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Abstract:

Blended learning is learning that happens in an instructional context characterized by a deliberate combination of online and classroom-based interventions for instigating and supporting learning. Blended forms of learning have become increasingly popular in education and are realized through a wide range of online and face-to-face instructional interventions. As a result of this variety, blended learning environments differ widely in terms of the technologies and instructional methods used. Existing literature indicates that blended learning environments, as they are currently designed, challenge learners' self-regulated learning. Self-regulated learning is understood here as learners' ability to control and subsequently direct their learning towards improved learning outcomes. The observation that blended learning environments challenge learners' self-regulated learning might be problematic as there is a clear positive correlation between learners' self-regulated learning and their performance. The current lack of insight into what helps different types of learners succeed in blended learning environments hampers the design of blended learning environments that actually support those different learners. More research is therefore needed both to clarify the relationship between blended learning environment design and learners' self-regulated learning and to facilitate effective design. The current research project provides a basis for investigating support for learners' self-regulated learning in blended learning environments. A conceptual framework is proposed, emphasizing the importance of factors both internal and external to the learner. The framework has been operationalized, validated and empirically investigated in three phases. In the first phase (Section 1), we operationalized the conceptual framework by exploring the methodological challenges inherent to mapping support for self-regulated learning in blended learning environments. Seven attributes proposed by theory to support self-regulated learning were identified (Chapter 1) and translated into an instrument that can be used to describe the degree to which a given blended learning environment supports self-regulated learning (Chapter 2). Additionally, existing approaches to measuring self-regulated learning in such environments (Chapter 3) were combined and developed into a methodology for use in the next phases. The second phase (Section 2) consisted in testing the conceptual framework in an ecologically valid blended learning environment in order to verify its assumptions. Here, we investigated the influence that certain external factors, namely aspects of the environment's design, had on the learners' self-regulatory behaviour (Chapter 4). We then tested the influence of internal factors, namely learner characteristics (Chapter 5). The results of these investigations not only provided insights into the influence of both internal and external factors on learners' self-regulated learning but also served to validate the conceptual framework. The third and final phase (Section 3) was designed to test the conceptual framework more extensively. Here, we carried out empirical investigations to explore the effect of two environmental attributes - reflection cues (Chapter 6) and calibration cues (Chapter 7) - on learners' self-regulated learning. These studies' results confirm that in blended learning environments, not all learners benefit equally from the cues provided and that the use of cues does not automatically result in improved learning outcomes. The conceptual framework and the insights gathered during the project's empirical investigations contribute to both research and practice. In particular, the project's findings underscore the importance of considering internal and external factors when integrating support for learners' self-regulated learning in blended learning environments. The conceptual framework also opens up potential avenues for future research. With regard to the project's practical relevance, the aim was not to ask whether or not blended learning environments should be used for instruction. Instead, the focus was on overcoming the challenge that blended learning environments pose to learners' self-regulated learning. One key outcome of this project, then, is the conceptual framework itself, which provides a basis for the systematic investigation and design of more supportive blended learning environments. This represents a clear step toward the development of tangible guidelines for the design of environments that supports self-regulated learning and thus facilitates improvements in learning outcomes for all learners.