, consisting of 300 traditional sections delivered through full face-to-face instruction and 250 blended sections that incorporated increased self-learning and digital learning resources while maintaining laboratory components unchanged.

Results indicate that instructor ratings were slightly higher in traditional courses (M = 4.37, SD = 0.56) compared with blended courses (M = 4.22, SD = 0.58). Although the difference is statistically significant (t ≈ 3.06, p ≈ 0.002), the effect size is small (d ≈ 0.27), suggesting that instructor evaluations remain broadly similar across delivery modes.

Within blended courses, instructor ratings (M = 4.21, SD = 0.58) were slightly lower than the university-wide average (M = 4.30, SD = 0.56), though this difference was not statistically significant. However, students rated the efficiency of blended and online teaching tools significantly lower (M = 3.75, SD = 0.91). The difference of 0.47 points on the five-point scale was statistically significant (t ≈ 6.8, p < 0.001) and corresponds to a moderate effect size (d ≈ 0.61). The larger standard deviation associated with the blended-efficiency item also indicates substantial variability in students’ experiences with digital learning environments across course sections.

Furthermore, instructor ratings were strongly correlated with students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of blended learning tools (r = 0.745), suggesting that students’ experiences with technology-mediated learning environments may substantially influence their evaluation of instructors.

Overall, the findings indicate that while instructor ratings remain generally high in blended courses, perceptions of the digital learning environment play a meaningful role in shaping student evaluations. These results highlight the importance of considering technological and instructional design factors when interpreting student evaluation results in institutions transitioning toward blended learning models.

Keywords:

Blended learning, student evaluations, teaching effectiveness, educational technology, higher education.